''A Colour Box'' is a 1935 British

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

animated film Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

Len Lye Leonard Charles Huia Lye (; 5 July 1901 – 15 May 1980) was a New Zealand artist known primarily for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. His films are held in archives including the New Zealand Film Archive, British Film Institute, M ...

. Commissioned to promote the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state mail, postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II of En ...

, it was Lye's first

direct animation Drawn-on-film animation, also known as direct animation or animation without camera, is an animation technique where footage is produced by creating the images directly on film stock, as opposed to any other form of animation where the images or ...

to receive a public release.

Production

In mid 1935, Lye struck a deal with

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fl ...

to make a

for the

GPO Film Unit The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films ...

. Lye was paid £30, with his materials paid for by the GPO. Lye and sound editor Jack Ellitt went through hundreds of records looking for music to use as the soundtrack. They selected a

beguine The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take f ...

called "The Belle Creole" by Don Barreto and his Cuban Orchestra. After the music was transferred to film, Lye made cue marks on the sound track, which he used as a guide as he painted on the image track. Lye painted long, continuous patterns on the

35 mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

film stock, without frame lines to separate individual

film frame In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a frame is one of the many '' still images'' which compose the complete '' moving picture''. The term is derived from the historical development of film stock, in which the sequ ...

s and with few

splice Splice may refer to: Connections * Rope splicing, joining two pieces of rope or cable by weaving the strands of each into the other ** Eye splice, a method of creating a permanent loop in the end of multi stranded rope by means of rope splicing * ...

s used. He used combs or sticks to create linear patterns on the

film stock Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparen ...

. It took him five days to finish most of the film. Before settling on the title ''A Colour Box'', Lye used the titles ''Cheaper Parcel Post'' and ''La Belle Creole''.

Release

''A Colour Box'' was first shown to critics and journalists on 6 September 1935. Cinema owners were hesitant to screen the work because of its experimental approach and promotional nature. The

Granada Theatre Granada Theater may refer to: * Granada Theater (Emporia, Kansas) * Granada Theater (Kansas City, Kansas) * Granada Theater (Lawrence, Kansas) * Granada Theater (Dallas, Texas) * Granada Theater (The Dalles, Oregon) * Granada Theater (Wilmingt ...

and the Tatler Cinema were among the first to screen it. The film had its international premiere in October 1935 at the International Cinema Festival in Brussels. The jury created a special "fantasy film" category so that they could award ''A Colour Box'' with a Medal of Honour. The film was later screened at the 1936

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

, where

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

viewers labeled it

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

and protested the film. They stomped their feet loudly, leading to the three-minute film being stopped before its completion.

Reception

Contemporary reactions to ''A Colour Box'' were polarised. Many critics recognised its originality but viewed it as little more than a novelty. Robert Herring called it "the first ballet in film". One review in ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' said that Lye had "stirred the abstract film to a new vitality." Canadian animator

Norman McLaren William Norman McLaren, LL. D. (11 April 1914 – 27 January 1987) was a Scottish Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).Rosenthal, Alan. ''The new documentary in action: a cas ...

carefully studied the film, inspired by Lye's "technical inventiveness". It became a major influence on his own direct filmmaking practices.

References

External links

''A Colour Box''
at the Len Lye Foundation * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colour Box, A 1935 short films 1935 films 1935 animated films 1930s animated short films 1930s avant-garde and experimental films Advertisements British animated short films British avant-garde and experimental films Drawn-on-film animated films Animated films without speech Cuban music Films directed by Len Lye GPO Film Unit films British musical films 1935 musical films 1930s British films