Zygosis: John Heartfield and the Political Image

Duration: 26

Year Published: 1991

Creator: British Film Institute

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Description: Pays tribute to John Heartfield, German pioneer of the photomontage, as it uses electronic mimicry of his methods to portray his career as an anti-Nazi satirist. Explains and illustrates the concept of photomontage, its derivation from mass media, and its appropriation and de-politicization in advertising. Animates archival material culled from Heartfield's life and times both to provide the socio-political context of his work and to showcase a variety of computer generated techniques--such as scratch editing, chroma-key, paintbox, and three dimensional animation--done in a satiric spirit inspired by Heartfield's own work.