“I investigated a murder with a camera – an oddity in and of itself, it was not telling a story about a murder investigation, it was the investigation – and evidence was accumulated with that camera…” — Errol Morris
I love this. I find this inspirational and determinative of what I hope to be able to achieve. If even a nuance of this makes it into a project I am apart of I would be happy. I am constantly curious and trying to work out what kind of style I might want to adopt, or what style I might tend to lean towards. I won’t know this until I try different styles out, but it is something I think about. The camera as an investigator seems like a style itself; not making assumptions, not taking a subject for granted, not altering in any way. Instead, keeping up with the events, the camera being the sponge that soaks up everything that takes place, then later, remembering everything and piecing it together as elegantly as possible, like a record of history. Later Morris is quoted again saying, “documentaries can play an important, potentially life-or-death part in contemporary social discourse.” I never want to forget that documentary can change lives.