By Allen Wilson
Standing behind the lens give you an interesting perspective on life. People don’t pay much attention to you. Much like a cab driver, waitress, or janitor you have a tendency to be invisible. Don’t get me wrong, everybody sees the camera, but the person holding it doesn’t seem to exist.
Being “invisible” allows you to see the inside of the story. What people say, what people say about what people say, and what people do. Once the film is in the can and the editing begins you get another insight. You watch the same scene over and over, see every nuance of a person’s body language, every flicker of their eyes, every twitch of their brow. You hear every nuance of their voice. Over and over the message hammers home an essence of a person that most never see or hear.
With a little help a filmmaker can make a candidate look like a statesman or a fool. More times than not they don’t need that help. They are quite capable of doing it all by themselves. They all happen to be afflicted by the same malady – being human. Some things can’t be covered up, arrogance, anxiousness, timidity, audacity, ineptitude. But also what stands out over the editor’s cut is intelligence, thoughtfulness, integrity, and most of all genuineness. I get to see it all with my “black box” all access pass.
As far as my vote goes I’m not invested in District 8, I don’t have a dog in that hunt. In District 24 I believe I’ve found the candidate that best represents a winning package and an acceptable platform. In District 8 though there is something unusual. There is a candidate with national implications, one who can contribute to the catalyst for a reformation of the government. This candidate understands the limitations of a freshman and the power of an idea. This candidate embodies the desire of the everyday citizen to get back to basics. Just like a sports team that has great players but keeps losing games, this candidate understands we have to focus on fundamentals.
I see an entirely different world from behind the lens. Watching the field of Republicans in District 8, I see a field of candidates that people listen to and one that people hear. I see six that get responses from the crowd and one that gets shouts of support. It is a palpable experience for me, one that I try to share through my work.
I hope that everyone takes the time to look more deeply at your candidate and at the others that are willing to put themselves out there for us to examine. If you ask yourself one more time, “Am I making the right decision?” you may be surprised by your answer. Try to see the candidates the way that I do. Look them in the eye, feel as much as hear what they say, dig for the honesty in their message. Then, I’ll feel like we have all done our job this election cycle. And every now and then ask if you are thinking like that guy behind the lens, are you seeing the world that he’s seeing?