When I saw the movie Cloverfield it solidified an already growing love of Cinema Verite style filming. With the subsequent release of Quarantine I was hooked. There's something infinitely more cathartic about living the movie through the character instead of the director. Another trick played on the senses.
So I was trying to take a trick back into the archives of my movie knowledge. Try to accumulate a list of current and older movies utilizing this trend to make us squirm in our seats. Here is the list I compiled.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Directed by: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez
I was only 12 in 1999 but I do remember this movie universally scaring the shit out of everyone. We also remember it pissing a lot of people off when they found out this was pure fiction. If you remember it was released under the ruse that it was real. But one camera and a group of actors with strong improvisational skills was all it took to have everyone sleeping with the lights on.
Quarantine (2008)
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Quarantine is a remake of a 2007 Spanish horror film called REC. They sure didn't give it time to settle did they? This movie utilizes single camera shooting to present to you a realistic and startlingly eerie 'what if' scenario. Two night time reporters are covering a story on fire fighters when they are called to the scene of a disturbance of an apartment complex. Said disturbance actually turns out to be a rabies viral outbreak that activates nearly immediately and turns the residents into vicious man-eating creatures out for blood. Despite some questionable marketing tactics; like the fact that the cover RUINS the ending. (It was a remake I know... but in Spanish. They could have left something to the imagination) But definitely worth a watch.
Cloverfield (2008)
Director: J.J. Abrams
This is one of those movies that teaches you the difference between a monster movie and a horror movie. Seeing as monster movies have in my eyes become a dying art. I mean we got a remake of Godzilla again in 1999 but that would mark the 24th film in the series. Not to mention two cartoons that I can recall. So they're pretty much beating a dead dinosaur. Aside from a man with no formal training and a digital camera being a damn remarkable camera man Cloverfield is a true monster movie. But I'll save that for another blog. The point is it's totally cathartic. The movie is chaos and terror and evokes all the same emotions in the audience that the actors feel. You almost feels as if you yourself are looking up at gigantic eel-squid-monster thing. And guess what? It's a female.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Directed by: Oren Peli
Fairly recent and self-explanatory but if you were one of the many who flocked to see this film or the others listed above you've already been well introduced to this style of Cinema that's been around for decades.
This is a trend new to me. Upon researching I realized that television has been utilizing this method of filming for years and some very popular television series use it to. Including a personal favorite of mine Reno 911!
I'd like to blog about this subject again when I become more well versed. The purpose of today's blog was to simply share with you what I think Cinema Verite is. A wildly cunning way to snare a film audience and make box-office millions if the success of the above movies is any indication. Quarantine was such a radically good idea they couldn't wait to cash in on it. The Celluloid barely had time to cool before the remake was already on DVD. But Tinseltown is efficient like that. It's also why sometimes I almost believe the famous 'exhaustion excuse'.
Anyways; this was a style of filming long overdue to be adopted into major motion pictures. And I just feel like we're going to be seeing a lot more of it. So be on the lookout.
