Alice Cherry Just Before Midnight: Let the Camera Wait
Alice Cherry Just Before Midnight: Let the Camera Wait Backstage
Alice Cherry Just Before Midnight sounds like the sort of title that should come with a clock, a countdown and someone shouting, “David, hurry up!” Fortunately, my camera has no idea what time it is. It has enough trouble keeping up with me.
This is the video version of Just Before Midnight for MetArt, and it gives my photographer brain a small problem. With a photograph, I can find one moment I love, press the shutter and feel very pleased with myself. A video refuses to let me get away with that. The moment keeps going. I have to decide whether to stay with it, move on, or resist the urge to interfere just because I happen to be standing behind a camera.
That last option takes practice. I do enjoy giving direction. If I am not careful, I can develop an opinion about every second. Fortunately, Alice is more interesting to watch than I am to listen to.
And what a title to make me question my timing. Just Before Midnight. Before what, exactly? Should I be preparing a dramatic final shot? Is the camera about to turn into a pumpkin? I would like to see how that works, although I would prefer it happen after we finish.
The little question in the title is part of the fun. It gives the video a sense of anticipation without asking me to explain the answer. Alice can hold the viewer's attention; I don't need to stand behind the lens waving an imaginary stopwatch.
My old habit still tries to take over. When I think about a favourite frame, the photographer in me wants to freeze it, admire it and possibly tell everyone within earshot why I chose it. The video quietly reminds me that I am allowed to let the next moment happen. It is a very polite way of telling me to stop showing off.
There is something lovely about that extra time with Alice. A photograph can leave you wondering what happened a second later. Here, you get to keep watching. For me, the pleasure is in that feeling of anticipation, not in racing toward the end of a countdown I invented myself.
So the clock can wait. Alice Cherry has the screen, Just Before Midnight has its teasing little question, and I have one important job behind the camera: know when to let a good moment continue. If I manage that without checking the imaginary clock, I think we are doing very well.
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