Direct and Mediated - Text 5
Mario Ruspoli’s Méthode 1 adopts feedback in the form of intertwining the two sources of film footage: one follows the actions and gestures of the filmmakers, while the other explores what they are filming. Feedback makes us step back from the production of the images; it questions their ethical value and ability to tell the truth. When this feedback is incorporated into the film, it derives from the editing’s deferment.
Editing’s Deferment
The ultimate site of “direct cinema’s deferment” is of course editing. Beginning with the earliest direct cinema films its importance appeared to stem from the consequence of the filmmakers’ refusal to satisfy the needs of a pre-existing script. It thus fell to the editor to reintroduce narrative logic of a properly cinematic nature into the film. Editing introduces a different temporality than that of the filmed moment, refuting the instantaneousness which the word “direct” suggests by creating a cinematic direct which can only come about after the film has been shot.
