The Runners from Banyak Films on Vimeo.
Did somebody post this before? Because I can’t believe I’m the first one here to stumble upon it. I suppose it’s only been up on Vimeo for a few days, but anyway… I love this piece. Not only did the directors interview people in a position we’ve never seen done before, but they found a moment where people were inherently willing to put their guard down. There’s something about the existential connection between our inner monologues and our physical beings that makes any kind of motion cause your mind to drift. There’s been times in my life when I’ve been a runner, and the cerebral clarification part of the process was always my biggest reason for doing it.
There’s an awesome article with these fellas at The Guardian that shows the cool bike trailer they created to film the interviews, but also talks about how willing the majority of the people were to start speaking. I think some of the comfort level not only arises from this mindset that people are in mid-run, but also the quick realization that these directors were doing everything they can to not get in the way. I’m finding in my own work that sometimes creating that comfort zone with your interviewee is the biggest part of the process. While filming Grateful Dead bowling, I’ve been having a surprisingly difficult time getting folks to loosen up around me. I think a good degree of the uneasiness comes from the stereo typical angle of mockery that is often used in news pieces in regard to the Deadhead community. However as tomorrow will now be the 3rd week (three and a half) I’ve spent at the lanes, as well as the 2nd time filming, I feel as though I’ve now built up a long enough track record for myself with these folks that they’re finally ready to be themselves in front of the camera. There’s nothing worse than a stiff hippie for some bad interview footage – take my word for it.
Back to The Runners though, this video reminds me of Taxi Cab Confessions. The stories all seem to have that fairly direct and quick path to deep insight, caused by a near instantaneous degree of acceptance.
Such a creative idea! I love at the beginning how they do the quick cuts where they overlay the common question with the various responses. It’s a smooth and interesting transition that gets you right in to the piece. I’m also interested by the kind of video portrait styling I’m seeing a lot of lately, where we hear someone talking and are looking at them doing a motion or in action but don’t cut to the actual footage of them saying it until a few seconds later. I think it helps make content more interesting to watch at times.
This piece isn’t really full of surprises, but one part that kinda had me wondering what was going to happen next occurred when they asked the guy with the headphones who his favorite person was. He had headphones on and he didn’t really look like he was engaging with them, and he did’t respond right away, so I assumed that he wasn’t listening or was possibly annoyed. He responded however and ultimately told an intimate story about his dad. It was a really simple moment of uncertainty that I appreciated since most everything else came somewhat easily.