Speaking Indirectly About Pockets of Poetry

     What I admired most about Speaking Directly was the apparent honesty and vulnerability of the director.  Now, I don't know Jon Jost, so I cannot verify that what I saw was not a fiction, but what I felt, as a viewer, was a person exposing and positioning himself to the point of me feeling that he didn't pull any punches or paint himself to be more or less than who he is (if that is possible).  He's able to create a sense of authenticity and, for this film, it is vital.
     What I would like to focus on as far as what I can apply from Jon's film to the projects for this class is how he uses different types of visuals and audio to represent himself, others, and ideas in this film to keep the representations fresh and interesting.  He uses film, photographs, special effects, stock footage and audio, music, narration, and other techniques.
     A specific sequence I found most interesting was when he was introducing people that he knew in his life.  During these sequences, he typically switches between photographs and film of the people he's talking about and he also conducts 'interviews' with some of them.  The most interesting decision I thought he makes was when he cuts to the film of a path to his neighbors - it's unique because up until then most everyone he's discussing is given a photograph or film visualization and to use the path to represent these people breaks the rhythm, yet still reveals something about his neighbors, himself, and their relationship.  So the decision, while it may have been necessary because they weren't available, still fits the 'showing' us his neighbors.
     Though the film is full of smart and clever artistic decisions, this moment took me somewhere that was unexpected, but not jarring (like jarring me out of the film).  It was a poetic moment that made me laugh the good laugh.
     How to apply this to the projects I'll be working on in this class (and beyond) is more about choice than it is about how to apply it technically.  While representing my subjects in my projects I will try to use different ways to 'show' them so that the subjects remain fresh to the viewers.  This doesn't mean I arbitrarily apply a technique just to be different - how and what I use to represent my subjects will still have to fit within the framework of the rest of the film/video.  It is those combined choices that will allow for pockets of poetry to appear.