These are components created on the way to a longer video, of which the fourth component is actually an extract.
I started with the first clip, which is a simple reconstruction of a Bruno Munari "Moire" film. He created his version way back in the 60s(?) by having squares printed on two sheets of acetate and rotating one against the other.
The second clip follows from my dissatisfaction with the hard edge on the squares in clip 1. I 'softened' them by making the shading axial and gave them a bit of life by having them 'breathe'.
The third clip phases the breathing so that some of the cells are delayed by a second or two. The clip actually cycles every 5 seconds, but the random(!) arrangement of delays makes that difficult to see (unless you cut out 5 secs and loop it in your player).
The final clip, which is what I wanted for the video [https://vimeo.com/133078372], now rotates two copies of the third clip, Munari style, against each other. I think it looks hive-ish.