Digitized Direct Animation: Creating Materials for Electroacoustic Visual Music Using 8mm Film

“Direct animation” (also called “drawn-on animation” or “camera-less animation”) involves the direct application of paints and other artistic materials to celluloid film in order to construct animated visual material. This article provides a brief overview regarding the historical use of this technique in the work of other experimental film-makers, before discussing the use of this process to create Mezcal Animations #1–3: a piece of psychedelic visual music with electroacoustic sound.