First I will begin with what I found was positive. She presented a clip from Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero in which a woman talks about experiencing evil. Helen talked about her efforts to creatively show the concept of evil. I realized here how challenging expressing an abstract idea with concrete visuals can be. She had a tide coming in during the twilight of the day and artwork from non-Christian faiths depicting evil. She did not want to convey a straightforward metaphor (i.e. image of grim reaper=evil). She wanted to be far more conceptual, emotional, and allow the viewer to do some of the work. I was very impressed by how much thought she had put into such a short segment of her work. Helen stated that she feels she somewhat failed in her goal with this scene but what I took away was a reflection on the effort and thought I put into my own short documentaries. Do I allow frames to be wasted or is everything carefully thought through and purposeful?
What surprised me was how abstract Helen was all the time. A lot of questions were asked that she never directly answered. One student asked how she draws the line between what she includes in a film and what she does not when a subject really trusts her and reveals incredibly personal and sensitive experiences and thoughts. She went on to tell stories that led to tangents that never answered the question--and I really wanted her insight on this subject. So while I admire how hard Helen Whitney works, I would have liked some more straightforward answers to many of the questions.
