David Holzman's Diary by L. M. Kit Carson

I came across this screenplay for David Holzman's Diary at a street vendor's table. The movie is scripted, but attempts to mimic an off-the-cuff diary entry--the title character, David Holzman, films himself, thinking that by observing the patterns occurring in his life, he will come to some greater understanding of their meaning.

Of course, it doesn’t really turn out that way, and he ends up scaring off his girlfriend, Penny (pictured above), in the process. It's an interesting look at how people react to being filmed: Penny is upset and disturbed by David’s project, while others don’t seem to mind, playing up for the camera.

The movie version features some rather innovative technical effects considering when it was made, such as a sped up montage of images from David’s evening TV viewing, and voiceovers accompanying photobooth pictures. These black and white images appear throughout, which make for a visually appealing book.

Here's the main character testing out a fisheye lens--the effect, as he walks while holding the camera above his head, makes you feel a bit off-kilter while watching it.

It's kind of a strange movie to read as a script--I wish there were more essays, other than the very brief introduction, whether about the impetus for making the film, or its thematic content. Regardless, it's a nice little companion to the movie, and as I stated before, the black and white stills that are reproduced throughout the pages look pretty cool.