Pat O'Neill, one of the most interesting filmmakers in America today, offers a dazzling reflection on the conflict between nature and man in Los Angeles, or the desertification of the city's surroundings due to its enormous water consumption. More interestingly, it is also a film in the age-old tradition of city symphonies: a film about LA's foundation myths and the dreams it embodies, about its history and (grim) future, its topography and ethnography. O'Neill uses footage from several classic films to recreate the several layers of meaning emanating from the city, juxtaposing images and fantasies and hardly ever allowing one picture to go untouched. George Lockwood's swarming soundtrack is likewise composed of conflicting languages, an elaborate work of plunderphonics in which snippets of sound stolen from movies collide with electronic soundscapes, contemporary chamber music, improv, and what not.

이 작품은 35mm로 촬영되었고, 영화 전체를 걸쳐 다중 노출을 사용한다. 여러 이미지가 한데 보이는 장면들은 우리에게 자연에서 도시로 변화하는 것을 동시에 보여준다. 오닐은 또한 긴 패닝과 트래킹 샷을 사용하는데, 이는 특별히 디자인된 컴퓨터로 작동하는 움직임으로 컨트롤한 것으로 오리지널 테이크에 정확하게 다른 레이어를 추가할 수 있게 한다. 그는 또는 영화의 많은 부분에 저속 촬영을 사용했다.