Music by Rubinstein, “Dance of Torches.”

An experimental short from Oskar Fischinger

For the production of this film, Oskar Fischinger tinted various layers of hot wax. After cooling, the resulting lump of wax resembled a marble cake. Fischinger then began to cut off slices from the lump, photographing each step.

Motion Painting No. 1 is a 1947 experimental short animated film in which film artist Oskar Fischinger put images in motion to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, BWV 1048. It is a film of a painting (oil on acrylic glass); Fischinger filmed each brushstroke over the course of 9 months. In 1997, this film was selected for inclusion in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.

Compilation of abstract animated films by Oskar Fischinger; includes his short films Spirals, Spiritual Constructions, Study 6, Liebesspiel, Radio Dynamics, and Motion Painting No. 1.

Experimental animated film using the newly developed Gasparcolor process. It used a subtractive 3-color process on a single film strip which could produce incredibly vibrant images.

Edited from Color Rhythm (1942)

Muratti was a German brand of cigarettes. Fischinger transforms bunches of standing cigarettes into things that resemble human beings. At first they walk daintily around packages of Muratti tins. Gradually as the film progresses their motions become more graceful, as they do "slides" and other motions and formations associated with dance. The apotheosis of the film is remarkable: Dozens and dozens of cigarettes, arranged in Busby Berkeley-like fashion, repeatedly bow to the horizon, where a giant sun labeled "Muratti" rises in response to to their worshiping activity.

随着音乐节奏舞动着的几何图形，欢快、灵动。在短短两分钟的时间里，这些抽象的几何图形，跟随或明快或舒缓的音乐节奏，时而迅速时而缓慢地移动着。抑扬顿挫中，更像是一曲音符之梦。 这部制作于1930年的黑白抽象动画短片，由德国导演奥斯卡·费钦格执导。作为一部同样是展现抽象几何图形动态之美的先锋影片，本片中的影像图形紧紧跟随着配乐的节奏步调。相较于他的早期影片，奥斯卡此次更加关注声音与画面节奏之间的关系，试图找出动态的绘画图案与音乐情绪之间的内在联系。

这部制作于1926年的黑白抽象动画短片，不仅摒弃台词对白，甚至连丝毫背景音乐也没有。在足足六分钟的沉默中，你将会坠入一个不断旋转变化着的奇幻螺旋世界。朝着相反方向旋转的同心环，仿佛一朵朵慢慢盛开的玫瑰。一幅幅或粗犷或柔和的抽象几何图形，在缓慢移动变化着的黑白线条下，构筑起了一个炫目的异次元世界。 早在1920年代，这种实验色彩极高的抽象影片，带给众人耳目一新的新鲜体验。德国导演奥斯卡·费钦格，为了将这种动态的抽象几何图形达到可视化的戏剧效果，自制了一部切蜡机，并发明了“蜡片机”技术。本部作品就是他在1922—1926年间制作的大量抽象动画片之一。

这部画面动作严格与音乐同步的实验影片《快板》，将是一次非凡的感官体验。“快板”本是一种戏曲中拍子急速的调子，而在本片中是为展现Ralph Rainger创作的爵士乐中的一个章节。一串串整齐有序的同心圆，正遵循着精美的背景音乐，一圈圈放射状的荡漾着。它们在屏幕中相遇重叠，波峰波谷间的力量感。各种彩色的菱形四处飞翔，好像一尾尾拥有生命的小鱼，又像是一颗颗缤纷彩色的璀璨钻石。然而音乐一反先前保守的风格，开始变得急促而歇斯底里。这些高度有序的抽象几何形状，跟随者不稳定的音调，跳起了一场华丽的舞曲。 本部制作于1936年的抽象先锋动画短片，由德国导演奥斯卡·费钦格执导。奥斯卡一直致力于将动态的抽象几何图形达到可视化的戏剧效果。二十世纪三十年代初期，奥斯卡开始尝试制作同期声的实验影片，试图找出动态的绘画图案与音乐情绪之间的内在联系。《快板》正在以这种实验性极高的色彩和线条，试图找出审美和哲学上的深刻内在联系。

An abstract film in which every motion of coloured shapes is in strict synchronization with music. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.

Runtime: 3 min Sound Mix: Silent Color: Black and White Aspect Ratio: 1.33 : 1

A dance of shapes. A title card tells us this is an experiment in conveying the mental images of music in a visual form. Liszt's "Second Hungarian Rhapsody" is the music. The shapes, all two-dimensional, are circles primarily, with some squares and rectangles, and a few triangles. The shapes move rhythmically to the music: receding from view or moving across the screen. Red circles on a blue background; light blue squares; white rectangles. Then, a red background of many circles with a few in the foreground. Red gives way to blue then to white. Shapes reappear as Liszt's themes re-occur. Then, with a few staccato notes and images, it's over.

One of Oskar Fischinger's earliest films, Seelische Konstruktionen (as it is known in German), clearly points the way to the masterpieces of musically-blended experimental animation he would conceive in the decades to come. The sense of masterful timing and rhythm, the easy and natural -- though patently Fischinger-esque -- character traits of the subjects, and the smooth precision of both line and movement are all present already. Unique is the black-silhouetted, semi-cartoon characters (not nearly as rigidly self-contained as Lotte Reiniger's cut-out forms) which seem to adhere to no physical limitations whatsoever. Morphing into shapes, structures, objects, patterns, and even one another, as though they were made of pure mercury and set to music. As for the "story", it's rather non-sensical, and certainly silly, but also has a slightly dark and devious tinge to it as well; men becoming monsters, uncontrollable shape-shifting and the constant, almost desperate movement.