Trade Tattoo

Name: Trade Tattoo
Genre: Animation
Released: 1937-09-01
Duration: 5 min

1937 · 0h 5m · Animation · United Kingdom

Trade Tattoo went even further than Rainbow Dance in its manipulation of the Gasparcolor process. The original black and white footage consisted of outtakes from GPO Film Unit documentaries such as Night Mail. Lye transformed this footage in what has been described as the most intricate job of film printing and color grading ever attempted. Animated words and patterns combine with the live-action footage to create images as complex and multi-layered as a Cubist painting. Music was provided by the Cuban Lecuona Band. With its dynamic rhythms, the film seeks (in Lye’s words) to convey “a romanticism about the work of the everyday in all walks of life."

Directed by

Len Lye

6.0Smart score

The TMDB rating, pulled toward the movie average (6.03) as if it had 82 extra average votes. Few votes means more pull.

TMDB6.0

32 TMDB votes · IMDb page

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Not available to stream, rent or buy in United States.

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Style & content

experimental

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Connected through the crew

Free Radicals1958 · Director Len Lye A Colour Box1935 · Director Len Lye Rhythm1957 · Director Len Lye Tusalava1929 · Director Len Lye Swinging the Lambeth Walk1940 · Director Len Lye Colour Flight1937 · Director Len Lye Experimental Animation1933 · Writer Len Lye, Director Len Lye Kaleidoscope1935 · Director Len Lye The Birth of the Robot1936 · Director Len Lye Color Cry1952 · Director Len Lye

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