# STOP shaking the damn camera **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885 "2004-11-21T00:31:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/1 "2004-11-21T00:31:08Z")
I’ve had it. Here’s a big revelation you stupid artistic fucks. They shook the camera in the “Blair Witch Project” in order to make the movie look like an amateur shoot the fucking thing. It got “old” real quick. Now everybody runs around shaking the fucking camera trying to “make the scene look hectic”. Works great on a TV that’s 25" or less. Here’s the big revelation. People are buying bigger TVs! And when you shake your fucking camera around it doesn’t add tension to the scene. In fact the viewer goes from "totally engrossed in the story " to “what the fuck is wrong with the camera man?” I’m talkng to **you** \*CSI, LOST, NYPD BLUE \* and just about every other drama on the tube. Quit shaking the fucking camera! I’ve had to turn the program off too many times because your cheap effect made me nauseous ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/2 "2004-11-21T00:37:32Z")
NYPD Blue did the whole ‘moving camera’ thing long before Blair Witch (although I couldn’t claim they’re the innovators). I never ever could watch NYPD as a result. It was soooo contrived, it seemed to patronise the audience - “if we don’t make it seem like you’re glancing between two people, then you aren’t…” But on the other hand, I’ve noticed nothing as intrusive on CSI (although granted, you may be talking about up-to-date episodes…grrr…)…or on any other programme. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/3 "2004-11-21T00:39:24Z")
I don’t mind it. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/4 "2004-11-21T01:07:38Z")
It depends on how it is used. On Homicide it worked well; less so on NYPD Blue. I haven’t noticed it on Lost, so they must be doing it well. As for CSI, there are so many things about it that piss me off anyway… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/5 "2004-11-21T01:33:18Z")
The Bourne Supremacy is the worst offender of recent times IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/6 "2004-11-21T02:06:44Z")
You know, I went and watched _The Bourne Supremacy_ on opening night, at midnight, when I had only had about three hours’ sleep the night before, and I was not the least bit bothered by the camera shaking. You would think that in my state, I would have been even more susceptible to it but I barely noticed it and enjoyed the movie and then drove the twenty miles back home with no problems whatsoever. I really don’t understand the flak the movie takes for its camerawork. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/7 "2004-11-21T02:25:46Z")
When people shift their glance they are not aware of any shaking or violent disruption as in the pseudo-natural camera effect. Evidently a lot of folks either like the camera trick or can ignore it. I’ll avoid any show or movie where it’s employed because it’s a distracting artifice which reinforces the impression that I’m seeing something unreal. ---
**Author:** ![Sharky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sharky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharky)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/8 "2004-11-21T03:19:20Z")
The shaky camera gimmick is _almost_ as annoying as credits still appearing on the screen 15 minutes into the show. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/9 "2004-11-21T05:31:44Z")
There was a time some years ago when every TV commercial used the effect. When done “properly” it enhances the effect because the human eye automatically tracks the subject of the shot as it moves around the screen. This forces the viewer to pay more attention. The problem is that there is an art to doing it well. If I remember correctly, the camera needs to jump from one object to another in the same manner that the human eye does. And of course the thing to which the camera is jumping needs to be the next subject for the viewers’ attention. So that the effect is as if the camera were basically imitating the natural behavior of the human eye. When the camera jumps around randomly, it can really screw with the viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/10 "2004-11-21T06:40:48Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I’ve had it. Here’s a big revelation you stupid artistic fucks. They shook the camera in the “Blair Witch Project” in order to make the movie look like an amateur shoot the fucking thing. It got “old” real quick. Yes, it was annoting. But they had to do it to stay true to their premise, that it was only recovered, unedited video. Any other time I would agree, nobody should do it. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/11 "2004-11-21T07:21:33Z")
I watch Lost every week, and I’ve never even noticed it. Or I have, and it’s just never bothered me enough to remember? I definitely noticed it in TBWP, but I don’t watch a whole lot of TV (I’ve never seen NYPD: Blue or 24, for example). ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/12 "2004-11-21T07:27:06Z")
> [@TastesLikeBurning](#): > > The Bourne Supremacy is the worst offender of recent times IMO. Yes. An excellent movie pretty much ruined by terrible camera work. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/13 "2004-11-21T11:28:16Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I’ve had it. Here’s a big revelation you stupid artistic fucks. They shook the camera in the “Blair Witch Project” in order to make the movie look like an amateur shoot the fucking thing. Pedant: the camera shook in BWP because it _was_ an amateur who shot the fuckin’ thing. It’s also a little difficult to keep a camcorder steady when you’re running, but that’s by the by. I’m at least partially with you on the rest, though. Don’t shake the camera unless it’s verite. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/14 "2004-11-21T16:31:16Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > I watch Lost every week, and I’ve never even noticed it. Or I have, and it’s just never bothered me enough to remember? In the pilot episode when they’re in the front part of the plane and they find the wounded pilot. The damn scene shakes for ever. The episode that backgrounds the Korean couple. The husband comes home with blood on his shirt and the couple goes into the bathroom which then becomes a carnival ride. Sawyer’s torture scene. Each of those scenes I went from totally engrossed in the plot to wondering if the cameraman has epilepsy. I blame MTV. The brats that used to watch the quick change, jerky camera work that goes with short attention span brain levels has grown and somehow got their hands and ideas into mainstream video production. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/15 "2004-11-21T17:26:44Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > It depends on how it is used. On Homicide it worked well; less so on NYPD Blue. I haven’t noticed it on Lost, so they must be doing it well. Homicide really did have a stylized documenatary look at times, with high contrast lighting and a few zoom tricks to really highten tension. There were times though when they circled the table in the interrogation room just too damn much. For the most part, it was effective, but the cameraman going 'round and 'round and 'round the table with the steady cam… Urk! In Blair Witch, it was utterly appropriate. You got _sick_ and _tired_ of it – physically. It was nauseating, those stupid kids kept whining, and whining, you just wanted them to shut the fuck up, and all the tiresome walking and whining went on, and on, and on… Gah! This was sort of the point. You were put in the same boat as the characters who were lost, exhausted, feeling _sick_ and _tired_ and squabbling because they started hating each others’ whining, and whining. They just wanted each other to shut the fuck up and the stupid journey to end. But no they were lost and had to keep walking, and walking, and walking… So they spent a good 2/3 of the movie exhausting you and making you feel queasy and aggravated – while the characters were exhausted, hungry, and had really frayed nerves. _Then_ shit started to really happen. So while I hate the over-use of the steadycam, in Blair Witch it served a very specific and appropriate function. Some TV shows use it that just don’t need to. It doesn’t add any more “tension” than a good tracking effect with zoom – still dynamic, but smoother. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/16 "2004-11-21T17:53:54Z")
> [@TastesLikeBurning](#): > > The Bourne Supremacy is the worst offender of recent times IMO. Agreed. The movie was pretty good, but the camera work just drove me nuts. I hate any camerawork that calls attention to itself. I complained recently about “Unbreakable” - the movie itself wasn’t all that good to begin with, but the stupid camera stunts kept pulling me out of the movie altogether. It’s only MHO, but if you think about the camerawork at all, then there’s a problem. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/17 "2004-11-21T18:09:16Z")
_Saving Private Ryan_ makes good use of this except near the end. At one point it appears that a German tank could make the planet shake. Gets a bit overboard. ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/18 "2004-11-21T20:11:42Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > In Blair Witch, it was utterly appropriate. You got _sick_ and _tired_ of it – physically. It was nauseating, those stupid kids kept whining, and whining, you just wanted them to shut the fuck up, and all the tiresome walking and whining went on, and on, and on… Gah! I agree with your points, however it made me **so** sick, I ended up in bed with one of the worst cases of motion sickness I’d ever had up to that point. In fact, it left such a lasting impression that whenever I see any shaky camera scene I have to shut my eyes or get the heaves. Bleargh. ---
**Author:** ![Frankenbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c0e974/32.png) [@Frankenbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenbear)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/19 "2004-11-22T02:04:13Z")
I hate it when the camera shakes. It doesn’t make me ill but it distracts me so much it takes a good ten minutes to start enjoying the show/movie again. Depending on what I’m watching there have been times I completely lost interest afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885/20 "2004-11-22T02:37:07Z")
In making [Breaking the Waves](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115751/), Lars Von Trier not only filmed with a hand-held, shaking camera, he then projected that image onto a screen and filmed it AGAIN with a hand-held, shaking camera. The final result left me with motion sickness, and I enjoyed every minute of Blair Witch. Between that and [Dogville](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276919/), I think they should just take away his toys and give him a good book to read so he stops hurting people. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-shaking-the-damn-camera/275885.md?page=2)