FILM DIRECTOR

Oskar Fischinger

1900 - 1967

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Oskar Wilhelm Fischinger (June 22, 1900 – January 31, 1967) was a German-American abstract animator, filmmaker, and painter, notable for creating abstract musical animation many decades before the appearance of computer graphics and music videos. He created special effects for Fritz Lang's 1929 Woman in the Moon, one of the first sci-fi rocket films, and influenced Disney's Fantasia. He made over 50 short films and painted around 800 canvases, many of which are in museums, galleries, and collections worldwide. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Oskar Fischinger has received more than 855,480 page views. His biography is available in 25 different languages on Wikipedia. Oskar Fischinger is the 429th most popular film director (up from 456th in 2019), the 2,309th most popular biography from Germany (up from 2,362nd in 2019) and the 22nd most popular German Film Director.

Memorability Metrics

  • 860k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 55.61

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 25

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.34

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.54

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among FILM DIRECTORS

Among film directors, Oskar Fischinger ranks 429 out of 2,041. Before him are Richard Brooks, Michael Anderson, Taylor Hackford, Jean Eustache, Chuck Lorre, and Ladislao Vajda. After him are Maurice Pialat, David Yates, Takashi Miike, Walter Lantz, Bo Widerberg, and Delmer Daves.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1900, Oskar Fischinger ranks 110. Before him are Gilbert Ryle, Miguel Alemán Valdés, James Hilton, Zhang Wentian, Muhammad Asad, and Valko Chervenkov. After him are Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Srinagarindra, Mikhail Katukov, Ernst Krenek, Lidia Ruslanova, and Vítězslav Nezval. Among people deceased in 1967, Oskar Fischinger ranks 96. Before him are Jane Darwell, Ivan Isakov, George Kelly, Harold Holt, Osvaldo Moles, and Juliusz Rómmel. After him are Miklós Kállay, Pierre Jeanneret, Eddie Eagan, George Lincoln Rockwell, Mir Osman Ali Khan, and Robert J. Van de Graaff.

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In Germany

Among people born in Germany, Oskar Fischinger ranks 2,309 out of 7,253. Before him are Konrad Peutinger (1465), Ernst Curtius (1814), Theodor Lessing (1872), Konstantin Hierl (1875), Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1779), and Countess Palatine Maria Anna of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (1753). After him are Louis IV, Elector Palatine (1424), Otto Brunfels (1488), Adelbert Schulz (1903), Paul von Hase (1885), Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach (1662), and Hermann Breith (1892).

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Among FILM DIRECTORS In Germany

Among film directors born in Germany, Oskar Fischinger ranks 22. Before him are Mike Nichols (1931), Gustaf Gründgens (1899), Veit Harlan (1899), Lotte Reiniger (1899), Wolfgang Reitherman (1909), and Walter Ruttmann (1887). After him are Walter Frentz (1907), Alexander Kluge (1932), Henry Koster (1905), Tom Tykwer (1965), Uli Edel (1947), and Oliver Hirschbiegel (1957).

German born Film Directors

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Filmography

An Optical Poem
Director
A dance of shapes. A title card tells us this is an experiment in conveying the mental images of music in a visual form. Liszt's "Second Hungarian Rhapsody" is the music. The shapes, all two-dimensional, are circles primarily, with some squares and rectangles, and a few triangles. The shapes move rhythmically to the music: receding from view or moving across the screen. Red circles on a blue background; light blue squares; white rectangles. Then, a red background of many circles with a few in the foreground. Red gives way to blue then to white. Shapes reappear as Liszt's themes re-occur. Then, with a few staccato notes and images, it's over.
Mar 5th 19386.7 / 10
Composition in Blue
Director
An abstract film in which every motion of coloured shapes is in strict synchronization with music. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.
Jun 28th 19356.5 / 10
Motion Painting No. 1
Director
Motion Painting No. 1 is a 1947 experimental short animated film in which film artist Oskar Fischinger put images in motion to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, BWV 1048. It is a film of a painting (oil on acrylic glass); Fischinger filmed each brushstroke over the course of 9 months. In 1997, this film was selected for inclusion in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.
Dec 31st 19476.2 / 10