She isn’t only acting.
She’s already directing the camera.
Before she bends, she imagines
how the body will look.
The director recognizes the habit:
He once did the same thing
as an actor, carrying the frame
inside himself, managing every gesture
before anyone asked.
Then he names the alternative:
trust the collaboration.
An actor can think
about the image.
But when she must protect
the image alone, performance becomes
self-surveillance. So who is directing
whom—the filmmaker, the actor,
or the camera already living
inside both of them?