Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Cameraperson Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 26, 2020

For certain enterprising viewers who love documentaries, Cameraperson might make for an interesting multi-feature (as opposed to just a double feature) with another Criterion release, Les Blank: Always for Pleasure, though there are a couple of manifest differences. The first of these is that Cameraperson's Kirsten Johnson is a cameraperson, and so works with a variety of directors (notably Michael Moore). Structurally, Cameraperson plays a bit more like a "greatest hits" collection rather than as a bunch of separate documentaries per the Blank collection, with Cameraperson offering a variety of snippets from a vast array of documentaries shot by Kirsten Johnson. But both Blank and Johnson can offer a naturalistic account of some very unique people, though, usually in unfiltered and unrehearsed moments that are often quite captivating if occasionally maybe a little disturbing. Johnson is a bit more of a global gallivanter than Blank (at least as evidenced by the documentaries included in the Blank collection), and that gives Cameraperson's many clips a rather distinctively broad array of cultures and locales.

Kind of interestingly, that globe trotting element is dealt with via identifying intertitles before the various clips which only give the location of the filming. Also kind of interestingly, there's very little other contextual information imparted about any of the bounteous clips included in Cameraperson, though the selection tends to create its own version of "montage theory", and may suggest (as does a kind of "statement of purpose" included in this release's insert booklet) that Johnson is seeking to really define what it means to plop a camera down in front of "real" people and ask them to reveal themselves. As such, this can feel like a grabbag at times, but there are some absolutely fascinating clips here, including some that seem to hit particularly close to Johnson's own home.

Cameraperson Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cameraperson is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer largely in 1.78:1 (as can be made out in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, certain clips are in a variety of narrower aspect ratios). The insert booklet included with this release has the following information on the master:

Cameraperson is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format [sic]. The footage in the film was shot on a wide array of video cameras, including the Panasonic AG-DVX100 and AG-DVX200, a Sony Betacam, a Panasonic VariCam, the Sony DSR-PD150, the Canon EOS C300, the Sony PXW-FS7, the JVC GY-HMU100U, and the JVC GY-HM-850. Final color correction was done using Digital Vision Nucoda Film Master. Approved by director and cinematographer Kirsten Johnson, the final color corrected DPX files were output to Rec. 709 high definition color space for Blu-ray and DVD release.

The film features a fully digital soundtrack. The 5.1 surround audio for this release was mastered from the original digital audio master files using Pro Tools HD.

As can probably be gleaned from both the above verbiage which hints at the heterogeneous nature of this feature, as well as from some of the screenshots accompanying this review, there's a rather wide array of quality on display throughout this piece. Some snippets look upscaled and can have slight ghosting and what I'm assuming were inherited defects like interlacing anomalies. Other moments look relatively crisp, with good to very good fine detail levels and natural accountings of the palette.

Cameraperson Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cameraperson's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has surround activity that can ebb and flow, depending on the clip being utilized, but there are surprisingly consistent levels of amplitude and general fidelity running through the entire feature. Dialogue and first person confessionals are all delivered clearly and cleanly without any problems whatsoever.

Cameraperson Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Editing Cameraperson (1080p; 36:31) is a 2016 piece featuring director Kirsten Johnson, producers Marilyn Ness and Danielle Varga, and editors Nels Bangerter and Amanda Laws.


• In the Service of the Film (1080p; 39:06) is another 2016 piece with Johnson, documentary filmmaker Gini Reticker and sound recordists Wellington Bowler and Judy Karp.


• Festival Talks

  Traverse City Film Festival (1080p; 21:48 ) features a Q & A session with Johnson, hosted by Michael Moore.

  
  

  Sarajevo Film Festival (1080p; 14:51) features Johnson again from August 2016.

• The Above (1080p; 8:35) is a 2015 short by Johnson with a kind of espionage angle.


• Trailer (1080p; 2:05)

A nicely appointed insert booklet is also included. The booklet contains credits, footage sources and filming locations, along with an essay Michael Almereyda called "Getting Close", a director's statement, a kind of cheeky "Incomplete List of What the Cameraperson Enables" and technical information.

Cameraperson Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While Blank is certainly at least a subliminal "character" in most of his documentaries, Cameraperson is probably a more self revelatory piece from Kirsten Johnson. There is some frankly pretty disturbing material that is glanced upon here, but this intriguing collection of snippets pretty strongly demonstrates what a personal connection Johnson feels with the subjects she's filming. Technical merits are understandably variant with regard to video quality, but audio is fine, and the supplementary package very appealing. Recommended.