John & James Whitney - "Five Film Exercises" Film 2-3 (1944)

The brothers John & James Whitney created their remarkable series of Film Exercises between 1943 and 1944. These films are visually based on modernist composition theory, the carefully varied permutations of form are manipulated with cut-out masks so that the image photographed is pure direct light shaped, rather than the light reflected from drawings as in traditional animation. The eerie, sensuous neon glow of these forms is paralleled by pioneer electronic music sound scores composed by the brothers using a pendulum device to write sounds directly on the film's soundtrack area, with precisely controlled calibrations. At that time, before the perfection of recording tape, these sounds - with exotic "pure" tone qualities, mathematically even chromatic glissandos and reverberating pulsations - were truly revolutionary and shocking. The brothers won a Grand Prize at the 1949 Brussels Experimental Film Competition for the Film Exercises.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• fivefilmexercises
• johnwhitney
• johnwhitneysr
• jameswhitney
• visualmusic
• abstractfilm
• nonfigurative
• experimental
• pendulummusic
• electronic

[StookieBill]

thanks so much for uploading these. i've wanted to see them for years, and despite the quality, they don't disappoint. the sound from their additive synthesis pendulum machine is unique, if this is anything to go by. and they had the ideological freedom, and the imagination not to have to produce transcriptions of classical works like sholpo ended up doing in russia.

brilliant!

[DanSpegel]

@StookieBill There's a number five in the series as well, I've never seen that one.

[StookieBill]

@DanSpegel i know someone with a VHS copy - if i can get hold of it i'll upload it.

[DanSpegel]

@StookieBill that would be great!!!

[22degreesonsun]

1:00 That music probably inspired Whitney to make Yantra some years later?

[sheppyt]

the fuck...