yes..it was annoying

So long as they're in focus, I can ignore it.

I was just listening to somebody make the same complaint today. One more movie for me to avoid. I remember when a similar style of intentionally bad cinematography struck TV in the 1990s.

I can't ignore it.

this article is just a review for the movie

It makes it just unwatchable.

Saw it opening night. The movie was good nuff but everyone left talking about the jerkiness and not the cool fight or chase or anything else because it was all overwhelmed by the freakin jerkiness.

It really was quite distracting...the movie was ok but it is really distracting during the fights up close.

I think FX's The Shield was the first to create or popularize this camera style. It was meant to be more like Cops where the cameraman really doesn't know what's going to happen next.

Another post about a movie that just hit the theatres. What a coincidence....

The quick edits were more of an annoyance to me. If an action cut lasts more than a second, people will NOT get up and demand their money back.

dasnibblet -

i have a feeling we're both about to be wrong, but i think the film "Gladiator" popularized the concept for action movies before "The Sheild" did.

To echo everyone else, it is pretty annoying during what would have been some very excellent action shots. Instead, it turns them into kind of murky, what the heck is going on fight scene.

yep, just saw it. they over did the shaky cam wayyyyy too much. the director needs to get over it. it's not cool on cribs, it isn't cool in the movie

I loved it.

/old

Torrent.

Oh yeah, I bet Bush had something to do with the shaky camera. This seems like something dirty and underhanded he would do.

I hope they added clicks, pops and skips to the soundtrack to add that extra bit of realism.

Haven't seen it yet. Bourne Identity was a great movie, and if they ruin it with something as simple as camera work, I'm going to be seriously pissed.

And yes, Franka Potente is really hot :) IMDB says she speaks fluent French and German, but it's surprising considering that the only German I remember her speaking in Bourne Identity was "scheisse!"

So eat a lot of crap and leave the theater a nice splash of barf. Show your appreciation.

ZAZ and DasNibblet: I think Hill Street Blues, early 80's, did this to death before anyone else. Or try the earliest episodes of Law and Order -- I got seasick trying to watch, and gave up. Come to think of it, I had an uncle who did that kind of thing in the fifties, using a Kodak 8mm camera, though I don't think his stuff was all that influential.

Not sure if they used this a lot in "Bloody Sunday" (and I saw that movie, just can't remember). Bloody Sunday was a good film though.

ricbach229 The movie was good nuff but everyone left talking about the jerkiness and not the cool fight or chase or anything else because it was all overwhelmed by the freakin jerkiness.

So, it's kind of like, say, Fark?

I've decided to just read the book.

Franka Potente is German.

it's very distracting.. made my mind wander off and tune out the movie.

"Shaky cam" was cool in Saving Private Ryan, and Gladiator, where they were used sparingly. It's even cool in "The Shield." But *every farking* action movie does not need it! The next director who uses shaky cam when it does not fit the movie (it certainly did not fit this movie) should be castrated. Using a shaky cam does not make your action scenes artistic. It just makes them annoying.

I wanted to see how awesome Bourne was, but all I could see was a shaky cam, and couldn't follow the action. It was especially annoying in the car chase.

Smashing movie, but not nearly as good as the first one.

Yes, but will Strong Sad and Marzipan ever pronounce Baklava correctly?

/didn't stfm

It actually made my wife get motion sickness and have to run and throw up. She had a headache for the rest of the day...

shouldn't that be inconsiderate camera style?

oldebayer - I was just looking up Law and Order on IMDB. Started in 1990, so I just squeak in with my 1990s estimate. Hill Street Blues may have used the same effect (I have no memory either way, having watched only a few minutes in total) but it wasn't the start of a wave. That had to wait a few years.

I like to call it "drunk cameraman" style

"ShakyCam" is as annoying as that stupid stuttering zoom effect that's overused in cheesy horror movies. I advise putting all the directors on Ritalin before handing over the camera keys.....

heh, the movie was ok. just the camara work blew

Good call, micah476...the books are awesome. I liked the 1st movie though...can't wait to see the jerky 2nd one.

Medically speaking, it causes eye strain because you are watching a fixed object (screen) with all that unnatural movement on it. It's called strobing or skipping in cinematography and usually you try to avoid it!

Jesus, I actually liked how it was filmed... but blah blah blah everyone seems to hate it.

They use the multiple angles and quick switches from one to another in alot of parts, just walking down the street, to the fighting and everything. I thought it added to the paranoia quite well.

It creates a difference between a single camera angle fight scene which is obviously done out before hand, and making the fight actually seem like a fight and not a van damme movie.

So whine all you want, it was cool.

Just got back from seeing it, the cinametography's not as terrible as this review made it sound. Reading the article does make you reflect more on this, but I noticed that the only people who mentioned that it distracted them from the film were stoned, drunk, or lacking enough intellignece to understand anything in a film /but/ a completely clear picture of every action. (you know who I mean, the ones who need to converse during the movie to ask their friends what did that mean, or how did that happen?) oh yeah... and one guy who took 2 cell phone calls with the volume so loud I could hear his mom on the other end if it was a quiet scene playing. If anything, it added a more realistic POV that made your brain focus on the urgency, not the mechanics.

Here's a demo of the new camera style

Warning - do not click this link. I warned your dumb ass, so don't blame me

The fight scene with the other agent in Germany was absolutely horrid to watch. It looks like it was filmed by someone with parkinsons. Same for the Taxi chase scene. The As for the rest? I fell asleep during the hotel scene (exploring the past) and was nudged to wake up when something interesting happened. The first was much better.

Thank you McMutt

The movie would have blew if we had seen the whole thing from one continuous shot.

Bah. I read the Bourne trilogy twice. If anyone has read the books, they can attest to the fact that these movies are essentially only the same in title form. the whole of the movie does not follow the book at all.

I got sick by the end of "Blair Witch Project", AT HOME on video.

I'd like to personally kick the ass of the stupid fark that thought this was a good idea. The fight scenes were ruined by the fact that the camera was too close and each angle was on screen for 1 second, so you had a hard time seeing the bouncing of the camera. But what the fark - I don't understand what sort of artsy type shiat they were trying to accomplish by using a drunken cameraman for every farking scene in the movie.

Sounds like an awful idea for an action movie. This film style works well in movies where there's more dialogue than action. The Kingdom comes to mind. Hand held cameras work fantastically in that series, and it adds a lot to the overall feel of being there. In jerk off action movies however, you need to be able to see everything clearly. It's harder to insult a movie if you can't see what the hell is going on.

I, for one, prefer it to watching a security camera.

"Medically speaking, it causes eye strain because you are watching a fixed object (screen) with all that unnatural movement on it."

oh, boy.. i can hardly wait for the first lawsuit claiming eye damage brought on by the movie industry's neglegence.

The movie totally rips off from Paycheck II: In Arrears.

I hear they're naming this style of camera filming after Teresa Heinz... they're calling it the "SHOVE IT" method.

I guess a billion dollars still can't buy a person any manners these days...

Reminds me of NYPD Blue, which started that wavy camera shiat. Awful, awful.

Steadicam, people! Traditional camerawork over experimental! Leave the freaky stuff for film school, please.