Here’s some food for thought for a Saturday morning. John Gruber linked to Kubrick, a three minute short by Armen Antranikian for Channel 4. Click on the image below to watch it.
Taken from this page where you’ll fine more info.
It’s a nice piece, I suppose, but there’s something kind of annoying about it. Some of the speakers come over well but a disturbing number seem to be, frankly, wankers of the highest order. The problem is there’s no room for depth in these sharply edited clips so unless you’re able to give over a sense of depth in your voice or manner you’re going to come over all superficial.
The problem, I think, is that this sort of rapid editing is the norm for documentary-style television right now so we don’t see it as a problem. But compare the above to this 18 minute recording of Tony Kaye talking about Kubrick for the short. It’s a rambling monologue and Kaye stumbles over his thoughts and mild speech impediment as he tries to articulate the huge impact Kubrick has had on his life, and it’s incredibly engaging. Check it out.
I think this is what we mean when we talk about “authenticity”. It’s unmediated, unedited and very human. This is a person with their guard down, struggling to articulate something important to them. They may not get the performance right, though there are many moments of drama, but the passion and genuine feeling is tangible.
I’m not saying one is better than the other or that editing and mediating is an inherently bad thing. I do, however, think there’s a value in letting people talk and while the constraints of broadcast television means editing right down to the wire is a necessity the infinite storage and reach of online means we can let our voices breath a bit.
Amusingly this is letting us come full circle. I’m reminded of this Horizon interview with Richard Feynman from 1981 where he just talks for 50 minutes.
Though in fairness contemporary film makers like Errol Morris do produce work like this, notably his magnificent Fog Of War (which can you watch or download in full from Google Video) comprising of interviews with Robert McNamara. Here’s a clip.
But Morris is still editing to a script, evidenced by McNamara not being happy with the end result. While Morris might linger and let the subject breathe he’s certainly editing.
I can’t end a post like this without referring to the most terrifying example of single shot, authentic film making, the now legendary KBR Convoy Ambushed in Iraq:
I first came across this in a 2006 article by Peter Bradshaw where he applied cinematic theory to YouTube fare with interestingly positive results.
So is the future unedited?
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