Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction & Blair Witch Project

After reading Walter Benjamin's Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, I have concluded that the construct of the Blair Witch Project makes an assertive attempt at cutting into reality. The first quote stated by Benjamin explains how with the invention of film, the aura that was once embodied in the original prescence of actors when preforming in front of an audience, is shattered by the invention of film which calls for them to act in front of a camera which replaces the audience, and therefor strips the actor of his aura. This quote relates to Blair Witch Project in the sense that the lead actress Heather constantly deviates between actress in front of the camera, and "audience" by operation of the camera. The presence of aura in the film Blair Witch Project becomes blurred throughout the film based on the constant reevaluation of what could be percieved as reality, and fiction despite the fact that the movie is not live, but rather an edited film. The second quote explains that the cameraman penetrates deeply into his work like a surgeon preforming an operation on a patient but, unlike a painter which keeps a "natural distance from reality." The quote goes on to explain that the work yielded by the cameraman "consists of multiple fragments which are assembled under a new law" and through the equipment utitlized to produce these images, the camerman creates a "thoroughgoing permeation of reality with mechanical equipment, an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment." This quote relates to the Blair Witch Project because it contradicts this quote by Benjamin. The Blair Witch Project rejects the notion that the equipment used to create the images should be absent from the frame to create a sense of reality, but rather used the presence of the equipment and crew to reinforce the theme of reality throughout the film. The presense of aura in the Blair Witch project is constantly questioned through the construction of the film with begs the audience to question what is and isn't reality in the film.