@CWO:
@Imperious:
Movies that shake the camera are indicative of a new approach to save money on special effects. If it shakes, it means basically it was filmed in a closet and they had no money for anything.
When I first started running into these kinds of messy action sequences a few years ago, my reaction at the time was to wonder: is this a case of a bad film editor wrecking a well-directed sequence or is this a case of a badly-directed sequence that even a good film editor wasn’t able to save? I’ve gradually come to the conclusion that the answer is actually: it’s intentional, and the director and the editor are both doing it.
Agreed, however in the case of Bourne, I do not believe it was a cheap technique to hide a lack of funds for the project. They had $120 mil to work with on a predominantly, if not exclusively, practical effects movie.
As I said, Paul Greengrass (director) is known for employing this “technique” in his films. I get that it is supposed to be visceral; putting us in the action and confusion, but when you use it constantly something is wrong. It is my opinion that Greengrass wants the film to feel visceral and frenetic, like his other Bourne films, to convey the subject matter. But he completely doubled down on the approach and thought if it worked mostly in the old ones, let’s do it the whole time in this one! That’s why people love the Bourne movies!
No. No it is not.
I feel like this all started with Saving Private Ryan. At least that is where I first remember seeing the POV/shaky cam. Spielberg did a great job putting us in the landing craft and on the beach at Normandy. People were amazed at how real it felt. Use of the shaky cam in that scene was incredibly appropriate and well done; many of those seeing the film were there in 1944 and this instantly transported them back. Since 1998, the POV and shaky cam has been used to good effect and bad. When used properly (I believe most effectively in juxtaposition), it is great and emphasizes the tangibility of a scene. When you are Paul Greengrass and use it through your whole film, it just looks like a jumbled mess of someone attaching a camera to their forehead while being chased by velociraptors: head always on a swivel, eyes twitching and flinching at every sound. And the very swift editing and cutting in between viewpoints only made the shaking that much worse.
