Clive Thompson: “Reading poetry shakes up my brain”
In cinema, for example, there’s a “two-shot”, a moment when the camera is filming two people who are talking, neither of whom is acknowledging the presence of the camera. And there’s a one-shot, where someone is talking directly into the camera — and thus talking directly to the audience. Each of these shots has a different dramatic feel, a different energy.
Long-form magazine writing employs very similar techniques. There are moments when you’re describing two people talking to each other, in a classic two-shot manner. There are moments when you’re relaying quotes and comments that an interviewee said directly to you, and only to you: That’s a one-shot. And as in cinema, these each have a very different energy and drama on the page. And if you think about all the other types of shots in cinema, many have analogues in magazine writing too, like close-ups or panning shots.