Mario's Bolex walk and Avril on sadness (pp. 757–758)
Mario checks the meter on his belt and uses the treadle to shorten the focal length and adjust the angle of the camera’s lens slightly downward, right at Chu, and there are tiny grinding adjustment-sounds from the Bolex. […] They stand there silent, the camera’s mechanism emitting a tiny whir.
Context
The LaMont Chu interview's mechanics: meter, treadle, focal length, angle — a real operator working a real camera mid-conversation, the Bolex audibly grinding and whirring in the silences. Chu meanwhile performs for "posterity" and goes blank the instant "your invitation became official": the camera's mere presence reshapes the talk it records, which becomes the interview's actual subject.