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In the last decade or so, a new style of filming has arrived. This probably started before the Blair Witch Project but that's the movie that I first saw it in. This style, I'm not sure what the posh name for it is, consists of "hand held cameras" or cameras made to look like they were hand held. Countless other movies have borrowed from it and used it to both their success and failure.
I'm not here to say that this style should never be used. On the contrary, I think that it has a niche and it should stay there. It worked in the Blair Witch project because that's what the movie was supposed to be. District 9 is supposed to have a similar style and honestly I have trouble watching movies like that. The constant motion nauseates me. I'm not sure if it's because I'm trying to focus on one thing in the picture and the whirling dervish throws my inner ear out of it's la-z-boy.
One of the worst offenders of this was the Bourne Ultimatum. Every fight scene was so chaotic that you didn't know the good guys from the bad guys. In fact you just had to trust that Jason would be the last one standing because you couldn't tell. Now, proponents for this style will say, "It's more realistic." "Fights are chaotic, real life is like a whirling dervish." That's not true though, while things can look chaotic from the outside, the outsider is still seeing things clearly. The only time a real person looks around like these hand held cameras is when they're either drunk or high.
My last point is a knock against the directors that use this style of filming. It's lazy, this allows almost no scripting in a fight. I could make myself fight like Jet Li in the movies if half the time you couldn't tell it was me because the camera was shaking so much. It allows for filmmakers to get away from actually filming and just spinning the camera until the audience has to look away. So, I'll see District 9 eventually, but I'll make sure to have a firm grasp on the seat with a semi-large bucket close by.
~Dooj
Just saw it last night. If you're thinking "Cloverfield/Quarantine" it's not nearly that bad. They don't go with the "we found this tape under a pile of rocks" story line. Instead they use documentary style clips to give background and set up characters. The majority of the movie is omnipresent narrative. The camera is considerably more shaky than a standard movie though for sure.
ReplyDeleteI think it was well done. Something fun to keep in mind when watching the film is that they made the whole thing in a landfill outside Johannesburg with pure CG aliens on a 30 million dollar budget. All the actors are local no names.
Oh and there's a 3D shooter assortment of alien weaponry used to great effect.
I was pleasantly surprised by it. I watched it last night as well. Like Toby said, the camera thing isn't nearly as bad as I expected and not like the other movies.
ReplyDeleteI found it to be something very different which is cool considering most movies today.
I have tried to watch the Bourne Ultimatum, twice. Both times I have fallen asleep. What does that say about me?
ReplyDeleteThat you are perfectly comfortable in a maelstrom of visual merry-go-rounds. In other words, you have kids. ;-)
ReplyDelete