The Innerview

This film greatly influenced my student films. It was a very personal film, seemingly related to a psychedelic experience. Several fellow students couldn't relate, or simply tried to get to know Richard. This happened in 1972 between September and December at Los Angeles City College Intro to Filmmaking class taught by J.P. Guens (author, teacher).

Shot in 16mm color, it had a documentary feel and an eerie narrative. I vaguely recall some nudity, and lots of meaningful blank stares; it reminded me of the audience imposition of intent that Kuleshov experimented with in 1920's Russian cinema.

My student project borrowed from this heavily and I was challenged by one of the instructors (Rick Stanton) on the issue of originality. Had I known of sampling at the time, I would have made this argument. As it turned out, my fellow students had a standoffish reverence for my interpretation of the mind, no simple feat for an 18 year old. My defense of my work, something I had never experienced before, amounted to borrowing anything I wanted without shame or apology. This was the only time Stanton ever commented positively on my thought process.

I credit Beymer to this day with inspiring me. I had seen experimental films at the UCLA Student Film shows starting 1966. I immediately embraced the idea of shooting what was in my head but could never visualize what was going on in there. Beymer delivered the strong sense of a vision, and the visual cinematic techniques to support that vision.