''First Person'' is an American TV series produced and directed by

Errol Morris Errol Mark Morris (born February 5, 1948) is an American film director known for documentaries that interrogate the epistemology of its subjects. In 2003, his documentary film '' The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamar ...

. The show engaged a varied group of individuals from civil advocates to criminals, and ran for two seasons, in 2000–2001. Interviews were conducted with "The Interrotron", a device similar to a

teleprompter A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually be ...

: Errol and his subject each sit facing a camera. The image of each person's face is then projected onto a

two-way mirror A one-way mirror, also called two-way mirror (or one-way glass, half-silvered mirror, and semi-transparent mirror), is a reciprocal mirror that appears reflective on one side and transparent at the other. The perception of one-way transmission i ...

positioned in front of the lens of the other's camera. Instead of looking at a blank lens, then, both Morris and his subject are looking directly at a human face.
Diagram
Morris believes that the machine encourages monologue in the interview process, while also encouraging the interviewees to "express themselves to camera"."Interviews: Errol Morris"

" The name "Interrotron" was coined by Morris's wife, who, according to Morris, "liked the name because it combined two important concepts — terror and interview.""THE FOG OF WAR: 13 Questions and Answers on the Filmmaking of Errol Morris by Errol Morris", FLM Magazine Winter 2004

" One episode was dedicated to debtor's advocate Andrew Capoccia, wherein he laid out his philosophy on debt reduction. Shortly after the series aired, Cappocia was tried and convicted of fraud and imprisoned.

Episodes

Season 1

# "Stairway to Heaven" —

Temple Grandin Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Gra ...

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

college professor and expert on humane cattle slaughter techniques # "The Killer Inside Me" —

Sondra London Sondra London (born 1947 in Florida) is a controversial American true crime author. A onetime girlfriend of convicted murderer and suspected serial killer G.J. Schaefer and the fiancée of convicted serial killer Danny Rolling (later executed f ...

, American true crime author. # "I Dismember Mama" — Saul Kent, promoter of

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

# "The Stalker" — Bill Kinsley, employer and victim of the disgruntled postal worker Thomas McIlvane # "The Parrot" — Jane Gill, victim of a murder with a possible avian eyewitness # "Eyeball to Eyeball" —

Clyde Roper Clyde F. E. Roper (born 1937) is a zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He has organised a number of expeditions to New Zealand to study giant squid, including in 1997 and 1999. He graduated from Transylvania Uni ...

, authority on the

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trace ...

# "Smiling in a Jar" —

Gretchen Worden Gretchen (, ; literal translation: "Little Grete" or "Little Greta (given name), Greta") is a female given name of Germany, German origin that is mainly prevalent in the United States. Its popularity increased because a major character in Johan ...

, director of the

Mütter Museum The Mütter Museum is a medical museum located in the Center City area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It contains a collection of anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment. The museum is part of The Coll ...

of medical oddities in Philadelphia # "In the Kingdom of the Unabomber" — Gary Greenberg,

Unabomber Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...

pen pal Pen pals (or penpals, pen-pals, penfriends or pen friends) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of le ...

and would-be biographer # "Mr. Debt" — Andrew Capoccia, lawyer for credit-card debtors (since disbarred and convicted) # "You're Soaking In It" — Joan Dougherty, crime scene cleaner # "The Little Gray Man" — Antonio Mendez, retired

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

operative and master of disguise

Season 2

# "Harvesting Me" — Josh Harris, internet entrepreneur and

television addict "Television Addict" was the A-side of the debut single by The Victims, an early punk rock band from Perth, Western Australia. The song is a mainstay of compilations of Australian punk from the 1970s, and has been recorded by the Hoodoo Gurus, ...

also featured in the documentary ''

We Live in Public ''WE LIVE IN PUBLIC'' is a 2009 documentary film by Ondi Timoner, which profiles Internet pioneer Josh Harris (Internet), Josh Harris. Its theme is the loss of privacy in the Internet age. Synopsis The film details the experiences of "the greate ...

'' # "The Smartest Man in the World" — Chris Langan, bar

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

with the alleged world's highest IQ # "The Only Truth" — Murray Richman, lawyer to New York mobsters # "One in a Million Trillion" —

Rick Rosner Richard Rosner (born c. 1941) is an American television producer best known for creating the television show ''CHiPs''.Staff report (September 15, 1977). CHiPs Debuts on NBC. He's also famous for being related to the one and only, Mark Rosner, ...

, professional high school student and ''

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

'' contestant # "Mr. Personality" — Dr. Michael Stone,

forensic psychologist Forensic psychology is the development and application of scientific knowledge and methods to help answer legal questions arising in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes both research on various ...

and

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

aficionado, host of ''

Most Evil ''Most Evil'' is an American forensics television program on Investigation Discovery, first aired in 2006, presented by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael H. Stone of Columbia University during the program's first three seasons, and by forensic ...

'' # "Leaving the Earth" — Denny Fitch,

DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 19 ...

pilot and hero

References

Films directed by Errol Morris Films produced by Errol Morris 2000s American documentary television series {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub