Animus (1982)

Synopsis

This animated film borrows from the pre-cinematic imagery of Eadweard Muybridge in a self-referential mode. It takes the viewer to the early Edison days when moving images of a man walking or sneezing were a novelty. Schwartz combines those historical sequences with contemporary animation to comment on the progress of movie-making in the twentieth century. This "how-to animation" with its "tongue-in-cheek" mix of live action, animation and xerography serves as an introduction to the concept of structuralism.