As a cinematographer and director, Kirsten Johnson was observant. Her short film was about a blimp in Kabul, Afghanistan that she had noticed when it kept appearing in the footage she took. Johnson could have seen the blimp and not questioned it at all.
Although she did not intend to make the film, it was her curiosity that led her to tell the story. Her curiosity about the students in the room gave her information she otherwise would not have known. In class, Johnson was able to find out more about the students in the room by asking simple questions and seeing how students responded to them. Small observations, such as the clothes a person is wearing, can be a window to a larger story. The words they used to describe her film were reflections of their own experiences.
Getting responses from students gave Johnson a new understanding of her work. I appreciated that she wanted students to react to her work, and was open to hearing their interpretation of her art. Students mentioned various aspects of her film such as the composition of her scenes, as well as thematic elements like religion and government. The discussion gave both Johnson and the students a unique look at the film.
As an artist, paying attention to the world around you can spark creativity. The stories we tell can derive from the most mundane and seemingly insignificant piece of information. One of my main takeaways from her lecture was that a story can come from anywhere. Asking a question is a good place to start.
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