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#Post#: 17690--------------------------------------------------
Five Simple Rules to Fix the Found-Footage Genre
By: Mac Date: March 15, 2013, 6:18 pm
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[glow=blue,2,300]Five Simple Rules to Fix the Found-Footage
Genre[/glow]
HTML http://images.fandango.com/MDCsite/images/featured/201303/Fixing-found-footage.png
[quote] Every few years, we seem to decide that the
found-footage genre is dead and every few years, it continues to
surprise us with its resilience. The phenomenon that began with
The Blair Witch Project back in 1999 has had its various ups and
downs in the past decade or so, but it keeps on keeping on,
spurred by the occasional great movie (the hidden gem that is
The Conspiracy) and devalued by frequent cash-ins (The Devil
Inside, anyone?). But it's not going anywhere. After all, genre
legends like Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft used to write
stories in the form of "discovered" journals and documents,
proof that this seemingly young genre isn't actually young at
all.
Found footage may be wounded, chronically sick, even, but it's
not dying. It's here to stay. However, it certainly could use a
little maintenance. Inspired by the opening of The Last Exorcism
Part II (which, to be fair, seems to have abandoned the
found-footage nature of the first film altogether), it's time to
lay down some rules for the found-footage genre -- if you want
to make one, you've got follow this five steps.
Figure Out How Many Cameras You Have and Stick to It
Considering that this is a genre based entirely on the idea that
the film you're watching was shot by the (probably now deceased)
characters on-screen, you'd think that the first thing the
filmmakers would figure out is how many cameras are involved and
who is operating them. But many films seem to fail at this. Too
many. Take the otherwise pretty terrific The Last Exorcism, for
instance. Despite the fact that film clearly establishes a
potential film crew of three people max (two of whom always tend
to be on camera), the movie's editing frequently cheats, cutting
into close-ups that could never be captured under the
circumstances of the scene or switching between a half dozen
different angles covering the same event. When shot properly,
found-footage movies bring a great sense of reality to
completely unreal premises -- cheating like this shatters that
reality completely.
Why Are the Characters Even Filming This?
More than the number of cameras, this is a question that has
plagued the found-footage genre for years. If the characters are
facing mortal danger, why don't they just drop the camera and
run? There's a pretty great gag in the early moments of REC 3:
Genesis where the character shooting the footage tells the
survivors of a horrible supernatural attack that he's filming
because "the world has to see what happened here"... and someone
else promptly knocks the camera out of his hand, signaling the
film's shift from found footage to a traditional horror film. If
a film is going to go the found-footage route, it needs some
kind of foundation for why the characters will hold onto their
cameras and, if not that, why the footage should exist.
The first Paranormal Activity film gets away with this because
the stationary cameras positioned all over the house capture
horrifying moments that would have otherwise made a character
drop a camera in terror (although the later sequels go more
handheld and suffer some pretty major "Drop the camera and run,
you moron!" moments). A particularly smart found-footage movie
will not only have a solid reason for the characters to keep
filming, but actually have a reason for why you're viewing the
footage of these doomed souls in the first place (see: The
Conspiracy).
Don't Be Afraid to Experiment
Practically every found-footage movie coming out these days
seems to be about demonic possession and it's starting to get
old. The Paranormal Activity series, The Last Exorcism, The
Devil Inside and countless other direct-to-DVD pieces of junk
have wrung the concept dry. It's time to move on! There are
countless other playgrounds to experiment in with found footage!
Look at the wonderful Norwegian film Trollhunter, which uses
found footage to craft a genuinely fun adventure romp with just
enough scares to please those who go to found footage
exclusively looking for horror. If you want to get higher
profile, look at Cloverfield, a found-footage take on the
giant-monster movie that's so audacious and clever that you can
easily forgive it's frequent breaking of the "Why Are the
Characters Even Filming This?" rule. Festival favorite King
Kelly took found footage in its sharpest left turn yet by
telling a story about "YouTube generation" teens shot entirely
on cell phone cameras. Heck, Chronicle is a found-footage
superhero movie that actually works! It's time: let's separate
the horror genre from found-footage genre. With so many
possibilities out there, the two have no right to be seemingly
linked at the waist.
Remember That You're Making an Actual Movie
Your found-footage movie may be a re-creation of a loose and
amateurishly shot ragtag video, but have some self-respect and
make sure it's a professionally made re-creation of a loose and
amateurishly shot ragtag video! There is no reason for a
found-footage movie to not function like an actual movie! All of
usual rules apply: you need great characters, an interesting
conflict and a beginning, a middle and an end (more on endings
in a moment). Too many found-footage filmmakers misunderstand
the slow, quietly intense pacing of Paranormal Activity and The
Blair Witch Project and spend the first half of their movies
BS-ing around and doing absolutely nothing interesting, thinking
that they're building suspense when all they're doing is wasting
time.
At the same time, found-footage movies rarely take the time to
build interesting characters, often mistaking "realistic" (i.e.,
unrealistic) improvisational chatter for character development.
When a found-footage film actually takes the time to create
three-dimensional characters and tell a proper story, the
results can be astounding, with the faux-documentary style
lending everything a sheen of true-to-life realism (see: Patrick
Fabian's truly remarkable work in The Last Exorcism). Found
footage has become the refuge for lazy filmmaking and lazy
filmmakers who think that it's a style that will simply be
easier and cheaper to make, not a creative choice. We can be
better than that, people.
Do Yourself a Favor and Have an Ending
You know how virtually every found-footage movie ever ends with
something horrible jumping out at and/or surrounding our
cameraman before the image cuts to black? Yeah, that's old hat
now. Let's think up a new way to end these things, okay? How
about something that helps the audience not feel like they've
been robbed of a third act.[/quote]
#Post#: 17697--------------------------------------------------
Re: Five Simple Rules to Fix the Found-Footage Genre
By: Chiprocks1 Date: March 15, 2013, 7:23 pm
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All valid points. But you didn't include Step 6: Stop
Found-Footage Genre, Once and for all. Please.
#Post#: 17700--------------------------------------------------
Re: Five Simple Rules to Fix the Found-Footage Genre
By: Mac Date: March 15, 2013, 7:37 pm
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Yea, unfortunately, it's not going away :'(
#Post#: 17806--------------------------------------------------
Re: Five Simple Rules to Fix the Found-Footage Genre
By: Neumatic Date: March 18, 2013, 5:47 pm
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Especially since cameras are so ubiquitous in this day and age,
you can get those little GoPro cameras and just mount them on
your person and go (in fact, that's the perfect "why are you
filming this?" excuse now, you just turn it on and never turn it
off, you have three cameras going on at the same time).
#Post#: 17808--------------------------------------------------
Re: Five Simple Rules to Fix the Found-Footage Genre
By: Mac Date: March 18, 2013, 7:17 pm
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The V/H/S movie and the sequel take that approach.... How do we
incorporate innovate ways to explain the video?
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