Hold the friggin' camera still.
I understand that a hand-held camera gives your movie more of an art-house feel, and judicious use of it during, say, a long chase sequence gives us the adrenaline rush of following our main character through the paces. Unfortunately, however, I just sat through an otherwise amazing film that I would have loved and raved about except for the fact that I spend half the movie noticing the camera work and feeling vaugely motion-sick. The hand-held camera is terribly, terribly overused now and unfortunately often so shakey that it looks like you strapped the camera to a poorly trained seal.
Excellent camera work should be like excellent make-up: it's so good you don't notice it.
There are devices that might help you; they're called a tri-pod or a camera dolly. I'm sure they're still in use in some movies. Please, find out what they are and start using them again.
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So which movie was this?
This one was Children of Men- which I can heartily recommend, shaky camera and all.
The movie where it annoyed me the most was The Constant Gardiner, a very, very good movie with a good story, good acting and a camera strapped to a wandering llama.
Children of Men is probably my favorite movie of this decade -- which makes it my favorite movie of the century, I guess. I was absolutely blown away by it.
I haven't yet seen it on video, so I don't know whether the shakes come off worse on the small screen than the big one, but the movie just astounded me at every turn.
Maybe the shakes are worse on a small screen, it's true. (and my TV is even smaller than most!)
One of the reasons the shakiness annoyed me so much is that it is a fantastic movie. I was more annoyed at it here then in a mediocre flick where I wouldn't have cared one way or the other.
I've been meaning to watch it again; I bought it a few weeks ago, and Kathy hasn't seen it yet. It may be that on a TV screen, you've got stationary background to compare it to, and at a theater you're more inclined to go along with the shakes because it's your entire field of view.
Relentless, quick cuts -- particulary on close-up action -- are what drive me bats. A little of that goes a long way. I want to see enough of an image or an action, and for long enough, to understand what it is I'm seeing. Too often fight scenes wind up cluttered instead of exciting.
Though Children of Men was my second-best movie of 2006, after only Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, I'm definitely with you on the shakes ... I used to enjoy watching horror movies, but the fact that they all now have this effect as prerequisite (and way too much gore) makes them just unwatchable
Okay, not on-topic with respect to shaky cameras, but have you guys seen any of Miyazaki's animations? I saw My Neighbor Totoro a few months ago and Sunday night some channel played Spirited Away. I caught both by accident and I am so blown away I can't tell you how much. These films are absolutely stunning and sweet and beautiful. Children could love them, adults could love them. They are masterworks. Now I have to find more Miyazaki to watch.
Miyazaki's terrific. Check out Princess Mononoke. I liked it almost as much as Spirited Away.
I'm currently in the queue at the library for Pan's Labrynth. It looked so cool and was very well reviewed- can't wait to see it. (And Volver, another well-reviewed movie from last year.)
I love Spirited Away. Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke is another classic to seek out- and unfortunately, the only two of his I've seen. I should find more.
We've got Volver from Netflix now. If you guys are interested, maybe we can get together to watch it.
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