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A Staring Contest in HD: Godfrey Reggio on the Uncanny Vision of 'Visitors'

Godfrey Reggio's black-and-white follow-up to his 'Qatsi' trilogy, is shot and projected in such high resolution, that it's easy to forget that you're even looking at a screen.

Visitors, Godfrey Reggio's haunting black-and-white follow-up to his Qatsi trilogy, is shot and projected in such high resolution (at four times the resolution of typical HD) that it's easy to forget that you're even looking at a screen. The film's 74 long slow close-ups—of human faces, a gorilla, the scattered shots of fingers touching an invisible keyboard, as well as a cyborg character—suggest that humanity and technology are intrinsically linked.

"Technology for me is probably the most misunderstood subject on the planet," said Reggio. "We keep thinking of it as another category, like the economy, like religion, like war, but it is as ubiquitous as the air we breathe and we're strapped in and along for the ride."

The film may not be your typical cinema experience, nor is it continuation of Reggio's timelapse-heavy Qatsi trilogy. It's a slow-burning affair that Reggio hopes viewers will continue to reflect on after leaving the theater. "Each person that sees this film, for those that are willing to leave the familiar, to journey beyond what they expect, if they can stop making sense, if they can just let this wash over them, then perhaps it can offer them something."

Watch a making-of video above by the Creators Project, where you can read more about 'Visitors'.