This visual storytelling for the web using small cameras and desktop based editing systerms seems new, but it’s just the next wave of change in visual storytelling, “something new in journalistic film making.” that last changed 5 decades ago.
The death this week of Richard Leacock, who rode the last revolution of visual storytelling 50 years ago, reminded me that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Leacock was a “seminal figure in developing the artistic theories and the small, lightweight camera and sound equipment that led to a new style of reportorial filmmaking, one that had a profound influence not just on nonfiction filmmakers but also on directors, like John Cassavetes, who were seeking a more immediate, spontaneous style.” according to his NYTimes obit.
Clearly, even though the tools have changed yet again, it’s all about the story.
“He had an eye for character and story,” …… “While doing unimaginably difficult things with the camera, he could think of character and story and the human factor; that was his great gift.”
