Sound Of Symbols
Director: Steve Wood
United States, 2025, 6 min
Shooting Format:16mm, DSLR
Festival Year:2026
Category:Experimental
Genres:Music, Science, Animation
Synopsis
Using a 16mm optical audio
reader and an oscilloscope, this
experimental short translates the
geometry of everyday symbols
into their characteristic sounds,
creating visual music from the
shapes that surround us.
Trailer
About the director
Raised on PBS, MTV, and Saturday
morning cartoons, I was exposed at an early age to the possibilities of
experimental animation for short attention spans. I completed my MA in
Telecommunication Arts at The University of Michigan, and have worked
in post-production for 30 years as an editor, compositor, and colorist in
Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, while making short films and
music videos of my own. My films explore themes of visual music,
psychedelia, and experimentation at the intersection of vintage and
modern technologies. My work has screened around the world, and
has been featured in the ACMI Museum in Melbourne (courtesy Center
for Visual Music).
Filmmaker's note
Though the oscilloscope was invented as a way to visualize electrical and audio signals, there is a long history of artists using it to make art. This project was my excuse to finally buy a used scope and learn how to make images with it. To make the oscilloscope images and sounds, I used a piece of software, which when given an image or text will generate a sound which will produce that shape on the oscilloscope. The sounds are very synth-like and electronic, which worked well as a counterpoint to the rumbly lo-fi sounds that come out of the 16mm projector.