{"id":129744,"date":"2025-11-11T15:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/129744\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:26:10","slug":"the-groundbreaking-animation-that-defined-pink-floyds-psychedelic-visual-style-watch-french-windows-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/129744\/","title":{"rendered":"The Groundbreaking Animation That Defined Pink Floyd\u2019s Psychedelic Visual Style: Watch “French Windows” (1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"

You could argue that, of all rock bands, that Pink Floyd had the least need for visu\u00adal accom\u00adpa\u00adni\u00adment. Son\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly rich and evoca\u00adtive\u00adly struc\u00adtured, their albums evolved to offer lis\u00adten\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adences that verge on the cin\u00ade\u00admat\u00adic in them\u00adselves. Yet from fair\u00adly ear\u00adly in the Floy\u00add\u2019s his\u00adto\u00adry, their artis\u00adtic ambi\u00adtions extend\u00aded to that which could not be heard. Can you real\u00adly under\u00adstand their enter\u00adprise, it\u2019s fair to ask, if you remain mere\u00adly one of their lis\u00adten\u00aders, nev\u00ader enter\u00ading the visu\u00adal dimen\u00adsion \u2014 not just their album cov\u00aders, repro\u00adduc\u00adtions of which still grace many a dorm room wall, but also their elab\u00ado\u00adrate stage shows, music videos (which they were mak\u00ading before that form had a name), and films? One man had more respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for the devel\u00adop\u00adment of the Floy\u00add\u2019s visu\u00adal style than any oth\u00ader: Ian Emes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1972, Emes took it upon him\u00adself to ani\u00admate their song \u201cOne of These Days\u201d from the pre\u00advi\u00adous year\u2019s album Med\u00addle. When the fin\u00adished work, \u201cFrench Win\u00addows,\u201d<\/a> aired on the BBC music show The Old Grey Whis\u00adtle Test, it caught the eye of the Floy\u00add\u2019s key\u00adboard play\u00ader Rick Wright. The group then got in touch with Emes, ask\u00ading to use \u201cFrench Win\u00addows\u201d as a pro\u00adjec\u00adtion behind their con\u00adcerts.<\/p>\n

They went on to com\u00admis\u00adsion fur\u00adther work from him, for songs like \u201cSpeak to Me,\u201d Time,\u201d<\/a> and \u201cOn the Run\u201d from\u00a0The Dark Side of the Moon. This pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal con\u00adnec\u00adtion endured for decades. When Roger Waters put on his own per\u00adfor\u00admances of The Wall\u00a0\u2014 includ\u00ading the enor\u00admous\u00adly scaled show in Berlin in 1990 \u2014 he had Emes direct its ani\u00admat\u00aded sequences. The post-Waters ver\u00adsion of Pink Floyd even called up Emes in 2015 to ask him to make a film to accom\u00adpa\u00adny their final album\u00a0The End\u00adless Riv\u00ader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was, in a way, the com\u00adple\u00adtion of a cir\u00adcle: \u201cOne of These Days\u201d is a most\u00adly instru\u00admen\u00adtal song, and\u00a0The End\u00adless Riv\u00ader is a most\u00adly instru\u00admen\u00adtal album; \u201cFrench Win\u00addows\u201d uses roto\u00adscop\u00ading, which involves trac\u00ading over live action footage to make more real\u00adis\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly smooth ani\u00adma\u00adtion, and the End\u00adless Riv\u00ader\u00a0film presents its own live action footage in a man\u00adner that some\u00adtimes verges on the abstract. Both works cre\u00adate their own visu\u00adal envi\u00adron\u00adments, which dove\u00adtails with what Emes, who died two years ago, once described as the appeal for him of the Floyd: \u201cThey went to archi\u00adtec\u00adture col\u00adlege and so I think their music cre\u00adates spaces. It cre\u00adates envi\u00adron\u00adments of sound and I was so stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded that my mind would soar, and so I would see images that were stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded by the music.\u201d Their music takes a dif\u00adfer\u00adent form before the mind\u2019s eye of each fan, but it was Emes who made his visions a part of their lega\u00adcy.<\/p>\n

Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n

Psy\u00adche\u00addel\u00adic Scenes of Pink Floyd\u2019s Ear\u00adly Days with Syd Bar\u00adrett, 1967<\/a><\/p>\n

Pink Floyd Films a Con\u00adcert in an Emp\u00adty Audi\u00adto\u00adri\u00adum, Still Try\u00ading to Break Into the U.S. Charts (1970)<\/a><\/p>\n

Pink Floyd\u2019s First Mas\u00adter\u00adpiece: An Audio\/Video Explo\u00adration of the 23-Minute Track, \u201cEchoes\u201d (1971)<\/a><\/p>\n

Down\u00adload Pink Floyd\u2019s 1975 Com\u00adic Book Pro\u00adgram for The Dark Side of the Moon Tour<\/a><\/p>\n

The First Pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal Footage of Pink Floyd Gets Cap\u00adtured in a 1967 Doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary (and the Band Also Pro\u00advides the Sound\u00adtrack)<\/a><\/p>\n

How Pink Floyd Built The Wall: The Album, Tour & Film<\/a><\/p>\n

Based in Seoul, Col\u00adin<\/a>\u00a0M<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>\u00a0writes and broad\u00adcasts on cities, lan\u00adguage, and cul\u00adture. His projects include the Sub\u00adstack newslet\u00adter\u00a0Books on Cities<\/a>\u00a0and the book\u00a0The State\u00adless City: a Walk through 21st-Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Los Ange\u00adles.\u00a0Fol\u00adlow him on the social net\u00adwork for\u00admer\u00adly known as Twit\u00adter at\u00a0@colinm<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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