"A star among many rising stars, Adam Beckett had a great influence on his fellow students in Jules Engel’s then newly-formed Experimental Animation program at CalArts. Both prolific and talented, Adam is still remembered by those who participated in the vibrant film festival community of the 1970’s, and who were aware of the evolving animation and experimental film genres. Between 1970 and 1975, Beckett completed seven groundbreaking films: The Letter (with James Gore), Dear Janice, Evolution of the Red Star, Sausage City, Flesh Flows, Heavy-Light and Kitsch in Synch. Two larger independent animations, Life in the Atom and Knotte Grosse, remain unfinished due to Beckett's work in the growing visual effects industry and his tragic and untimely death in 1979 at the age of 29.
"Beckett's approach to animation was distinguished by his use of the optical printer in conjunction with the animation stand, which was not unlike the way a conductor would arrange the abstract but distinct parts of a symphonic composition. Beckett favored the complex use of animated loops: each successive iteration accreted additional images so that the loops did not merely repeat but evolved, appearing at once the same and different. In addition to drawing, Beckett used the optical camera to re-shoot various cycles: offsetting the frames to create a phasing rhythm and changing the color or re-framing a portion of the drawing for select sequences. This approach is seen in all of his solo films and is perhaps most marked in Evolution of the Red Star and Heavy-Light, a masterful visual universe created from only 13 drawings.
"In 1975, Beckett headed his own studio, “Infinite Animation,” and was simultaneously pursuing his MFA and teaching at CalArts. Because of his technical finesse, vision, and his creative ability to develop unique techniques, Beckett was recruited to head the Rotoscope and Animation Department on the ground-breaking science fiction film Star Wars. Subsequently Beckett worked on other commercial projects including the horror film Piranha (1978). This immersion into the commercial world, sadly, seems to have sidelined his personal work.
"Although Adam Beckett's independent films are now 30 years old, they still resonate as unique and relevant in the ongoing discourse of art animation.
--Pamela Turner, Project DIrector, Iota Center
Newly preserved print courtesy Iota Center and Academy Film Archive.
What starts off as a simple letter of greeting to the mysterious Janice gradually evolves into a swirling vortex of hearts, breasts, sausages, and other objects, mind-boggling in its visual density. Adam’s first completed and shown work, this film is a hypnotic and fascinating show of his mastery of unconventional animation and printing techniques, and very sharply points the way to later works like Evolution of the Red Star and Sausage City. (Mark Toscano)
1972, 16mm, color/so, 15m, $45
Newly preserved print courtesy Iota Center and Academy Film Archive.
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; Brooklyn Independent Filmmakers Exposition, 1974; Vanguard Int'l Competition of Electronic Music for Film, 1974; Humboldt Film Festival, 1974.
1973, 16mm, color/so, 7m, $25
Newly preserved print courtesy Iota Center and Academy Film Archive.
Music: Barry Schrader
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 mucho optical printing are to be seen herein.
Awards: Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival, 1973; Athens Int'l Film Festival, 1974; Humboldt Film Festival, 1974.
1973, 16mm, color/so, 7m, $25
Newly preserved print courtesy Iota Center and Academy Film Archive.
Intricate animated line drawings, erotic and surreal, are transformed during three chapters from their base existence at the beginning into a continuous flight through a space filled with luminous clouds of flowing purple and turquoise gases. Hence we are shown a path from the carnal to the cosmic.
Awards: Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival, 1973; 10th Chicago Int'l Film Festival; Humboldt Film Festival, 1974; Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1974; 13th Foothill Int'l Independent Filmmakers' Exposition; Orange Coast Film Festival, 1974.
1974, 16mm, color/so, 6.5m, $25
Sausage City
Newly preserved print courtesy Iota Center and Academy Film Archive.
Music: Brillo
Starting with a white screen a city of interlocking boxes evolves, always moving, constantly changing perspective. After a while, this group of sausages begins to emerge. They are a thoroughly rendered (using fancy colored-pencil technique) bunch of sausages. As time passes there get to be a whole bunch of sausages; in fact, the screen becomes one mass of seething, throbbing, pullulating life. The ending is a surprise.
Awards: Humboldt Film Festival, 1974; Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1974.
1974, 16mm, color/so, 5.5m, $20
Newly preserved print courtesy Iota Center and Academy Film Archive.
This is an abstract animation that seems to get laughs. The soundtrack is why, mainly; it sounds like a large group of demented ducks enthusiastically and persistently seeking oneness with the all, via energetic chanting. BUBUBABU!!! The imagery is elaborate, brightly colored, and every single damned beat in the soundtrack has its own little bump.
Awards: Best Sound Score, Cinemedia, 1975; Marin County Fair, 1975.
1975, 16mm, color/so, 4.5m, $20