Five Film Exercises: Film 1

Five Film Exercises: Film 1

1943 · 5 min · ★ 5.1 · Animation

Begins with a three beat announcement drawn out in time which thereafter serves as a figure to divide the four sections. Each return of this figure is more condensed, and finally used in reverse to conclude the film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2004.

Directed by John Whitney Sr.

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Five Film Exercises: Film 1

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Arabesque

Arabesque · 1975

John Whitney's pioneering work of computer animation, Arabesque, from 1975. This flowing, abstract short film is a wonder to behold, a work of art. Like many other computer graphics pioneers, this film suggests roots in psychedelics and spiritual quests as much as engineering and mathematics. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

Matrix

A piece of abstract cinema by John Whitney. A series squares follow a 3-dimensional track, each one with a slight delay after the other.

Matrix III

Matrix III · 1972

An abstract computer-generated animation set to music by Terry Riley.

Catalog

Catalog · 1961

Collection of Computer Graphic effects.

Permutations

Permutations · 1968

MovieDocumentaryAnimation

An experimental short film by John Whitney Sr. which combines animated shapes and colors; Computer graphics as dynamic, swirling art. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.

Celery Stalks at Midnight

Celery Stalks at Midnight · 1951

Celery Stalks at Midnight

MovieAnimationMusic

Early 'visual music' film by John Whitney. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

Five Film Exercises: Film 4

Five Film Exercises: Film 4 · 1944

Five Film Exercises: Film 4

The entire film is divided into four consecutive chosen approaches—the fourth section devoted to a reiteration and extension of the original material. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

Moon Drum

Moon Drum · 1991

Moon Drum offers an impressionistic evocation of the mood, color and feel of native American art created by computer graphics.

Five Film Exercises: Film 5

Five Film Exercises: Film 5 · 1944

Five Film Exercises: Film 5

Opens with a short canonical statement of a theme upon which the entire film is constructed. The canon is repeated in contrasting variations by means of color. A second section poses the same image in deep film space. The image unfolds itself repeatedly, leaving the receding image to continue on smaller and smaller. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.

A Personal Search For the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art

A Personal Search For the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art · 1992

A Personal Search For the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art

A Personal Search For the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art (1992) uses the concept of complementarity to make sense of the confusion that existed between fine art and technology in the late 20th century.

Home Movies 1971-81

Home Movies 1971-81 · 1985

Home Movies 1971-81

MovieDocumentary

Home movies shot on Super 8mm by W+B Hein over 10 years.

Osaka 1-2-3

Osaka 1-2-3 · 1970

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Eye Myth

Eye Myth · 1967

After the title, a white screen gives way to a series of frames suggestive of abstract art, usually with one or two colors dominating and rapid change in the images. Two figures emerge from this jungle of color: the first, a shirtless man, appears twice, coming into focus, then disappearing behind the bursts and patterns of color, then reappearing; the second figure appears later, in the right foreground. This figure suggests someone older, someone of substance. The myth? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

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