Stroboscopic Effects

Stroboscopic Effects: Between North American Experimental Animation and Hong Kong Martial Arts Television

Launched at the Graduate Research Forum, Cinema and Media Studies, The University of Chicago, in 2025

In this video essay, I examine how the 2001 Hong Kong martial arts television series The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber draws on Canadian animator Norman McLaren’s experimental ballet film Pas de deux (1968) to visualize the movements of swordsmen’s bodies. Specifically, I show how the stroboscopic aesthetic McLaren employed to show the motion of ballet dancers was adapted into Chinese martial arts television as a recurring visual form for showing velocity and movements. This case study forms a section of the second chapter of my dissertation on Chinese martial arts television dramas. I highlight it here as an example that underscores the close connection between experimental animation primarily circulated through film festivals and mass media forms such as television, even though they are often regarded as distinctive aesthetic and cultural categories.