What if you could paint your own Vermeer?  Teller (as in the famous magicians Penn and Teller) has directed a new documentary called Tim’s Vermeer.  It was shown at the recent Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals and is receiving great reviews.  It follows the investigation of an inventor, Tim Jenison, into the painting methods of Jan Vermeer.  Jenison is best known to those in Digital Media as the founder of NewTek and the mastermind behind the revolutionary Video Toaster (along with Dana Carvey’s brother Brad) back in the 1980s.

It has long been surmised that the photographic style of Vermeer is due to his use of a camera obscura, a centuries old device to project images.  In the movie, Jenison (who is not a painter) finds a way to recreate how Vermeer did it.  Scheduled for release this January, it comes on the heels of the hugely popular exhibition of The Girl with the Pearl Earring with other Dutch masterpieces at New York’s Frick Collection.  Watching Jenison at work is fascinating in the short clip below, though it will not diminish anyone’s respect for Vermeer.  Can’t wait to see the movie, in which Jenison recreates Vermeer’s Music Lesson.

Special bonus:  Teller (the always silent partner of Penn) talks (!) at length about his film.  Warning:  it is more than 30 minutes.