Direct Animation
ダイレクト・アニメーション / 1935– / Technique / Experimental Film
Images made without a camera, by drawing, scratching and pasting directly onto the filmstrip. The film stock itself becomes the brushstroke and the rhythm.

At a glance
Visual cues
- Hand-drawing on film
- Scratched marks
- Continuity that ignores frames
- Physical blots of color
Best used for
- Short experimental films and titles that put the material itself in front
- Abstract runs of color and scratch cut by hand to a piece of music
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- Write letters by hand one frame at a time and keep the drift
- Composition
- Ignore the frame line and pull marks as long continuous bands
- Material
- Paint onto clear stock, scratch into black, and switch between them
- Caution
- Laying one scanned scratch texture over the footage so the dirt sits still instead of changing every single frame.
- Further study
- Len Lye, A Colour Box (1935) / Norman McLaren / Stan Brakhage, Mothlight
Related entries
- Visual Music (ヴィジュアル・ミュージック)Same Experimental Film lineage.Compare Direct Animation and Visual Music
- Photogram (フォトグラム)Shared effects: Play.Compare Direct Animation and Photogram
More from Experimental Film
Continue through styles in the same Experimental Film family, prioritised by shared effects.
- Video Synthesis (ビデオ・シンセシス)Shared effects: Rebellion / Play.
- Guerrilla Television (ゲリラ・テレビジョン)Shared effects: Rebellion / Intimacy.
Browse all Experimental Film entries
Cite this entry
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- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/direct-animation
- Markdown
- [Direct Animation — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/direct-animation)
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- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/direct-animation">Direct Animation — IndexStyle</a>