Shaky cam movie thread
 

Hey there, everyone. I just got finished watching The Counterfeiters, and while it was a good film, it had the one thing I can't stand in movies - shaky cam. While I do think that a handheld style camera shot can add a certain effect to a scene, I don't like the whole film shot that way. If I handed in a project like that when I was back in college, my professor would have laughed in my face, asked if I was listening to a word he said in class and/or given me an "F". I could talk about why I hate this style all day, but I just wanted to have a thread listing the movies that are filmed in this style so that I can avoid them, or at least do a little more research before seeing them.

I did a search on this subject and found nothing but a poll in which I found that I am not alone. So, I guess what I'll do is start off a list and check on it periodically to see if people have added to it. I will transfer everything to this post for easy reference.

So here goes...


Movies
-------------

The Blair Witch Project
Bloodrayne 2
Bloody Sunday
The Bourne Supremecy
The Bourne Ultimatum
Cannibal Holocaust
Cavite
Children of Men
Cloverfield
The Counterfeiters
Deja Vu
Diary of the Dead
District 9
Domino
Felon
Friday Night Lights
Hancock
The Kingdom
The Last Broadcast
The Line (2007)
Man on Fire
Outlaw
The Path to 9/11 (made for TV)
Poor Boy's Game
Quarentine
Rachel Getting Married
REC
The Rundown
Serenity
The Signal
United 93

Television
----------------

24
30 Rock
Arrested Development
Battlestar Galactica (new series)
The Closer
Fear
Firefly
Friday Night Lights
MI-5 (Spooks)
NYPD Blue
The Office
Saving Grace
The Shield

Seems the most obvious are Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project

[REC] and the forthcoming Quarantine

Arrested Development

The Saw films.

The Kingdom (w/ J. Foxx, C. Cooper, J. Garner)

Children of Men

Also, all of Peter Berg's films past Very Bad Things: Hancock, The Rundown, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights

It only bothers me when it's excessive and unwarranted (it makes sense in Cloverfield and Blair Witch and even Children of Men to an extent.) like in the Bourne sequels. There was absolutely no reason for the seizuring.

The beginnings of:
Narc
Amores Perros

I seem to remember 21 Grams having a bit of the shakes.

Wasn't there some horror themed MTV show a couple years ago, about a group of teens who explore "haunted" areas? They used the head cam style, where all you see if the person's face as they are moving around.

Something to add to your TV list.

Fear.

Bourne.

FYI, I just want to add movies that are mostly shaky cam, not just parts here and there.

Anything directed by Lars Von Trier after Europa.

where was the shaky cam in any of the Saw films? most were polished and steady looking. I was two people in one room and fixed camera shots almost throughout. II was glossy with higher production value. i remember III and IV as the same. did i miss something?

didn't "Saving Private Ryan" have a lot of shaky cam starting with the flashback?

In part 1, the camera had to be shaken to make it look a car chase was happening.

geez, i guess i haven't seen it in a long while bc i don't even remember the car chase. but still that would be what a minute or two. the op wanted most movie right?

I don't mind it, if it's used in moderation, but I don't dig the whole movie being that way. I'm especially not a fan of that bizarre fast motion action stuff, that started with Saving Private Ryan. It looks cartoonish. I want to say it's called the "shutter effect"?

What car chase?

Get the Saw films off the list. They weren't shot handheld.

I don't remember the movie well. But I know what he's talking about. It had Danny Glover chasing someone else. They just 'pushed in and up' in a shakey fashion to make it look like they were moving. There's some nu-metal shit going playing in the background (which was my least favorite element in the movie).

I'd guess that the vehicles were still during those shots.

The only movie that I've seen where the camera work actually bothers me is Domino. Horrible, horrible camera work in that movie.

= J

As far as TV shows, Battlestar Galactica -- but it works there.

I agree, I couldn't finish the film. I was so dizzy and getting a headache from the camerwork and rapid editing! I hate this style of filmmaking!

Also add in excessive shaky cam with random zooming and excessive up close shots. It's a nightmare to view. TV shows like The Shield and so forth I can not stand viewing because of this. I truly hate this style of filming!


I don't mind some handheld camerwork. It can be nice when it doesn't call attention to itself. So of the films on the list, I had no problem with Children of Men or Cannibal Holocaust.

United 93 also worked being handheld and I didn't have a problem with it. But, it worked in making it seem 'real' and intense. And wasn't nonstop excessive shaking either.


I recently caught a bit of My Own Private Idaho on tv. And in the scene,it contrasted between a silent set camera shot. And a more active handheld bit. And it worked without being distracting. But an entire film being shot handheld like this brief moment would be boring to sit through and annoying. I think this is when handheld is used best,contrasting between normal camera set ups, with a few handheld bits that are not excessively distracting. But help create a strange mood, since suddenly your thrust from a set shot, to a moving shot and back again.


Oh, add The Path To 9/11 on the list. That was shot in the style of The Shield and many other shows. With excessively cramped up close shots, with constant shaking and random zooming in. It's a made for tv movie,so I don't know which area to place it in. But it should be on the list. I couldn't finish that either,it was such a headache to view!


And take the Saw films off the list. I do not know why the hell they are on there. The OP wanted films shot entirely or majority in shaky style. Not one scene or a brief few seconds of handheld/shaky cam work.

Bloody Sunday ... you know, that other Greengrass picture.