Am I the only person sick to DEATH of 'found footage' movies? - Page 2

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Goddamn, you magnificent bastard, we're blood brothers now. 

 

How did I forget this one? It's probably my favorite one to come out in the whole resurgence. I even remember they did this great "Blair Witch" promotion with a website about a missing model? So fucking good, and its leading man is WERNER HERZOG.

 

One film that I really liked, that came out the same time as Blair Witch was The Last Broadcast but it completely and totally shits it's bed in the final moments and ruins the entire thing. But the early stuff is very effective.

 

The funny thing is, I actually thought it looked a bit shit from the description in The Radio Times, and only started watching because at the time I had this thing for Sarah Greene (I was a weird kid). So glad I stuck around though. Such a an amazing experience to go into something like that completely unprepared and unspoiled- I think the only other people who know the same feeling would be those who saw Blair Witch when the screener tapes were going around before it became a huge thing (or people who were alive when Orson Welles did his War of the Worlds hoax). I didn't think it was real but it felt like it COULD be real, and that was all that mattered. So many nights where my sleep was messed up. Ah, great days.

I missed the very start and I never really looked at the radio times back then, so I thought it was very real. But then I was like 10 or 11 when it was on. Such a powerful experience and probably one of the motivators to start me in a career in film. The power to control an audience like that astounded me. Lesley Manning hasn't really done a lot since then, which is a shame as she was an amazing director.

To elaborate on Disciple's point, yeah, what really made Blair Witch memorable wasn't that it was a movie, but since it came out just before everyone had the internet and broadband, it was that it could be a 'Well, shit, maybe this is real.' I recall websites, stories, a whole underground campaign that kept everyone's names out of the presses just to fuel the enthusiasm and terror that holy shit, this is actually a found footage film that was cut together when someone discovered the film. With Apollo 18, TDI and everything, you have the same style, but you know they're all movies. Blair Witch creeped me out because at the time, I couldn't be quite sure (and also, the woods at night fucking terrified me and the movie itself didn't help). I guess it's a sort of, the movie has to commit, 100% to its bullshit (that it isn't actually a movie) for the effect to really take hold. With a traditional film, you know you're being played, sometimes obviously. With a found footage movie, sometimes you can't see the strings and even doubt they're there and that can make it really horrifying, not that there are monsters or witches or Jersey Devils (yeah Last Broadcast!) but because all of those things might actually be real.

2008's Home Movie isn't a bad little FF flick.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1267319/

 

IMDb summary: Documents one family's descent into darkness, using a compilation of found home-made footage. In the remote woods of upstate New York, the Poe family lives a Norman Rockwell life. Perfect house. Perfect marriage. If only the children stopped stapling frogs to trees. Something is very wrong with ten-year old twins, Jack and Emily Poe. And, to stop them, their parents must enter the nightmare of their minds. The only question is: who will survive the night? Written by MODERNCINÉ STAFF

Ah, Home Movie is a pretty good first two acts of a horror movie. And then... dude, you forgot to finish your movie.

For those wanting to watch Ghostwatch, but finding it difficult to buy, it's up on google video. 

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=6073447872198040913

How does everyone feel about the cousin of the found footage genre, the mockumentary? 

 

Lake Mungo really got to me. Im rarely really affected by a film like I was that one, in terms of general uneasiness. One of those movies where you have just a little problem sleeping afterwords. During the last 5 minutes of that film I was glued to my seat, nothing could have pulled me away. The last image of the flick is really fucking haunting. Although be prepared, it's really slow.

 

It's up on Netflix Instant right now.

The revelation in that final video of the daughter's camping trip was one of the most bonechilling scenes I've seen in some time.  

 

Sean have you watched the Marble Hornets series on youtube? If not, check it out because I have a feeling you would like it. Starts off slow, but stick with it. The Slender Man would have made Pipes proud.

Incident at Loch Ness is awesome. If you like Nessie and dry humor, you should enjoy it.

Just digging into Marble Hornets, what is it? Everything is either massively vague or fan-centric. Can't find a real way 'into' it. Is there a story? It looks like anyone can make something for it.

The repertory theatre I work for actually screened an early found footage-themed movie back in July, Coming Apart. It was made in the late 60s, stars a young Rip Torn (he looks eerily similar to Harvey Keitel), and is all filmed from a hidden camera in a fixed position in a psychiatrist's living room as he slowly dissolves into a schizophrenic episode. The restrictions placed on the cinematography and the voyeuristic angle of the film justify the approach, which I think is important for any kind of film in this genre--in order for it to be worth a damn, you have to find a reason to make it this way, beyond budgetary or popularity. 

I didn't expect ANYONE to bring that in here, but yeah, it's really fucking well done. It only got revealed as a hoax by the guy that did it, otherwise he could have carried on. 

Thanks for posting that.   I guess it's one of those "you had to be there" kind of things in regards to how authentic it is.   I think it went a step too far at the end in terms of believability (you know the point I'm talking about) but having said that, the verisimilitude of the program leading up to that is spot on in terms of shows of that nature.   Those live specials such as Al Capone's vault had a certain look to them and this one nails that tabloid aesthetic perfectly.   Great find.  

Yeah, the end of Ghostwatch did get OTT - at least by our standards today. At the time, no-one had ever heard of anything like this and it was much easier to buy. To be honest, it was so atmospheric that it earned a pass for the ending, and people were too blown away by how engrossing it was and how effectively they sold the entire setup to get too offended when they realized it was fake. Also, hiring Parky was a touch of genius in terms of selling the believability of the thing. All the celebrities, in fact, were very cleverly chosen because you'd have never picked them as being involved in anything dramatic, least of all horror-related. It played them against type and did so unbelievably well. 

 

The CHUD Halloween article from last year sums it up well (number 7 on the list):

 

http://www.chud.com/71332/internet-explhorror-the-scariest-stuff-on-the-web/

 

I've only ever watched the official MH entries from this page:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/MarbleHornets

 

I suggest putting an hour aside one evening when you're in the right mood, and you're alone at home with all the lights off, and start watching them in order from the main youtube page (entry#1, then #2 and so on). Honestly some of the scariest stuff I've seen in a long time. It's amazing what the filmmakers achieve, especially given their ages and the fact that they clearly have no money. They deserve a shot at a future Paranormal Activity, just like the Catfish dudes.
 

 

Just watched Ghostwatch - thanks for the link! It was amazing!

I'm so glad I've been able to share Ghostwatch. It's extraordinary. Yes, the ending is a little goofy, but I think it earns it, because by that point you're so submerged in the world, you've crossed over into a very 'film' universe. 

Speaking of Ghostwatch, anybody remember "Special Bulletin"?   It was about a nuclear bomb getting smugggled into the US and it was in the format of a news special report.   I'm kind of afraid to revisit it but I remember it looking and feeling very real.   As for Ghostwatch, the ending was a bit OTT but I think current found footage films can learn a thing or two from it.   The ending actually felt climactic instead of "Dude, you ran out of tape!"

 

Having grown up with those primetime specials of Geraldo Rivera's (before he became less respectable and started working for FOX News), GW brings back a very specific nostalgia for primetime specials that I don't think get produced any more.

The thing that sets Ghostwatch apart is...

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Just bumped the GW thread if anyone wants to talk about spoilers....

 

http://www.chud.com/community/t/111112/ghostwatch-1992

Still my favourite Ed Zwick movie. It was available on made-to-order DVD for a short while through Warner Archive, out of print now, insanely expensive if you want to buy it.

 

[Rec] needs to be mentioned more, one of the best examples of what can be achieved when a great horror mind uses the FF style. Fuck the sequel though.

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Well put, and this is how I feel about it too. The TV special premise is very clever and extremely well done, but in the end this is a ghost story - a horror movie - and I'm fine with it fully settling into that in the climax after gradually building to it over the course of the special.

Even if it is a bit goofy when you rewatch it, the genius of that Ghostwatch ending is that

 

SPOILER

 

They got Michael Parkinson to act like a man possessed by a demon. MICHAEL PARKINSON.

 

Over the last two decades I've spent quite some time thinking about who would have been the best Parky equivalent for them to use had it been a US production. My conclusion:

 

 

 

Think about it. They even could have used his regular studio.

 

 

Having just watched Ghostwatch (Thanks for the rec, BTW), I really like what I read about it either on IMDB or Wiki, where the writer (I think it was the writer) had wanted to have a high frequency pitch playing through the whole broadcast, like a dog whistle, so that it would cause viewers pets to bark like crazy.  Idea got nixed, though.

 

 But to contribute to the thread, I can't say I'm sick to death of the found footage genre.  Like any subgenre, it has it's good ones and bad ones.  I think it's silly to just dismiss a whole sub genre, though.  It's like sayng I hate all killer children movies, or I hate all vampire movies.  I'm a sucker for the Paranormal Activity flicks, and loved Blair Witch.  I liked newer ones like Troll Hunter, and hated others, like Last Exorcism.

 

It's pretty much my feeling about 3D, also.  I love some of them, hate others.  But there are so many people that just flat out hate all of it.  It makes me think of the Patton Oswalt bit about his angry texting.. I HATE!!! 

Wow, I had no idea this had been outed.  It's so damn good.  Also interesting is the overthinking some people did for it (including me some times).  You see some trying to figure out how you get that  ape movement to become a dog/cat movement "Must be 3d.  See that point a frame X.  Looks tweened.  That's where the skeleton morphs from one to the other.  Seen it before.  He didn't do a great job.  Typical bush league fudging.  Some obvious clashing as bones are fused"

Bollox bollox bollox bollox bollox.  8mm camera.  Guy in suit.  Just brilliant.

Just about to start on the marble hornets stuff. But can I be the first to say, THAT IS AMAZING, HOLY SHIT - WE NEED MORE OF THAT.

I've yet to see that one though it's the first that came to mind for found footage beyond the darned Paranormal Activity crap. Is Apollo 18 scary? Will it give me bad dreams? Yes, I'm what you might call a sissy when it comes to scary movies.

Noroi: The Curse is available on YouTube, and some folks around here feel it adds to it to view it this way.

I agree. Marble Hornets works brilliantly that way too. The Collingswood Story is another one that would probably be even more effective when viewed online, since it's webcam found footage.

It's on True TV... called WORLD'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS. ;)

"Caper" used loosely.

I too enjoy the epistolary approach of Stoker's DRACULA and HPL's works. Much is that is due to POV and getting the narrator's feelings of horror written down.

You've always been a big advocate here on CHUD for these types. I'll have to check out a few you've listed that I haven't seen. Agreed on the lesser-seen GHOSTWATCH though. That was aces.

 

I remember reading at one time that Kevin Smith wanted to go for the strictly security cam approach on CLERKS but that it was too limiting. Went for the general aesthetic instead. Tough to not want some close-ups on most films (subjective vs objective camera placement), especially comedy or drama or even horror.

 

"I'm so scared about what Found Footage is doing to film-making!"

 

 

I see it like other cheapie horror conventions (like slasher, zombie). It's easy to do and there's a glut.
 

 

I was suddenly reminded of one of my favorite uses of found footage in tv the other day. Rather than starting up a new thread to discuss it I just thought I'd bring it up here.

I am currently rewatching one of my favorite tv series crossovers ever done. I am referring to the X-Files episode as seen through the lens of COPS. I was reminded of it when listening to an interview with the creator of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan. Before he created Breaking Bad he was a staff writer on the X-Files and when asked which episode of his was his favorite he mentioned that he loved writing and producing the COPS episode and it took four seasons of hounding Chris Carter for him to get the greenlight to do it.

I bring this up, because to me it is an excellent example of how to do found footage in an entertaining and believable way. It gets around the "Why are the characters still holding the camera?" barrier quite neatly because everybody who lived through the nineties in America is familiar with the COPS format and will never question the presence of the cameraman because of it.

I do believe that there is still room for the found footage format to explore. It just needs to play off of more familiar formats than simply the unexplained character with the camera glued to his/her hand.

There are plenty of familiar formats out there other than COPS. I could easily see a horror element added to one of Top Gear's specials, or Man Vs. WIld, or Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations (the Beirut episode comes to mind as a good template in how to hijack the format).

Now I doubt anyone could actually get to use these shows exactly as they are, but close facsimiles coud work especially if they are presented as a foreign version of their more famous counterparts.


The X-Files COPS episode is season 7 episode 12 if anyone wants watch it again.

Hilarious episode. I recall Mulder constantly playing to the camera whenever they found evidence that even faintly suggested something supernatural.

 

Looks like Special Bulletin is online:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1117060296721382646
 

 

I personally am tired of the found footage, but I must admit that there has recently been exceptions to the rule that have provided great quality when dealing with found footage.  The quality found footage films for me are:

 

Blair Witch Project - The first mass adopted found footage movie that was brilliantly marketed and brought a new format to the mainstream

Cloverfield - A mash up of BWP mixed with a large venue (NYC) and scifi special effects.

Paranormal Activity?  - I did enjoy, but didn't think was anything special.  It was just well executed and didn't progress the genre

 

The two latest entries:

Chronicle - A great narrative that built the camera into the plot and crossed found footage horror with the superhero genre.  Great concept, and other than some spotty effects, great execution

V/H/S - not officially released but my favorite found footage film, comprising of 6 short anthology tales that mash horror with girls gone wild, skype, and use distortion as an story element.

 

I look forward to watching ghostwatch based on the recommendations here.