Run VII

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:22

Two reasons I post so infrequently are, I'm realizing, just one reason. First, the single unedited shots that make up the majority of my posts (about the boy, anyhow) are tough to capture. They require patience, and a lot of wasted footage waiting to see if something is going to happen. Second, I am acutely aware that these kinds of videos ask for a certain level of patience from the viewer, to wait and continue watching to see if this is the kind of single-take video that ends with a narrative payoff, or one of those that's all about the journey. My concern for the viewer makes editing take longer than one might imagine, as I nudge the starting and ending points by a few frames to get the feel of the transitions just right.

As time has gone on, however, and I browse back through the history of Matchbook Films on my iPhone, I realize that the videos I return to again and again are the ones that are less about storytelling and more about momentshowing. And I remain convinced that within these videos there is something revealed that is about more than how much I adore my own kid.

Perhaps I'm deluding myself. But until my audience drops down to one, I intend to keep sharing these favorite moments, like this one I'd forgotten about from August 2006. Lake Calhoun, Minnesota. The boy has gotten out of the water and into a dry diaper, when he suddenly decides to run off down the path.