 in winter. The camera was mounted on a  mechanical arm that could move in any direction (even upside down).  Using instructions recorded on magnetic tape, the filmakers could  control the arms movement, creating short "routines" that had do be  checked and programmed daily. During the entire movie the only sound  heard are mechanical blips and electronic noises synchronized with  the camera movement. In an interview, Michael Snow said that his aim  to show the kind of images that an alien probe landed on Earth would  report back home.