Review of Tim's Vermeer (2013) by Lois C — 31 Jan 2014

This film follows Video Toaster / LightWave inventor Tim Jenison who, after reading a book about how Vermeer might have used a camera obscura to create his paintings, came up with an alternate theory that it would take a set-up involving a lens and two mirrors for an artist to create images with the realism that Vermeer displayed.

Jenison then recreated the 17th century setting of one of Vermeer's paintings (including glazing the windows and building the furniture himself) and, even though Jenison was not an artist and had never painted before, managed to recreate the Vermeer in a painstaking process that took over four months.

This may sound boring on paper, but the movie was a great blend of technology, art, history, and humor (it was produced, directed and narrated by magicians Penn & Teller).