On-screen Cameras: Mirrors of Cinematic Practice - Text 9
Wim Wenders, for his part, in The State of Things (Der Staten der Dinge, 1982), shows a Canon AF 514 XL-S Super 8 camera being used in this (apocalyptic science fiction) film for what appears to be the gathering of evidence or a search for survivors. The images in the diegetic work are thus of two kinds, alternating between them: sepia images supposedly recorded on set by the professional camera (an old Arriflex in a soundproofing blimp); and those produced by the small device – images which, curiously, have an appearance closer to video – to create a double mise en abîme. When the diegetic film shoot is suspended for lack of money, and in particular a lack of film stock, only the Super 8 camera remains active and is used to glean images right up to the tragic end of its operator who, before being shot down by the mafia, holds it like a revolver. Fallen to the ground, he continues to film, giving us the film’s final shot.
