I had a shift at the reception desk at the NWFC yesterday, which is to say that I had 8 hours to catch up on some of the New Yorker I have been neglecting due to school. One of the articles I read was about Diana Nyad and her various attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida. One some of these attempts, including her final one, her nephew was filming a documentary about her. At one point he captured the moment when she got stung by a box jellyfish.
This video almost feels like an example of reporting about someone without interviewing them. After Diana got stung an EMT jumped in to help her. Unfortunately, he was also stung and jumped back out. We see Diana screaming and obviously in pain, so the viewer definitely gets an idea of what it might possibly feel like, but Diana kept on swimming. The EMT got out and tended to the stings. Additionally, he talked about the experience, and how the pain continued to get worse. He said he was in such pain and could’t imagine how Diana experienced what he had and was still out there swimming. So, the filmmaker wasn’t able to put the camera in Diana’s face and ask her about the experience, but he got lucky when the other guy got stung because he was able to get him on camera talking about what it was like.
I think this video is a reminder of how important it can be sometimes to always keep the camera rolling. If they weren’t able to catch that initial moment where she starts freaking out, the subsequent footage would not have been nearly as powerful. Also despite the video being rather shitty, the action is strong enough that the footage is totally worth using – that’s a good reminder for myself as I get overly concerned about the shot being perfect in the heat of the moment.
Even filming at night seems like it would be so tough, but it’s evident in this example and many others (Bigfoot shows, Monster Quest, whatever ghost shows are hot these days..) that sometimes the most compelling moments are hidden in the chaos, and even if you don’t see the action happen, showing the shaky dark footage might tide the audience over until we have the aftermath discussion, which people will probably want to see.
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