by compound complex 19 Replies latest jw friends
Then, there was the thing where they moved rapidly from one vantage point to another and back, or to a new point. As well, they would zoom in and hold for a bit and zoom out rapidly again. All this, as if to say, gee, look what i can do w my new handy cam. Or, maybe the guy was just add. Anyway, that enthusiasm seems to have passed, mercifuly. Wish i had a fully life, where i didn't need the tv to fill the empty places, at times.
S
Hey, Satanus ...
We all have those empty places. Off the WT treadmill, we enjoy a whole new way of thinking and acting. Inertia is all right now and again ...
Now and again....
Thanks,
CoCo
Some hand held camera cinematography really has an impact. I think a great example is the movie "Children of Men", especially the extended fire fight sequence in the streets towards the end.
Back in the 70's directors seemed fascinated with zoom lenses and mosaic screens which were distracting. Before that Sergio Leone perfected the use of deep focus lenses where you could see the individual whiskers on a foreground characters face and still have the far background in sharp focus. I think this was effective but it became identified with spaghetti westerns.
Peter Yates, "Bullitt" was great.
Of course, Hitchcock experimented with all kinds of camera and editing techniques. A lot of it looks dated now.
Among the old pros, like Frank Capra, the goal was to make the viewer feel like a fly on the wall and forget all about the camera.
my father in law has parkinsons....he says he watched cloverfield and hated it....the film was too steady for him
When "Saving Private Ryan" first appeared in movie theaters, my husband and I went to see it. The opening D-Day beach landing scenes use the extreme shaky camera technique. Halfway through the carnage, my husband said, "we have to leave." I thought the explicit violence got to him, but no, it was the shaky camera. He had to sit for half an hour till the motion sickness abated.
We went again the next day, but waited until that opening scene ended, then went in and watched the rest of the movie.
Before that Sergio Leone perfected the use of deep focus lenses where you could see the individual whiskers on a foreground characters face and still have the far background in sharp focus. I think this was effective but it became identified with spaghetti westerns.
Gregor
Thanks, Gregor, for an observation that I clearly recall though not understanding the actual technique employed. Since I am a westerner and eat spaghetti daily, I have no problem proudly claiming Mr. Leone a friend.
my father in law has parkinsons....he says he watched cloverfield and hated it....the film was too steady for him.
Ninja
It says without going, Ninja, that you are unique in all the world ... and then some.
The opening D-Day beach landing scenes use the extreme shaky camera technique.
Parakeet
Saving Private Ryan was cited as an example on one of the web pages that I read. I'm glad that your hubby got his sea legs back!
Thanks!
CoCo
My Dad used to tell us about his Grandmother and the first time she saw a moving picture. A scene had a camera at ground level and a team of horses went right over it. She ducked!
I can stand a bit of shaky-cam. It doesn't really affect my stomach. But, depending on how it's done, it can be just annoying.
For example, in Cloverfield, you have the person holding the camera at an angle. Who does that? Maybe a slight angle, but not a 45-degree one. At one point in a subway station, he sets the camera down to keep on filming. Most cameras have some sort of rectangular shape. You'd either set it down on the bottom and have a normal picture or it might roll sideways and be tilted 90 degrees. But 45 degrees again? You'd have to purposely prop it up like that.
A little bit of shake for realism is OK. But to purposefully exagerate bad camera handling really annoys me. We get the point. It's hand-held amatuer footage. Why be annoying with it too?
What's even more annoying is the assumption that these people film everything. At what point do you drop the camera and run? Or put it away? Or even throw it at the thing chasing you?
I hear they're planning a Cloverfield 2. Another person in the city with a camera too. Doing the same thing as #1, but from different locations.
What's wrong with just telling the same story with traditional steady camera shots? Why does it have to be amatuer film? I think the story could have been OK without it. It's the story of survival in a siege situation and not your sterotypical giant monster movie where the army comes in and blasts it away. It's still a good character study and still has action and suspense.
Me too CoCo. I had to get up out of the theater and go home. I was green.
BTS
Blair Witch was out when I had a bad summer head cold and was already feeling yucky, and I got vertigo watching it.
Also, the characters were annoying and had me rooting for the monster to come waste them already and take them out of my misery.
