Do you like "found footage" films?
- Thread starter Jacco
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Normally no I don't. I did however enjoy Chronicle though, and thought it was one of the better movies of the year.
Paranormal Activity has spat in the face of the genre, The new one look's well...stupid. I havn't seen the movie yet but spoiler I'm guessing EVERYONE dies bar maybe one person. Also they're making another. It just annoys me that they still make enough money for a huge money bath out of these things.
It is an interesting concept, But to me, it always falls flat with the premise itself, I never understood why the character holding the camera could never be a professorial camera person, I always thought that if they wanted to make this format, why not just make the guy holding the camera in the movie play a news person who probably could hold a good quality camera still for more then 5 min. They get there gimmick, and we can tell what is going on in the movie.
I generally like them.
It at least used to be a fresh approach and when done right, it gives you a kind of immersion and believability that's different from other movies.
If [REC] would've been made in a traditional style, it would've been a fairly by-the-numbers horror movie with a limited setting. But thanks to the first-person-perspective of the camera, it's one of the scariest movies i know.
Paranormal Activity was very enjoyable because it was unpredictable and goes against the usual horror film pacing, adding more uneasiness with each scene because you know it's gonna get worse, but you don't know how.
Unfortunately, it became the new "Once-a-Year-Horror-Franchise".
Strangely, i never liked Blair Witch Project. I found the characters horrible and overly hysterical. Last few minutes were fun, but the rest was just annoying.
There's a lot of crap with found footage movies, but it's the same with every other genre and subgenre, especially Horror.
That said, soon there will be a time when Found Footage cannot really offer something new unless it does something dramatic and very different (i'd like to see a live action, contemporary version of FLAG, aka a First-Person-Film about a War Reporter)
It at least used to be a fresh approach and when done right, it gives you a kind of immersion and believability that's different from other movies.
If [REC] would've been made in a traditional style, it would've been a fairly by-the-numbers horror movie with a limited setting. But thanks to the first-person-perspective of the camera, it's one of the scariest movies i know.
Paranormal Activity was very enjoyable because it was unpredictable and goes against the usual horror film pacing, adding more uneasiness with each scene because you know it's gonna get worse, but you don't know how.
Unfortunately, it became the new "Once-a-Year-Horror-Franchise".
Strangely, i never liked Blair Witch Project. I found the characters horrible and overly hysterical. Last few minutes were fun, but the rest was just annoying.
There's a lot of crap with found footage movies, but it's the same with every other genre and subgenre, especially Horror.
That said, soon there will be a time when Found Footage cannot really offer something new unless it does something dramatic and very different (i'd like to see a live action, contemporary version of FLAG, aka a First-Person-Film about a War Reporter)
Cloverfield was the only one I've really enjoyed. And that was in spite of the hateful characters and honestly, if I was HUD (see what they did there?) I would have dropped that fucking camera a bunch of times in the story but meh.
It would have been half a movie if HUD had
It would have been half a movie if HUD had
I don't actually "like" them or what they represent in the industry - they're too often lazy and cost pennies, yet they rake in tons of money - but I cannot for the life of me deny that they work on me (and a close friend of mine).Jacco said:
In short, Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity managed to scare me shitless, something genuine horror movies haven't done in decades, a few gems excluded. Maybe, as a horror fan, I was too used to the dramatic underpinnings of classical horror, and this was something strange and new, therefore scarier (or at least more amplified).
When you think about it, found-footage movies have to rely on two elements commonly missing in modern horror - "less is more," and long, silent, uninterrupted takes that build suspense. The bedroom scenes in PA, where objectively you just watch two people sleep for several minutes, I find very creepy - the fact that seemingly nothing is happening, but you lean in in anticipation, and watch every pixel carefully. Plus, done right, found-footage can be quite a bit more palpable and organic than typical horror, and this verisimilitude helps with immersing oneself.
At least for me. A very large chunk of the audience, through no fault of their own, can't seem to take these movies the way I do. It's a shame, I've had a blast with the PA movie that I haven't had with the horror genre in a long time.
I just wanted to point something out, and sorry if it's superfluous - aside from a remake, REC has two direct sequels: REC 2, which most people agree is about as good as the first, and a REC 3 that's coming out this year. I've actually been pleasantly surprised how they averted the horror-sequel-syndrome with REC 2, yet still followed all of the tropes - it's bigger, more elaborate, less mysterious, has more characters and camera gimmicks, yet it all plays to its strengths.m19 said:
They're ok I guess. The one thing I don't like is they either have to stretch the plot to explain how the footage was taken, or they don't bother and it makes no sense. Why people would film things, and how they came to be edited and have scary music added to them.
I would like to see behind the scenes footage of some of these found footage films to see how the person with the camera moves because some of the films I've seen he'd be getting into really strange angles and close-ups. Sort of like that South Park episode where it cuts between the view from the video camera and Randy jumping about shaking it around while everyone else stays still.
I would like to see behind the scenes footage of some of these found footage films to see how the person with the camera moves because some of the films I've seen he'd be getting into really strange angles and close-ups. Sort of like that South Park episode where it cuts between the view from the video camera and Randy jumping about shaking it around while everyone else stays still.
What about Chronicle?Jacco said:
OT: But Chronicle D:
And Cloverfield was alright. Blair Witch is a horrible, awful film. REC is good.
DON'T GIVE UP!
I'm personally in two minds about it. I saw Paranormal Activity 4 yesterday, and I like that it doesnt even pretend not to be fiction now.
And this is the issue with the genre. Its too restrictive. Especially if its turned into a franchise. Paranormal Activity for example needs to come up with increasingly ridiculous ways to crowbar in the 'have cameras set up everywhere' thing. And there always comes a point (mainly when all the really weird stuff starts going down) that people just stop watching the footage. I mean, not to spoil anything, but there are several moments (one in particular towards the end) where if you watched that back, you would be fucking doing something, calling the feds or a priest or something.
The other thing is, a lot of the time, 'found footage' films dont need to be found footage. Chronicle is an example of this. In fact, in the climax, it forgets that it is, a lot of the shots in the finale couldn't possibly come from any camera on the scene.
In my opinion though, by far the worst is Cloverfield. Not only because the man with the camera is probably the most annoying c*nt in the world, but because, realistically, once the creature shows up, there is fuck all chance that anyone is going to be running around filming shit.
In fact, I cant think of a single found footage film where someone at somepoint doesn't say 'put the fucking camera down and help me with this!'
Saying that, I did like the way The Devil Inside ended.
And this is the issue with the genre. Its too restrictive. Especially if its turned into a franchise. Paranormal Activity for example needs to come up with increasingly ridiculous ways to crowbar in the 'have cameras set up everywhere' thing. And there always comes a point (mainly when all the really weird stuff starts going down) that people just stop watching the footage. I mean, not to spoil anything, but there are several moments (one in particular towards the end) where if you watched that back, you would be fucking doing something, calling the feds or a priest or something.
The other thing is, a lot of the time, 'found footage' films dont need to be found footage. Chronicle is an example of this. In fact, in the climax, it forgets that it is, a lot of the shots in the finale couldn't possibly come from any camera on the scene.
In my opinion though, by far the worst is Cloverfield. Not only because the man with the camera is probably the most annoying c*nt in the world, but because, realistically, once the creature shows up, there is fuck all chance that anyone is going to be running around filming shit.
In fact, I cant think of a single found footage film where someone at somepoint doesn't say 'put the fucking camera down and help me with this!'
Saying that, I did like the way The Devil Inside ended.
Chronicle was amazing, Quarantine was the scariest film I've ever seen and District 9 was awesome but I try to avoid them in general...