Rhapsody on a Theme from a House Movie

“…creating a subtle, shifting collage of static dwellings and abstracted, moving dwellers. Focusing in, yet never invading, suggesting depths by softly touching surfaces, the film concentrates on the exterior yet indicates an interior in which houses become homes become community…” – Helle Viirlaid When I first conceived the film, I saw it as a purely formal investigation of the visual effect(s) of creating a constant rhythmic series of lap dissolves. My original expectation was that by dissolving together overlapping static-camera shots, an illusion of movement might occur. After viewing the initial film footage, I realized that, apart from the intended formal/structural context, there existed in the imagery a rich, detailed portrait of my street and its inhabitants. I continued to work on the film, realizing that my priorities had shifted from the original intent to investigate the formal aspects of the film to one more concerned with the emotional colouring of the human landscape portrayed in the film.