Has there been any worse curse inflicted on movie fans than the “technique”of the Shaking Camera?!?! I can’t really put my finger on when the trend started… but I can tell you when I first really noticed it. The abomination that was “Battlefield Earth”.
In Battlefield Earth the “director” (if you can call him that) decided that during a fight scene it would be a good idea to shake the camera around a lot, like the cameraman was going into convulsions, so the audience couldn’t tell what the hell was going on up on the screen. He figured that would make the scene feel more intense. The only thing intense about it was the hatred it generated in me and an overwhelming desire to have nasty things happen to the director in his sleep.
Even some good movies have done this. Honestly, The Bourne Supremacy was a pretty good film… but then it got to that scene where Matt Damon had the fight in the apartment of his old teammate. Remember the scene? Well guess what…all I know about the scene was that there was a fight. The camera was being shaken around so much that I had no fricking idea what was going on and I had no clue who won until it was over and the camera stood still for 2 seconds. That totally ruined the movie for me.
Now it seems like almost every movie uses this stupid method. So here’s my open message to directors everywhere around the world:
HOLD THE FREAKING CAMERA STILL SO I CAN SEE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!
What movies can you think of off the top of your head that really abused this “technique”?
End of angry rant.
