Errol Morris

Errol Morris (born February 5, 1948 in Hewlett, New York) is an American Academy Award winning documentary film director. His documentaries are almost invariably received with widespread critical acclaim, and The Guardian listed him as number seven in their list of the world's 40 best directors. http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/page/0,11456,1082823,00.html.

The Interrotron

Perhaps the most distinctive stylistic feature of an Errol Morris film is the use of his own invention, the Interrotron. The name "Interrotron" was coined by Morris' wife, Julia Sheehan, who, according to Morris, "liked the name because it combined two important concepts ? terror and interview." http://www.errolmorris.com/content/eyecontact/interrotron.html The device is similar to a teleprompter: Errol and his subject each sit facing a camera. The image of each person's face is then projected onto the lens of the other's camera. Instead of looking at a blank lens, then, both Morris and his subject are looking directly at a human face. The feeling of the monologues that Errol captures on film is human and conversational in way that is usually impossible when a person is talking directly to a camera. Errol has said of the Interrotron, ". . .the beauty of it is that it lets people do what they do best, namely watch TV." http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/phillips-film-1e/morris4.htm

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