An Optical Poem (1938)

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.

Released March 5, 1938 7 min 7+

Genres: Animation, Music, Short

Keywords: tmdb.classical-music, tmdb.shapes, mdblist.imdb-short, imdb.abstract-film, imdb.geometric-form, imdb.classical-music, imdb.avant-garde + 12 more, aspectratio.1-37-1, imdb.experimental-short, imdb.featurette, imdb.liszt, imdb.animated-short, imdb.musical-short, imdb.cartoon-short, imdb.one-reeler, imdb.mgm-miniature, imdb.mgm-featurette, imdb.cartoon, imdb.rhythm