Electronics. Entertainment. Gadgets.
New Media Addict
By Dave Thomas
About David
Dave Thomas is the online editor-in-chief of E-Gear. When he's not tracking online trends he likes to make movies, eat pasta or just sit around watching Doctor Who.Silver's Screen
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Nothing Scarier Than an Actor With a Camcorder
It only took nine years, but it looks like the Blair Witch aesthetic is finally starting to catch on. Two more horror flicks are giving us non-stop handheld POV this year.
Curiously, of the handful of films that have embraced this look, two have broken box office records. At the time, Blair Witch was the most profitable independent film of all time, and now Cloverfield has broken the record for the biggest January opening ever (not a hard record to beat, but still).
The horror genre seems to be the most in love with this approach. George Romero, who’s done just about everything you can with the zombie brand (including help invent it) has found its next direction in Diary of the Dead, a handycam account of an undead takeover that will go into limited release in February.
What is it about this style that makes it such a good fit for horror?
Well, for one thing, the more real a movie feels, the scarier it can be; and nothing says “real” like grainy, shaky footage.
Secondly, horror is a traditionally low budget affair; and nothing says low budget like giving your actors (relatively) cheap cameras and saying “go shoot your own death scene.”
Finally, horror is a genre of youth, and nothing says youth (nowadays) like an online video of kids doing stupid things (like, say, walking into that spooky old house saying “I’ll be right back.”)
This aesthetic isn’t, of course, limited to horror. Last year’s controversial Redacted relied heavily on “found footage” shot by soldiers. And faux documentaries have been pulling this trick for years (see David Holzman’s Diary for an early - and excellent - use of this technique).
I’m not sure if this approach will bleed over into other genres (don’t expect any period pieces where the stable boy whips out a Flip Video to document his travails), but it’s interesting to see a resurgence of this shooting style now that it’s YouTube and not Cops that’s making us used to it.
Tell me about your love or hate of shaky camerawork in the forums.
Curiously, of the handful of films that have embraced this look, two have broken box office records. At the time, Blair Witch was the most profitable independent film of all time, and now Cloverfield has broken the record for the biggest January opening ever (not a hard record to beat, but still).
The horror genre seems to be the most in love with this approach. George Romero, who’s done just about everything you can with the zombie brand (including help invent it) has found its next direction in Diary of the Dead, a handycam account of an undead takeover that will go into limited release in February.
What is it about this style that makes it such a good fit for horror?
Well, for one thing, the more real a movie feels, the scarier it can be; and nothing says “real” like grainy, shaky footage.
Secondly, horror is a traditionally low budget affair; and nothing says low budget like giving your actors (relatively) cheap cameras and saying “go shoot your own death scene.”
Finally, horror is a genre of youth, and nothing says youth (nowadays) like an online video of kids doing stupid things (like, say, walking into that spooky old house saying “I’ll be right back.”)
This aesthetic isn’t, of course, limited to horror. Last year’s controversial Redacted relied heavily on “found footage” shot by soldiers. And faux documentaries have been pulling this trick for years (see David Holzman’s Diary for an early - and excellent - use of this technique).
I’m not sure if this approach will bleed over into other genres (don’t expect any period pieces where the stable boy whips out a Flip Video to document his travails), but it’s interesting to see a resurgence of this shooting style now that it’s YouTube and not Cops that’s making us used to it.
Tell me about your love or hate of shaky camerawork in the forums.
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