The Magician and the Cameraman

The Blair Witch Project was one of the first real attempts at creating a movie were the viewer thought it was “reality”. But unfortunately reality happens to be extremely broad. There are many aspects of reality one could try to replicate. Walter Benjamin, writer of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction describes two facets of reality that greatly impact our perception of what is realistic. First being aura, the presence giving off between the interaction of an actor and the audience (as in what occurs during a play). This aura is the interaction between physical people and objects. This is almost impossible to recreate in cinema. When you view The Blair Witch Project you see people and landscapes, but they are not literally there. In the case of a film you are viewing a two dimensional screen, not a physical environment. If you sectioned off a one inch square of screen, and enlarged it, the image becomes distorted and unrecognizable. If you were to do this with an actual person or landscape, there features will disappear, but you will be able to recognize it is a physical object. Because you are not connecting with the actually elements, you lose physical interaction, and therefore aura.
But all is not lost. The Blair Witch Project does succeed in cutting into reality and therefore replicating it to a degree. The movie does not just try to depict a story; it tries to get inside your head and force you to live one. This invasive tactic creates a veil of reality that in certain points of the movie, is hard to lift. This is done a couple of ways. First there is no music/soundtrack in the movie. There is no music/soundtrack in reality. Although music can be an important dramatic effect, it inevitably shatters the perception of reality a movie tries to create. The Blair Witch Project was also shot almost entirely hand held. The shaky camera is more realistic than shots taken from a stable tripod. When the characters run through the woods, it is visual chaos, you can barely make out what is going on. But this represents reality. When you sprint through the woods you are not turning your head on a level tripod, you are dashing around objects, making your head and eyes (camera) shaky. The above techniques all help to create the allure of reality, but there is one last aspect that cuts the deepest. The entire movie was shot in the first person. The camera lens acts as a characters point of view. This technique directly immerses the viewer. When watching a movie not shot in first person, the viewer has the option of immersing themselves in what’s displayed, but in this case, you have no choice. You are forced into the middle of the situation.
There is no way to recreate the aura of interaction between two physical elements. And because of this the film would not try to recapture it. But the film does cut into you and therefore reality. The Blair Witch Project is realistic because if forces you to be involved. It cuts out the anticipated Hollywood garnish, and leaves you with the raw elements creating a more perfect picture of reality than anything before it. As Walter Benjamin would say “Magician and surgeon compare to painter and cameraman”. The Blair Witch Project was a life saving operation performed by a skillful hand.