Assisted by Whitney's two sons, John Jr. and Robert, original images were only black and white. And each element of the final composite was created separately, then transferred to high-contrast B&W 35mm film. Color was added to each element on a film contact (and/or optical) printer and combined via multiple passes thru the printer to create a single master negative from which final prints were made with a photographic optical soundtrack added to the edge of the film before development. This massive amount of work, creative decisions, and technical expertise was how they made all of their pioneering films, which were originally sold to colleges and libraries in 16mm by an "art-for-art-sake" distributer called "Pyramid Films" They were also the first to create fully-rendered shaded non-film color computer graphics in 1977.

It's astonishing how the graphics at 0:48 seemingly inspired modern day graphics like the PSP startup and some Microsoft Windows transitions. I love it.

I can't believe this is from 1961! I remember the hand full of primative, computer generated TV promos they were still using when I was a little kid in the late 80s. There was this one where the word "SPECIAL" would swirl around the screen in pink, echoing letters with horn fanfare music playing. They were using this before Christmas specials after the usual "... (show title) will not be seen tonight" in 1988. I really miss the warm, glowing look of the older TV graphics.

Half a century old, yet still beautiful / brilliant.

Really great stuff. Some months ago I was looking for Whitneys' movies on-line and found none, so thanks very much for sharing this pioneering piece of computer animation.

This is the best use of a gun sight I have ever seen !!

Whitney's work inspired various intros to movie of the week, and others special programs on various networks from the late 60's and into the 70's... His work also influenced Stanley Kubrick and Douglas Trumbell in the special effects of 2001 A Space Odyssey

for the one who dont know about john, this guy is the Father of Motion graphics!!!

Fun facts: Doug Trumbull's father also worked for John Dykstra at Apogee studios. John did the 'models' in 2001 - Space Odyssey and was Lucas's partner on the first Star Wars. John Whitney taught at UCLA in the early 1980's.

Gee,this was the year I was born! And they were doing this!! Incredible!

Fantastic example of Old New Media Arts. It is important in the digital age, not to forget our analog heritage.

the fact that this is *analog* is mind blowing to me. if I didn't know better, I'd have sworn up and down this was CG. O_O

Stunning images and great music!

amazing stuff for 1961 looks cg

The following program was brought to you in living color! And now, live from Beautiful Downtown Burbank, Here's Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In !!!

My God. It's full of Stars..

The slit scan process wasn't used in this film. Based on what I've read in Whitney's book "Digital Harmony" slit scan was used on Doris Day's "Glass Bottom Boat" to get the titles to look like they were shot through water. However, his slit scan is tame compared to Trumbull's. Whitney didn't use camera zooms to get the exaggerated perspective, which is really where the magic is in slit scan. It seems like slit scan was just another move his camera could do--among all the hundreds of other.

Great videos on your channel! Thanks!

the animation en sensation of organique is awesome that's i really call art ^^ analogue technique is so magic.

same guy.. i was hooked after seeing that exhibit too!

Thanks for the tip, I bet that will be an interesting book/pdf to peruse. We take for granted now how cutting edge this stuff was.

With my KZfaq channel, I'm working on bringing a similar artistic expression back but with a rather modern and current touch :) I was searching for inspiration and found that video. I didn't know John Whitney before. His work just blows me away!

This is amazing... 1961.

Apparently the music is by Tod Machover, titled Electric Études for Cello and Computer Generated Sounds. He was one of the IRCAM composers, which is the French electronic music institute right across the square from the Pompidou Centre.

even in this digital age I still find it stunning

Hi Thomas, really liked what i saw, has some real potential! Thanks for posting

I have responded with my video, not to compare it with this work, but as a demonstration of how I am using digital technology to capture, edit and distribute an analog "event", in this case three simple LED toy spinning fans. This was shot on a cheap Nikon still camera, on video setting, in the darkness of my bathroom, and combined with a piece of music that I created on my MacIntosh. I hope you enjoy it. You can also turn down the sound and use it with any other music. Thank you for watching.

love this thanks

0:49 looks like the ps3 background

fantastic stuff.

via wikipedia: "The analogue computer Whitney used to create his most famous animations was built in the late 1950s by converting the mechanism of a World War II M-5 Antiaircraft Gun Director."...roughly sounds like a multi-planar camera, in which he'd use geometric cut templates to shoot overlays, then later augment via additional optical tricks & color filters.

Analogue Video Synthesis is lush ;) Thanks for posting...

Beautiful.

i love this so much

Some good work here, that reminds me of the opening titles to Charade, which combined with that hot Mancini theme, was a kind of ecstasy.

Whitney studied music with Leibowtiz! For those who dont know who Leibowitz was, he was a pupil of Ravel, and teacher of Boulez!!

Fascinating stuff. I'm also curius about the musical accompaniment. It fits perfectly and at times seems coordinated with the fim. Thanks for posting although the most recent comments seem to be from 10 years ago! I hope you're still posting.

Still better explosion effects than Foodfight's.

So, so far ahead of his time.

i really loved it. me encanto, la cago seco. maestro!

Awesome video. Analog demo with analog mechanical sort-of-calculator. Ciao Tano...

Amazing

It's alright we know where you've been. Welcome to the machine.

Hacia el fin de los años 50, John Whitney se construyó una máquina de animación a partir de componentes reciclados procedentes de excedentes de la industria militar, un aparato analógico y mecánico propio aún de un estadio de bricolaje artesanal, pero en definitiva un aparato preciso y lleno de posibilidades, como se puede comprobar en su film Catalog (1961) -concebido como una especie de “bobina de demostración”-, o aún más en el extraordinario Lapis (1963-66) de su hermano James.

Wow, wow, wow!

as beautiful as ever

Psychadelic!

el génesis de mi próposito de vivir¡¡¡¡ voya llorar de aqui se desprende todo,, ni los videos de vitalic está tan puros y artisticos,, de aqui saldrá todo¡¡¡

thanks Father !

this makes a nice screen saver.

To vivach: Thanks for Colleen´s. It reminded me of this marvellous feat, so I appended a link to your profile.

1961 was a few years before all that, ya know. It was basically still 1950s culture. People in 1961 who viewed this probably said "Golly! That's neat!" =P

Just in the first couple minutes of this I detected the logo animation techniques for the TV networks. Wow, this is an amazing technique, much much better than anything that can be produced digitally. It hits you organically, that's why. I always knew that digital imaging, isn't. ...digi=crap.

trippy

its still pretty neat.

Looks very much like Scanimate, a technology that was developed almost a decade later.

that felt longer then 7 minutes

get high and watch this--lifechanging

Very, very cool (a' la Marshall McLuhan)

I personally think the Scanimate is more sophisticated than digital graphics today, why? Because it's analog, and it's real-time, just amazing stuff.

Please can we get this classic uploaded to 480p!!! Thank you!

Have the sound on ONLY up til 1:20...then crank up that Joe Meek! ;) (especially 'I Hear A New World')

3:26 The footage is used in the Daeyong Video Production logo

You're talking about the intro CBS used for specials in the 1970s.

where can i find / order the HD reproductions?? this stuff is amazing at full quality. thanks

Indeed.

brilliant. Does anyone knows where it is possible to find all his works on DVD. The resolution here is too poor to be shared on a wide screen ! (not blaming the person who uploaded it !)

5:58 this is how 3d thing looks like in 1961

this + tripping = holy bajesus.

artrageous. puts digital to shame, BUT we are getting better. yes, analog is cool but we can learn from it, and evolve digital vjing/processing to have these kind of fx. early work like this is crucial inspiration.

Add some Tame Impala in the background and you just got yourself a ticket to Trippytown

The dawn of electronic art which in turn has its roots in visual art (for example: Opus kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l66Kl6eevqy-fmQ.html by Walter Ruttmann); To always remember, in our forgetful present.

Best LSD trip EVER

The music is amazing, who's it by?

0:56 Mac os x in 1966? lol analog graphics seem to have an organicness much like that of Analog Tape awesome :)

@Drwhofanindatardis Wrong. The optical line printing technology was a decade old, sometimes called dynamation, It involved the overlay of dozens of transparencies printed on plastic cells, which were often used as a primitive version of bluescreen rotoscoping in old films. What you see here is entirely optical, done with simple analog tricks over a light box using techniques like multiple exposure, slit-scan, kaliedoscopic mirroring, and careful frame by frame editing.

it looks like what we do on computers now but far more fluid...

does analog do everything in realtime? it looks like it. i'm going into computer engineering and this could be our future along with digital computers!

The soundtrack is by Ornette Coleman. Whitney had a knack for picking great music for his animations.

The film version of the demoscene

I wonder if any psychedelic groups from the mid/late 60's used such techniques in music vids or stage backgrounds, rather than the standard "oil plate" techniques.

Was the music originally made for this video?

is this the actual soundtrack or did the uploader add this music to it

3:16 looney tunes

How was this never rectreated as a working winamp visualisation?

Impressive. Im guessing these types of images were not easily viewable 4mass consumption(ie. television, rock shows, high brow art shows). I mean, how in the hell do you even project an image like that?, without simply just filming it&showing them on a standard projector screen?,defeating the whole purpose? You could do something much more spectacular, just not as innovative/eye-catching, thru regular animation back then. What a fascinating time. Has anyone cleaned this stuff up for HD/BRdvd?

Just because it doesn't use chips and whatnot like a modern day computer doesnt mean that its not a computer.

Experimental Vintage *!*

yea, no. Hippies didnt exist till about 1968 or 1969 at least where I lived

Cool I'm high this is awesome

Does anyone know what portion of the movie is specifically made using slit scan?

There are two guys that claim that have made the music on this video. Can anyone give us a link of the original composer for this Music?

whats the music? his?

i know that analogue computers consists of manny wheels,voltage para metrs and regulaters. but how the hell do they generate graphics & sound.? also if there,s no memory storage like tape or lp how will it ever calculate everything?????????

0:50 Is that the predecessor to the Playstation menu background?

Do you know who currently owns the rights to this film? I'd like to licence a short clip of Whitney's work.

I'm home

Like an LSD trip

What's this genre of music called?

i got dizzy and do get eye strain.