The lens captures so much reality that it makes it impossible to ignore the presence of the camera. This level of realism is not completely immersive: even the most basic editing and framing will be opposed to the naked reality in the lens.
Comparing the shooting of "Four Springs", the person holding the camera is a family member. Photography is a kind of participation and recording of life. The lens and reality are full of love and warmth as a family. In "Honey Land", the camera exists as a completely objective and neutral record, faithfully recording everything, even witnessing the incident of the neighbor destroying the last hive of the protagonist with a chainsaw. This kind of paragraph prevents me from being independent from the screen like only watching feature films, and I also want to send out the question that is often asked in the comment section of those video sites, "Why don't you stop him when you have time to make a video?". I can understand the action of the film crew intellectually, but I always have this kind of knot in my emotions, which stifles me and prevents me from being immersed in the so-called honey-like emotion of the so-called man and nature.
When Pei Ye's photographer was shooting "The Wilderness", most of the time was hidden behind the camera. But when there is some real danger in the wilderness, he and Bei Ye will help each other through the camera. And it's all like "true false": making audiences more indulged in his adventures, albeit scripted. The absolutely objective method of "Honeyland" is more like a "false reality", because the existence of the camera is destined to affect the emotional expression and communication of the characters. When the protagonist and the neighbor's children are cooking a fire by the campfire, she said, "...if I had a son like you, things would be different." Hit, this sadness runs from her youth to this moment and will sweep over her future. This emotion is not from the script and the design, but from the real sadness, and it really comes from the woman I am watching on the other side of the world. It was carrying so much power that it made me feel uneasy for a moment. I can't even continue to enjoy her life record with peace of mind, why should I spy on her life like this, when I can't do anything for her?
Maybe I've been immersed in those designed "sad" and "truth" for too long, I can't digest her emotions, and I can't comfort her. The truth upsets me.
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