Thanks for the reply back Ron! I’m going to make the decision in the first five minutes. It’s going to be an interesting experiment. It’s amazing that we have the power to change the feeling of the story we’re telling by having our subjects move their heads only a few millimeters. So much of filmmaking is a science of millimeters.

Hey Anton, I think the fact that the Fog of War made you uncomfortable is spot on why it is effective to have the subject look into the camera. You felt like McNamara was yelling at you. I’m pretty sure that is what Errol Morris wanted. Is that not a key aspect of filmmaking: to emotionally affect the audience?

As far as your shoot this weekend, I would be wary of starting one way then switching. It may be weird if half the people are looking into the camera, and the other half are not. Just a thought. I say go for it. If they start veering off, get them back on track. Take over. Be the director! 🙂

Hey Aaron, I agree about creating that connection. I will probably start doing more videos with subjects looking into camera since so much of my work is based on emotional appeal.

I feel it’s more personable and a conversation between the person on camera and the audience, not a 3rd party person off camera, adds sincerity.

The cultural point is a very interesting one Evro. I can imagine in some cultures it would be very off-putting.

Your point about looking directly into the camera addressing the audience is right on. For this particular project, that’s exactly the feel I’m going for.

As always, thanks for commenting. I really appreciate your input.