In addition to Jean Painlevé's undisputed position as a pioneer of scientific underwater film, his connections to the Surrealists are of particular interest from an artistic perspective. His affectionate microscopic perspective on the fascinating creatures of the underwater world changed the scale and drew the audience even deeper into an alien abstract world. His ability to view these creatures up close, and the otherworldly images he discovered in the process, caught the attention of surrealist photographers such as Man Ray, whom he subsequently helped to get a starfish for his film of the same name. In contrast to Painlevé, who always looked for what is unique in the foreign to make animals more familiar to humans, Man Ray's intention is different and aims at cinematography itself. For the familiar needs to be learned as well as the foreign.