ATMOSPHERE – 1976 / 10:00 / 16mm to SD

In Atmosphere the camera pans back and forth over a body of water at a varying tempo and most people assume that a camera operator is in charge. The final image of the film carries a great deal of significance. It opens up a gap between the film’s appearance and its reality; what it appears to be what it imitates is not an object or scene from everyday life, but a film.Atmosphere is not just an imitation, but an imitation of an imitation, a metafilm that plays with the viewer’s expectations about cinematic form.

— R. Bruce Elder, Image and Identity