Before becoming curator of the Eames collection after her mother's death in 1988, Lucia Eames was a child herself and was the loose subject of this lively short that features more aspects of the Eames Case Study House. The house, which was built in one of the most ideal locations in America (Pacific Palisade, California), and its grounds share the spotlight with Lucia and is explored in and out through the chase. In through the back door and up the magnificent spiral staircase, leading to an open window which drops out onto an elevation the house is built on. The surrounding grounds are then explored. The front of the house shows its only attachment to outside life as roads and other houses on the street below are barely visible. Then to the back where the beautiful Pacific Ocean is the house's other border. Our story ends with a small rough housing between the playful thief of Lucia's diary and Lucia.
The film, made with the Polavision Instant Home Movie System, a short lived motion camera by Polaroid that tanked under pressure from the video market, is an example of what can be done with decent equipment in the right hands. The Vignette never ceases to entice the viewer as the music (by Elmer Bernstein of course) corresponds to the action of the chase, and the images on the screen are bright and saturated, not grainy (a problem reported by later Polavision users). The film is wonderful, and at less than three minutes long, it can be watched over and over again without tire.
