By 1928, Hans Richter was by no means past experimentation with the filmic medium; on the contrary, he was only beginning to discover how he could blur the lines between film and painting while using motion pictures to a greater effect than his artwork prior to that. A lot of the time, his work was purely abstract and used that abstraction to convey a main point, but "Race Symphony" is proof he also was interested in creating an abstraction out of pure documentary footage with no other apparent intent. Unlike "Everyday" and "Two Pence Magic", this film does not present itself with any obvious commentary involved, nor any other exterior purpose that might seem to enhance the meaning with the work: it is purely experimental, and one does not need to analyze it further to see it any different.
In this five minute film, Richter simply takes his documentation of a horse race and edits it in unique ways to create a unique variation on the work much in the style of most of his other movies made in the late 1920's. The usual frantic cutting, closeup shots, and superimpositions are all present within the film, which provide a fresh look at something that would be much less exciting within a documentary film. It's not an especially outstanding short by any means, but serves as a decent example of Richter's experimentation as he grew more and more familiar with the medium's potential in art.
In this five minute film, Richter simply takes his documentation of a horse race and edits it in unique ways to create a unique variation on the work much in the style of most of his other movies made in the late 1920's. The usual frantic cutting, closeup shots, and superimpositions are all present within the film, which provide a fresh look at something that would be much less exciting within a documentary film. It's not an especially outstanding short by any means, but serves as a decent example of Richter's experimentation as he grew more and more familiar with the medium's potential in art.