Blog #4

The artist presentation by documentary filmmaker Kristen Johnson seems almost like an experience. Kristen captivated the whole room with her constant movement, jokes, and enthusiasm. The reason Kristen moved around the room so often is to show us the importance that a cameraperson should always be moving and getting to know their current environment. Through movement and exploration, you can find a lot of great shots and subjects.
Kristen also expressed to us all that we do whatever it takes to get our shots. One example she gave was from her film that she showed in class. In her film, the camera was moving through a bundle of balloons. The purpose of this shot was to provide some color to the film, which mainly captured gray and tan land.  For Kristen to get this shot, she had to walk into the balloons and ask the boy holding them for permission. Another example she used was the carrot shot. In that shot, she wanted to capture the carrots and the blimp in the same shot. To get this shot, Kristen had to lay on the ground with the camera in the middle of a market. If Kristen didn't go the extra mile, she wouldn't have gotten those great shots.
During her presentation, Kristen asked us to look into each other's eyes for two minutes. Her reasoning for this was to get us out of our comfort zone and get intimate with strangers. This is similar to how someone has to be and feels in front of a camera.
Overall, I learned a lot from her presentation. The number one thing I took away from her presentation was the importance of getting to know people. Kristen executed this by walking around the room and talking randomly to us. Through this curiosity, you can find out things that you would've never known about.