You’re at an event. Perhaps it’s an industry conference, an NBA basketball game, or even a Tonight Show taping.
The action is happening right before your eyes. Quick: where are your eyes? If you’re like most people, you’re gaze is fixated on the screen where a camera has framed up a portion of the action.
This used to fascinate me when I hosted TV shows. Audience members would travel for miles, endure long lines, and then race fpr prime seat when the studio doors opened. One day, as I was interviewing Michael J. Fox, I remember dropping my pen, bending down to pick it up as he spoke, and looking out of the corner of my eye at the audience. Not a single soul was looking back at Michsel J Fox the person. Their hero from Back to the Future, foretold the future of our love affair with screens. No one was monitoring him in the flesh. They were transfixed on the studio monitors which had framed his face.
I’m not faulting you for staring at a screen. I do the same thing. My point is that as a society, we’ve been conditioned to stare at screens. To believe that the action the director has framed up is the most significant action in the room, worthy of our attention.
That’s why when you’re on camera, it’s a big deal. People assign it gravitas. Suddenly, you’re more important than you were 10 minutes ago.
