“The Flicker” is a 1966 American experimental film composed entirely of solid
black and solid white frames, which is known for being highly dangerous and for
causing hallucinations when viewed.
The Experimental Film.
Directed by American artist and musician Tony Conrad and initially screened in
New York art circles, galleries, and underground venues in March 1966, “The
Flicker” is a 30-minute experimental film consisting of various sequences of
black-and-white frames alternating at different speeds, creating a powerful
stroboscopic and hallucinatory effect.
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| Tony Conrad |
Production.
With a budget of $300, “The Flicker” was conceived following a series of
experiments conducted by Conrad and his colleague Mario Montez. During one of
these experiments, carried out in March 1963, Jack Smith discovered
hallucinatory patterns in the flickering of the projector.
After observing the use of strobe lights during a rock concert in May 1963,
hosted by Murray the K at the Fox Theater in Brooklyn, Conrad was fascinated
by the heightened emotional effect that reached a fantastic, almost frenzied
climax, which led him to design a film with a hallucinatory flickering effect,
featuring alternating black-and-white sections that gradually lengthened as
the film progressed.
In June 1965, Conrad tested various flicker rates with his friend Lew Oliver.
They discovered that the stroboscopic effect was strongest between 6 and 16
Hz. To achieve the desired effect, Oliver suggested using slightly longer
durations for the black frames, so Conrad included an additional black frame
when constructing cycles of odd length.
Shooting.
Filmmaker Jonas Mekas provided Conrad with rolls of film and helped him
obtain a Bolex camera, thus kicking off the filming process. Conrad filmed
the black frames by covering the camera lens. He first tried,
unsuccessfully, to film the white frames by removing the lens, but
ultimately ended up filming a sheet of white paper. Conrad filmed the
material over the course of several days. He produced a 16-mm reel
containing 47 compositions of black-and-white frames and made ten copies. He
used an inexpensive 8-mm film splicer to reorder the frames so that each of
the 47 compositions was repeated ten times.
Warning.
Conrad knew a friend who had died from an epileptic seizure, so he spoke
with a doctor at the epilepsy clinic at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital about
his film. He was told that less than 0.01% of the population was affected
and that warning non-epileptic people could trigger “seizures” in them.
After finding two cases in New York where movie theater owners had been sued
after people suffered reactions at a frame rate of 16 frames per second,
Conrad decided to add a warning at the beginning of the film.
Soundtrack.
For the film's soundtrack, Conrad used a synthesizer he built exclusively
for the project. He set the synthesizer to run at about 20 Hz so that the
audience would perceive it as a rhythm or tone, using tape delays and heavy
reverb.
Release.
It is known that an unfinished version of “The Flicker” was screened at the
New York Filmmakers' Cinematheque on December 14, 1965. Subsequently, a
private screening of the finished film took place there on February 13,
1966, and its public premiere occurred the following month. A doctor was
present at each of the screenings at the Cinematheque. The film began to
reach a wider audience that September through the fourth New York Film
Festival at Lincoln Center.
Conrad programmed a digital version of “The Flicker” for the Amiga computer
during the 1980s. After a lab destroyed the original film, Mekas's Anthology
Film Archives helped preserve a copy of “The Flicker.” The film is now part
of the Anthology Film Archives' Essential Cinema Repertory collection and is
available to the public on Blu-ray.
Reactions.
Since its initial release in 1966, the film has provoked strong reactions
from audiences. It has been reported that most viewers walked out of the
first screening. Some people experienced headaches or vomiting. Although the
film is entirely in black and white, many people have confirmed the
hallucinatory effect, claiming to see movement, shapes, and/or colors.
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