info about Len Lye's experimental film...

check out his film  "A color Box 1935" on youtube

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Anecdocte:

Lye's dazzling early experimental films brought him to the attention of Alfred Hitchcock, who asked him to do some hand-painted special effects for his 1936 film Secret agent, starring Peter Lorre and

John Gielgud (who Lye had worked with the year before on his first direct-animated film Full fathom five). Lye's task was to create a hand-painted fire for a scene involving a train wreck, but Lye took the job one step further and made it appear that the highly flammable nitrate film stock itself had caught fire in the projector. In Lye's vivid sequence,

Storm c.1960-1965

Blade 1976

Film still from Free radicals 1958/1979

Harmonic 1960the “scorched” film appeared to jerk on and off the screen, before melting into blackness.

“My God, the thing's on fire!” shouted the projectionist. It was a special preview screening, and he had not been forewarned. The audience rushed for the exit while he killed the projector, causing it some damage. Neither the projectionist, nor the studio executives were amused.

Hitchcock and his partner Ivor Montagu wanted the sequence to convey the crash's effect on the characters' lives, and were no doubt impressed by its effect. They had a letter written to warn projectionists that the film was not actually on fire, but the production company was less enthusiastic. Concerned about the potential liability, they forced the filmmakers to remove Lye's sequence, and unfortunately it was lost on the cutting room floor.
source http://www.govettbrewster.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=AHdOICvCs2o%3D&tabid=295