Defining Memoir in Cameraperson

Courtesy of Janus Films

Kirsten Johnson typed an opening text to the audience that she wants her film, Cameraperson, to be viewed as a memoir. However, Cameraperson is not just a memoir. It is also an autobiography of her personal and professional life and a collage of outtakes from her home videos and works from documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11, The Oath, Citizenfour, and The Invisible War. Comparing Cameraperson to Reality Hunger, the film is a self-portrait that features a "back to front" structure, found objects that coexist between art and real life. Every audible sound is autobiographical. The film's structure is "seemingly interesting" as it is seen "back to front, to not be too deeply under the sway of progress.” The film is not in chronological order and does not have a typical three-act structure. The film is meant to be seen as one outtake at a time. There is no overall plot in the documentary. It also means that the film's structure is shown in a fitting way that does not distract the viewer. The memoir is deliberately shown as a photo album. Johnson's favorite outtakes of one film are not revealed all at once. Instead, her scenes are offered in a sequence with relatable themes or patterns from one outtake to another.   

For example, the outtakes of Johnson, a photographer in Botswana, and philosopher Jacques Derrida of Derrida are shown next together at the beginning because they both discuss the ethics and philosophy of people being on film. They also have reactions to what happens when a person is on screen. In Botswana, Johnson tells the woman that it is okay to film anything on the street. After their discussion, a photographer goes out to his porch and takes a photo of Johnson. In Derrida, Jacques Derrida and a guy discuss the philosophy of how Americans "believe themselves to be filmed." Then Derrida says that "the image of the philosopher falls in the well while looking at the star," which made Johnson laugh. If the outtakes were swapped around, the meaning of the sections would stay the same as the clips are not just a back or a front. In Cameraperson, it features "found objects, chance creations, ready-mades (mass-produced items promoted into art objects ...)" that "abolish the separation between art and real-life.” It explains that art and reality can coexist with each other. It also means that ordinary objects do not have to be subjectively labeled only as art or normal. Johnston can use her existing surroundings in her shots to make the artistic characteristics of her images invisible. She accomplishes this by playing with audience expectations of the stagnant, tripod/steady shots in Cameraperson.   

For example, the Yemen outtake from The Oath shows an establishing shot of a street in Yemen. Johnson's hand enters the frame a few seconds later and washes her car's windshield. It is implied that the camera is in the car. The shot looked like the camera was placed on a tripod on the street. The camera hides well on the dashboard as the only part of the car visible on-screen is a windshield wiper. Johnson's decision of camera placement is what makes the shot compelling and how to incorporate art into daily activities. The use of sound in Cameraperson "is a bit of autobiography.” Besides hearing Johnson's voice in some of the outtakes, the film documents the lives of different kinds of people worldwide. Her subjects (anonymous or not) have made movements and crucial moments that are significant to their personal history. Their movement and speaking patterns are seen and heard in a different tone and delivery. It indicates that her subjects have gone through other emotions when describing their events. Their autobiographical sounds are parts of how the documentary displays the human condition.  

All audible sounds have an impact on Johnson. Her sound designer edits the sound to create meaning for the audience. For example, when the lightning strikes at Nowaday County, it creates a thrill and beauty of severe to the audience for an otherwise static tripod shot when Johnson whispers her excitement. She also decided to keep recording after the thunder. After that strike, she makes her "signature" in this shot by coughing during the take. Johnson's works featured in the memoir are "always a portrait" of herself. Johnson selected outtakes that reflect her identity as a woman, daughter, mother, and filmmaker. For example, an outtake from Virgin Tales shows young female ballerinas dancing at a purity ball with excitement. It then cuts to an outtake from Here One Day where director Kathy Leichter is angry that her mother has a lot of "Kiss Me" pins and random stuff her mom had. After throwing her mom's pins, Leichter's reaction might have been the same reaction that Johnson had when she went through the five stages of grief following her own mother's death.   

The outtakes also reflect Johnson's interest in socializing with people outside her background, nature, sports, religion, and social issues. She shows her interest by having a variety of shots of her subjects and ensuring that she can have common ground with her subjects before her interviews, as stated when she was in Bosnia. She gets more VIP access to mosques, football fields, and clinic rooms with those relationships. Johnson had shots in Cameraperson that are perfectly composed. However, she also had images that were not the best to let the audience know that she is imperfect and continually improving within herself and her job. For example, in Bosnia, Johnson had shaky tripod set-ups to begin the outtake and took out flowers to create a beautiful shot. She put those sections in the film because her life and job are not accessible. Her experience in documentary filmmaking is what matters in making Cameraperson a self-portrait.   

Cameraperson is a self-portrait that features a "back to front" structure, found objects that coexist between art and real life, and every audible sound is autobiographical. Any existing audible and visual material in the documentary can be interpreted as art and is part of a person's document. Any portion of the outtakes shown in a different order makes the film go in a cycle in a "back to front" structure. Johnson's passion for filmmaking, her interests, identity, and experience shows how the memoir is a self-portrait. These attributes are how Cameraperson intervenes in filmmaking and real life. They also reveal how to quietly incorporate art into everyday lives and what makes the memoir a photo album.