<a key inspiration for Orpheus and Eurydice was the poem Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats. As in the poem these 6 characters are also trapped within the art remaining forever young and beautiful. Since no Greek vase has ever been found that matches Keats's description I chose a myth with a circular motif to allow the action to travel round the vase and back to its starting point. Using this structure meant the film could not be edited in the conventional sense. The action is continuous with the hero always centre stage and the scenery travelling past him. Although there was no attempt to actually make the surface curved to imiate a vase, the presence of the border top and bottom screen in itself presented a serious challenge when we were shooting. The rostrum camera was fairly basic. It didn't have travelling peg bars which would have allowed us to move the artwork along a mechanically-calibrated path. Instead we used pieces of white camera tape, bits of cardboard and rulers rigged up against a strip of paper with increments drawn on it at 1/8th inch intervals. It was a triumph of will over physical constraints for Donald the cameraman to keep everything steady while trying not to make any mistakes.../>

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song,...