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Daybreak Express (1953)
Daybreak Express WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
★ 7.9 9 ratings
other title: 黎明印象
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
An Optical Poem (1938)
An Optical Poem WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
★ 7.9 12 ratings
other title: 一部视觉诗歌
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.