Blurring Reality With the Blair Witch

In an especially tense moment of The Blair Witch Project, student Joshua Leonard makes an interesting realization. "It's not the same on film is it? I mean, you know it's real, but it's like looking through the lens gives you some sort of protection from what's on the other side." (The Blair Witch Project, imdb.com) The line itself speaks of film distorting reality, and that the viewers are protected from that distortion. But how protected do film audiences feel when they watch The Blair Witch Project? The film, released in 1999, is a horror film shot by three young actors, in the style of an amateur video. Not only do the three actors film the movie, though; they improvise every line of dialogue, every bit of action we saw on screen. Their fear of the unknown is genuine, as they never truly know what to expect next. When we see the film, told from the direct perspectives of these three characters, we see exactly what they see. We may even feel the dread that they feel. Does looking through the lens of the Blair Witch Project as an audience grant us protection from this blurred distortion of reality?

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction delves more deeply into perceptions of reality in relation to film, as opposed to the imagery created by a contemporary artist. “The painter maintains in his work a natural distance from reality, the cameraman penetrates deeply into its web. ...for contemporary man the representation of reality by the film is incomparably more significant than that of the painter, since it offers... an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment. And that is what one is entitled to ask from a work of art.” The Blair Witch Project doesn't use any elaborate tricks to try and sway us. The film itself is very low-budget, and the special effects are minimal. What the film does, however, is create a powerful atmosphere out of almost nothing. The film makes us fear, makes us feel! The film is, in essence, a work of art.


It is also stated in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction that, as an effect of film, "man has to operate with his whole living person, yet forgoing its aura. For aura is tied to his presence; there can be no replica of it. The aura which, on the stage, emanates from Macbeth, cannot be separated for the spectators from that of the actor." The aura of The Blair Witch Project envelops the actors of the film, but to a degree, it also manages to ensnare us through the fear of the situations on-screen. Though The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction would argue that film completely negates the aura of an actor, it is evident that one of the film's primary intentions is to recapture the aura. Though the three characters on-screen are actors, they still do not know what to expect next, making their fear genuine. And when we see the story through their eyes, we can feel that same fear and dread that they all feel. We feel the aura that surrounds the actors. The film effectively indicates that it is possible to have an actor perform in a reproduced film and still maintain an effective aura.