Dancing Flowers
Identifier
F.2022-09-0046
Date Of Production
circa 1941 – 1946
Abstract
A stop-motion film of primroses dancing to a Strauss waltz. According to John Ott's autobiography, My Ivory Cellar: The Story of Time-Lapse Photography, this film was conceived one evening when he "dreamed up a wild idea of controlling the light, temperature and moisture to make the leaves of the plants move in different directions."
Description
Dancing Flowers begins with a closeup of an anthropomorphized potted primrose plant whose leaves rise and fall synchronously to the rhythm of the waltz, “Rosen aus dem Süden” (Roses from the South), composed by Johann Strauss II. After several seconds, the plant appears on stage and is soon joined by nine other primroses that form a ballet chorus line. The film culminates as the first primrose’s pot spins feverishly, they all take a bow, and the curtains close.
John Ott made this film over the course of five years while he was an officer at First National Bank of Chicago in the early 1940s. In order to control the movements of the flowers, Ott created special flower pots with automated heating elements, water tubes, and wheels. The heating elements were turned on at the proper time to wilt the leaves down, then the plants were given just the right amount of water to revive them again. A battery of lights was programmed to attract the leaves from side to side. The pots were pulled around on a track at a speed of about one half inch per hour.
The beginning closeup shot also served as the opening and closing title sequence for Ott's weekly televised program, How Does Your Garden Grow?
John Ott made this film over the course of five years while he was an officer at First National Bank of Chicago in the early 1940s. In order to control the movements of the flowers, Ott created special flower pots with automated heating elements, water tubes, and wheels. The heating elements were turned on at the proper time to wilt the leaves down, then the plants were given just the right amount of water to revive them again. A battery of lights was programmed to attract the leaves from side to side. The pots were pulled around on a track at a speed of about one half inch per hour.
The beginning closeup shot also served as the opening and closing title sequence for Ott's weekly televised program, How Does Your Garden Grow?
Run Time
1 min 35 sec
Format
16mm
Extent
56 feet
Color
Color
Sound
Optical
Reel/Tape Number
1/1
Has Been Digitized?
Yes
Language Of Materials
English
Genre
Form
Subject
Related Collections
Related Places
Main Credits
Ott, John Nash Jr. (is filmmaker)
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