Ten Meter Tower: A Short Film About a Big Jump

March 2, 2017

Ten Meter Tower is a fascinating, short documentary about decision and doubt. A part of the New York Times’s Op-Docs, the project found 67 people from an online ad, who had never been on a 10-meter (33 feet) diving tower before.

Each person was paid about $30 to ascend to the top of the tower, where there were microphones and video cameras set up. What they chose to do at the top was entirely up to them.

Our objective in making this film was something of a psychology experiment: We sought to capture people facing a difficult situation, to make a portrait of humans in doubt.

I loved the whole arc of this film. At first, it was humorous to watch how nervous everyone was – how unsure they felt about being at the edge of that platform.

I was transfixed from the start. As I saw more and more people walk out, I began to root for each person. It was incredible to watch the different ways people would weigh out the situation before them – some talking to themselves, some talking to others.

Though the original purpose may have been to document how humans grapple with doubt… the true pleaure of this film for me is in watching people overcome their fear and worry.

[via BoingBoing]