"One the of the main characteristics of film poetry, I would say, is the way the film poem is made. (...) Whereas the commercial film has to be laid out ironclad from the beginning to the end, has to follow the script to the point, (...) the film poem follows a different process. There is a general direction, there is an aim, a meaning, a mood in the process of production. But all that grows is not foreseen. It is a result of the creative process itself. It is not so much planning as it is feeling along the path which the theme takes. In other words, the material you accumulate during the shooting is more or less raw material; though is has been planned to contribute to a specific scene or aim, it might, in the end assume a different meaning altogether. This I would call sensitive improvisation."
- Richter, Hans, Hans Richter, London: Thames & Hudson, 1971 pg 144