Various Loops

Beckett created a significant number of animation loops which display his playfulness and also evidence his process as many are variations of ideas and images that he used in his animations. Thirty-one loops are included, selected to show the variety of approaches as well as his intriguing results. - Pamela Turner

Heavy-Light

This is one of those abstract animated films in which colored, richly textured light moves in a black, three-dimensional space. The pictures and the electronic score are unified in a strict structure made of three main sections which progressively develop three subsections. This film may look like it was made using computers or video to the uninitiated, but only animation and much optical printing are to be seen herein. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with iotaCenter and National Film Preservation Foundation in 2007.

Evolution of the Red Star

Music: Carl Stone. Colored pen-and-ink drawings, like topological maps of biomorphic objects, grow and evolve from the red star. Once the master image is formed, this continuously throbbing, pulsating sight is used to ring changes based on years of optical work. Music and picture work together to create a mood of ecstatic tranquility. The bright colors, beautiful music, surprise at the end, etc. make this a good film for young children. Awards: Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival, 1973; Washington National Student Film Festival, 1974; Brookl...

4 Fragments

Sequence digitally photographed and animated by Pamela Turner in 2009 from Beckett's original drawings; these untitled images may have been intended for use in Life in the Atom. Also included, Every Other, is a unique version of an animated "exquisite corpse" and is a delightful study of the two artists' drawings. Beckett and Kathy Rose took turns contributing segments to a sequence, each animating 24 frames, passing their final image to the other to continue. These 336 were discovered amongst Beckett's many drawings and were digitally recor...