Shaky camera look

[Anonymous]

Has anyone noticed that many movies are beginning to use that shaky camera. I noticed it in Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles as well. Then I began seeing it on other shows and movies.

It’s really annoying. It’s as if it would be to hard on the budget to hold the camera still.

What’s worse is that it is not consistant from shot to shot. One shot will be a close up with the camera shaking all over the place and not being able to keep the subject centered, then they’ll cut to a different shot with the camera nice and still, then cut back to the shaky one. Then back and forth.

It really makes my head hurt to watch that CRAP.

Has anyone else noticed this?

[Rob]

yea i’ve noticed that too. There are times when a shaky camera works, the beginning of Saving Private Ryan for instance, but I think there are shows that do it where it’s poorly executed…in my opinion.

[EarlC]

Ohhhhhhh yeah, I’ve noticed and do not particularly appreciate the tendency to overdo it with some productions – what was that movie “Cloverfield?” or something where the entire movie was done this way? Also “The Kingdom” with parts I could tolerate and others that gave me nausea. Not fond of it at all my friend.

Seems it all started, more or less, with “The Blair Witch Project” but I could be wrong – amateur video enthusiasts have been doing it since the advent of movie and video cameras. 🙂

[Aspyrider]

In Battlestar Galactica they programed the effects to shake so it looked like news footage. If you go back and look at Babylon 5 they do it in there too. The idea being it looks more real, like camcorder footage if it shakes. Today it’s way overdone.

I like it if it makes a point but like any special effect, too much takes away from the story. I guess the old saying that too much of anything, even a good thing can be just too much. 😉

J.

[Anonymous]

I’m so glad that I am not the only one who noticed this OVERDO (as Aspyrider says) of an effect.

I think it works (as stated before) is a new type atmosphere or where they want to make us believe that the character actually is using a hand held camera in scene (ie: Diary of the Dead and Cloverfield). But where they are just to cheap to use a tri-pod (or whatever they use in pro-productions), it is just too much.

While we were watching Public Enemies today, my wife had to get up and leave the theatre for 10 minutes to take a break. She gets motion sickness. Not easily, but she does. So that is saying something as to how bad it was.

Thanks for the thoughts.

[smythie]

For those of you in Australia, i watched a police show called Blue Heelers. Good local show, thier radio comms side of things was spot on, proper callsigns and protocol etc, anyway, it got to the stage in that show that i had to stop watching it, there was camera movement all over the place, the first time i noticed it i sort of fell back into the plot, but after a while i couldn’t stop noticing it and eventually i was so annoyed and remarking about it all the time to my partner i had to stop watching the show. Really pissed me off because it was a good show. Anyway, i think after a while they realised because it wasn’t so bad after a few weeks or months.

Question, why does a film in the cinema seem to blur at high motion scenes such as fighting etc (transformers is one that comes to mind). Is it me or the way the cinema is set up or is it cheap equipment or “that’s the way it is”.

I am getting a tour of the local Cinema hopefully very soon. Can’t wait!!! I would love to get some sort of job there….

Gary

[Rob]

Smythie,

If there is blur in a film that has a lot of motion, it’s most likely because they are shooting 24 frames per second. When you shoot 24 frames per second, asopposedto 30, each frame is exposed longer, and therefore creates a blur.

[Anonymous]

Some battles are shot handheld to make you ‘feel’ there.

[Anonymous]

Yes. And that’s a good spot for it to be. To make you feel like you’re in the action.

But many shows and movies now are doing it when the there is a still shot on a guy standing there. It’s like they zoomed in from really far away and were trying to keep the subject centered.

[Anonymous]

Beginning? It’s the one thing amateurs do well.

[Anonymous]

Cloverfield was annoyingly shaky, but it is becoming a popular trend because it tends to draw the audience into the place of the person. This is called a subjective angle. They use it to make the viewer a part of the plot line.

[Author]

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