A Working Vocabulary
Terms I Use in My Practice
By Matan Tal
This vocabulary defines the core concepts, methods, and ethics that shape my practice as a film essayist. These terms represent how I think about filmmaking, how I work, and the philosophical commitments that guide my choices. They are not dictionary definitions but living concepts that evolve through practice.
Core Forms & Concepts
Staging in Time
Staging in time refers to arranging events across duration rather than within a single space. Unlike mise-en-scène or traditional staging—which organizes elements within the frame—staging in time creates relationships between moments that exist in different physical spaces or different points in the filming process. Characters or elements are staged together conceptually, not spatially. The staging happens in the edit, through time itself, creating an abstract stage built in the viewer's mind. This allows me to work with time as the primary compositional tool, where the rhythm and sequence of appearances create meaning beyond what any single frame could contain.
Essay Film
An essay film is a documentary format rooted in subjectivity rather than objectivity. Like a written essay, it creates the filmmaker's point of view—how they see and interpret the world. The essay film rejects documentary's claim to objectivity and embraces personal perspective entirely. This can manifest through voiceover, visual choices, editing rhythms, or text. The essay film explores ideas, concepts, and philosophical questions that cannot be expressed through traditional narrative or observational documentary. It transmits a personal experience and perspective directly from the filmmaker to the audience.
Film Essayist
A film essayist is the practitioner of the essay film—a distinct role in cinema. Unlike most filmmaking genres where the creator is simply called 'a filmmaker,' the essay film has its own designation because it represents a fundamentally different practice. A film essayist typically works solo or with a very small team, because the work is inherently personal. This is the most auteur-driven form in cinema: even a beginning film essayist will have a unique voice simply by virtue of the form itself. Like handwriting, the film essayist's perspective is inevitable and irreducible. The film essayist writes on screen with a camera, transmitting their interpretation of the world as a philosophical offering to the viewer.
Desktop Film
A desktop film—with emphasis on 'film'—is a sub-genre of the essay film that takes place entirely on a computer or digital screen. As the digital world consumes more of our waking attention, it becomes its own universe worthy of documentary exploration. The desktop film explores this interior virtual world rather than the exterior physical one. It examines the screen itself as a location, investigating how we live, think, and relate within digital space. This form treats the computer screen not as a limitation but as a legitimate site of cinematic inquiry.
Subjectivity in Essay Film
Subjectivity is the philosophical foundation of the essay film. It means embracing personal perspective as the starting point and recognizing that 'truth' is often elusive. The essay film is a postmodern act: the filmmaker knows they cannot access objective truth but can tell human truth from their personal vantage point. Subjectivity has the power to reveal reality as one person experiences and interprets it. The essay film is an essential tool for enabling this kind of truthful subjectivity—it creates space for multiple interpretations rather than claiming a single authoritative reading.
Techniques & Methods
Editing as Discovery
Editing as discovery means using the editing process to find the film rather than imposing a predetermined structure. I do not believe in rigid pre-planning—deciding exactly what the film will be before filming begins. Instead, I film what seems necessary, then discover what is there during the edit. Only in the editing room can I truly see the film. After gaining some sense of its shape, I reshoot or film additional material to complete what the edit has revealed. This approach is more integral and truthful than scripted filmmaking. The edit becomes the site of discovery, not merely assembly.
Voiceover as Thinking
My approach to voiceover rejects the conventional narration of facts or plot summary. Instead, voiceover becomes a thinking tool—the filmmaker speaks and thinks aloud, sharing reflections in real time. This is an open, exposed process: the filmmaker reveals their way of thinking, seeing, and believing, complete with faults and virtues. It creates a much more human and authentic form of narration. The voiceover connects with the viewer on an intimate level, as thought rather than instruction.
Location-Driven Film
A location-driven film is one where the location itself is the main protagonist and the most important aspect of understanding the work. In my films like 'The Herzl Room' or 'The Same Snowy Ground,' the location functions as a character. The film explores the location philosophically—its relationship to people, what it tells us about human experience, the existential questions it raises. For example, 'The Herzl Room' examines how a dead person (Theodor Herzl) remains present in a room. Location-driven films investigate place as meaning, examining the connection between spaces and the humans who inhabit or inhabited them.
Practice & Ethics
Working in Public
Working in public is central to my practice as a film essayist. My Filmbüro is a semi-public space—a cooperative workspace shared with other filmmakers. I write in cafes, film in public spaces, and share drafts of films and narrations openly. The entire process is exposed rather than private. I publish work online, often for free, including unfinished pieces. Work-in-progress is still part of this public act. This approach is semi-personal, semi-collaborative, and semi-transparent—it reflects a commitment to process over product and to thinking through making rather than presenting finished thoughts.
Filmbüro
Filmbüro is the name of my office and film studio—my base and hub for creating essay films. As a film essayist, I may travel to film, but I need a dedicated space to sit down, record narration, edit properly, write and rewrite scripts and ideas. The Filmbüro is essential infrastructure for the essay film practice. It represents the grounded, durational work of thinking and making that happens between filming expeditions.
Refusal to Explain
I share the belief with many filmmakers that art explains itself. Key concepts should not be defined in overly clear terms—doing so robs the viewer of their own interpretive capacity. Instead, I give the audience the opportunity to create their own understanding, to form their own picture. This refusal to explain is an act of respect: it treats viewers as capable of making meaning themselves. A film should not transmit a single truth ('this means that'), but rather open space for multiple truths and subjective interpretations. Refusal to explain creates freedom for the viewer.
Proximity Ethics
Proximity ethics refers to the complex questions raised when filming people you know personally—family members, intimate subjects, or using personal archives. What should be shown? What should remain private? My approach is to stay truthful to how I see reality while being acutely aware of the ethical dangers. I believe filmmakers should use their own human morals and ethics as guides. The essay film is inherently transparent: because it is so intimate and dependent on individual perspective, any ethical failings will be exposed in the work itself. Proximity ethics means being aware of this danger, accepting the responsibility, and remaining truthful to the story being told—even when that creates discomfort or risk.
Peter-Altenberg-ing
Peter-Altenberg-ing is my personal term for sitting in cafes and writing. It takes its name from Peter Altenberg, a Viennese eccentric writer at the turn of the 20th century who famously sat in cafes writing stories about what he observed. He inspired me to embrace this cafe-writing life. Whenever I sit down to write ideas, narration, or conceptual notes, I call this behavior 'Peter-Altenberg-ing.' It represents a particular approach to thinking and writing: public, observational, embedded in everyday life rather than isolated in a traditional office.
This vocabulary is not fixed. These terms evolve through continued practice, and new concepts emerge as the work develops. What remains constant is the commitment to subjectivity, transparency of process, and the belief that making essay films is a form of thinking—not just a way of documenting thoughts already formed.
If you’re interested in learning more about essay films, read the next article on What is an Essay Film?.
About the Author
Matan Tal — Film Essayist & Filmmaker
I have written this vocabulary to clarify my methodology of essay filmmaking, based on my experience, teaching, and practice in independent cinema.