Signing Alphabet



Signing Alphabet is a film by animator Steve Finkin that features Western classical music for voice and electronics by Joan La Barbara. An image of an animated hand morphs into the letters of the alphabet and its colors change into inhuman flesh tones. The soundtrack consists of a tapestry of sound made entirely of La Barbara’s voice using the sound of each letter, processed electronically, that makes unnatural timbres. Sometimes the results are pleasing, and sometimes there are harsh dissonances. In the middle of each section, the name of each letter can be heard clearly.

There is another segment by Finkin that has a similar look, in which the American Sign Language gesture for I love you is explained.