BLOG 4: Kirsten Johnson

Kirsten Johnson was an extremely engaging lecturer. It's difficult to grab the attention of everyone in an audience, but she knew how to do it. I don't think she stood or sat in one place for longer than 2 minutes. The lesson she taught us there was that as a camera person, especially in documentaries, you cannot always be stationary. You might miss a moment that could be crucial in your documentary. You have to move around and talk to different people and ask a bunch of questions. She kept on emphasizing that you have to use your whole body. My favorite shot of hers was definitely the one with the balloons. One thing I appreciated most about KJ was that not only was she great storyteller through film, she's also a great story teller in person. She told us the story about how she followed the little boy and the little boy told her she could film the balloons as long as they didn't pop. She physically inserted herself and her camera within the balloons to get the right shot. For me personally, I find it extremely difficult approaching people, so I can't even imagine how it must've been for her to be in a foreign country. Not everyone is always so open to being filmed and even more so getting into their personal space.  If I'm being completely honest, her presentation as a whole was a little confusing. It definitely took me a few days to process, because I was expecting to walk into a Q&A, but instead it felt like an improvised session. She would bounce off of people's answers and somehow make it deeper or turn it into something that would fit in to the message she was trying to get across. I enjoyed the presentation as a whole, it was definitely fun. I would've liked it if there was a segment to ask her questions.