The screen is a neutral element in the film-going experience. Or is it? It projects dreams but is also the receptacle of our dreams. It’s the vehicle for delivering the image to an audience — but does it also watch the audience at the same time? Is it a complicitous membrane which audience members can penetrate and which interacts with the spectators, despite its seeming passivity? Maybe — to all of the above …
Film
Video Essay: Mark Rappaport on The Empty Screen
A new video essay from Mark Rappaport about movies in movies, and how the screen watches us just as we watch it.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
Related Stories
Holding It In
Filmmaker Shannon Plumb looks back on her summer, a transitional time of limbo and waiting ...
The Moment That Nearly Broke Us
Filmmakers Amanda and Michael Drexton chart the creative highs and lows that led to their Soderbergh-endorsed breakout debut feature, Sour Party.
Three Great Things: Kevin Macdonald
The Oscar-winning director, whose new film The Runner is now streaming, on his love of Lonesome Dove, Los Angeles and Leonard Cohen.
WHAT I WATCHED: You’ve Always Been a Napa Boy
Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman share the movies and references that inspired their feature film.
Faith and Flesh on Film
Emily Bennett traces the deep roots of her newly released horror movie Blood Shine, which she co-wrote, co-directed and stars in.
Three Great Things: James Ashcroft
The director of the new dark thriller The Whisper Man, which is now on Netflix, opens up about books, fashion and parenthood.
