Schwechater

Schwechater [ˈʃvɛçaːtɐ] is a 1958 experimental short film by Austrian filmmaker Peter Kubelka.

Originally commissioned to make an advertisement for Schwechater Bier [de], Kubelka edited footage from the shoot based on a complex set of rules, producing a rapid procession of images.

[5] After getting the developed film from the laboratory, Kubelka let it sit for six weeks until executives from Schwechater Bier began asking about the commercial.

The intermittent periods of sound happen parallel to the red-tinted sequences, with a low hum and one to three sine tones.

When the Schwechater logo appears at the end of the film, Kubelka used a sustained, high-pitched sine tone.

[3][7] After Kubelka delivered the finished version to Schwechater, they stopped payment to him, ended their relation with him, and destroyed the company's print of the film.

The company sued Kubelka, and the film lab, which had Schwechater as a client, stopped making prints for him.

Director Peter Kubelka in 2014
A sequence of red frames from the film