Amateur filmmaking relied on borrowed cameras and donated studio space

Evidence

On his first visit to the Windsor roof, Conrad discovered “lots of weird substances being consumed and strange people arriving on the scene.” He was “surprised when it turned out that people took three hours to put on their makeup [and] several more hours to put on their costumes” (and even more surprised when, after assigning him a dress to wear, Smith “ripped it down the back to expose my ass and turned my back to the camera.”) By all accounts, Smith took great care in preparing for each shooting session. Photographer-filmmaker Richard Preston, who had produced some animated collage trailers for the Charles, took the bulkhead above the Windsor for his studio and loaned Smith his 16mm, three-lens Bolex. — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 416