BvS Please don't do hand-held/shaky cam shots for BvS

Gu3ree

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Man of Steel had many flaws. Not that I disliked Man of Steel entirely, but that whole hand-held thing was another takeoff from Nolan's Batman trilogy, but from what I saw, Nolan's films were not entirely hand held, for specific and IMPORTANT scenes or action sequences, they were NOT hand-held, other scenes were. I think some hand-held shots are okay, but for me, it just did not work in Man of Steel. I think some of it worked in Nolan's trilogy, however I thought it was done terribly in Man of Steel.

Man of Steel is one of the worst hand-held shooted film I have ever seen. I would like to see what the eff is going on when Jor-El is fighting Zod. It's just shaky, shaky, shaky and it makes me frustrated and think why is that necessary?

Firstly, hand-held usually is a poor and cheap way to do a film. You want to make a beautiful film, use a more formal and traditional approach. Keep the camera still.

Let me re-phrase that, hand-held isn't all bad, but "SHAKY CAM" is awful.

One of Man of Steel's major flaws for me, along with how dark themed and too much action that it had.

Man of Steel failed to keep the camera stayed in one position and balance it. Now there are a certain number of scenes that are not hand-held in MOS, and I think those shots in particular were beautiful shots, such as the shot of Superman walking down the arctic. Perry, Lombard, Jenny walking down the pile of destruction.

Or Superman floating away from his father in space. It looks great in 3D and it's not hand-held. Or that shot of Superman with his fist down the snowy ground about to take off. That's beautiful. Why can't they just keep the shots like that? Another shot that was not hand held was Lois walking towards to the scout ship.

I did not think that hand-held was relevant nor suited this story. I know they want to keep it as realistic as possible, but I don't think hand-held was necessary. It made me conscious that we were watching a movie, rather than feeling as if we were in the movie, especially the beginning on Krypton at the council. Everything is seemingly perfect for the film, the design, costumes, visual effects, background and color, everything looks great for what should be an epic film...the problem is the hand-held shots. And another thing is we are on another planet I found hard to believe due to the shaky camera. Could I contemplate anymore for why the camera simply could not just stay still.

Most of the action sequences were not hand held. What was the point if the camera stayed still in the sky, when you have Superman or Zod flying when the rest of the film is shot hand held?

Snyder said in an interview that the reason the camera is shaky when Superman flies on screen is because the camera is constantly struggling to stay in position with Superman because he flies so fast. Superman's arms and half of his head is cut off from screen, why does it have to be that way? In addition, Cavill moves around the camera to act like he's flying, it feels unrealistic. When Reeve flew, I actually believed it. part of that had to do with the way it was filmed. I could actually see Superman flying and believe he was flying. Like WOW!

I mean when Superman and Zod are fighting in the Metropolis skyline in MOS, the camera seems to have no problem catching up with them, so why in other shots, does the camera struggle to stay in position with Superman? That's another reason why this hand-held approach was not necessary. Come on.

Or how about that shot of Superman rescuing Lois from the phantom drive? It's an amazing shot. The camera is not really shaking. You can see Superman flying and carrying Lois. The rest of the film should have just been shot in this style, a more formal approach.

So why did everything else have to be hand held? It was very documentary style. I felt like there were several camera men documenting the Smallville disaster. It really felt like someone was walking in front of Superman and all the other characters filming it. Like Superman could just smile at you or look at you in the camera.

My point is, the shots I described that were not "shaky" looked beauitful and should have been shot like this through-out the entire movie. Those few shots suited the epic film. That hero shot of Superman in the center looking at Zod down his knees as he gives the speech, and the rest of the Superman vs. Zod fight. It would seem awkward to keep most of this fighting sequence hand-held and shaky. The epicness called of a formal approach to keep the camera still. A formal approach would be so much better.

I hope Batman vs. Superman won't be filmed hand-held, or at least not entirely shaky. Post your thoughts.

P.S. like the scene where Clark arrives back at the Kent farm, and we have that scene with Martha Kent talking to each other...notice how shaky the camera is...it would be so much better if....
 
I disagree absolutely. I never noticed any shaky camera in TDKT that Snyder was supposedly aping, and I thought it worked wonderfully in MOS. In the Kansas scenes it adds a homespun quality, in the action scenes it forces a first-person perspective. It's not intrusive like Cloverfield or any of those found-footage films, and it wasn't shaky throughout. Sure, scenes like the interview scene (with Lois and the military behind the glass) are obviously hand-held, it's not shaky enough to be noticeable unless you're obsessing over it.
 
Well that's another scene I could argue for. Why can't they require a stand for the camera when they are sitting down?
 
I groan when I think about the hand held shakiness in MoS. It's fine in a action scene, but when Pa Kent and Clark are talking next to a truck, or Jor El is addressing the council, and the camera is shaking all over the place, I just have this picture of Synder being really pleased with himself for subverting expectations, since instead of using his well known over the top slow motion techniques, he's now doing an artsy hand held camera shake. For some reason.
 
Man of steel, was very well directed. The fact that he shot the movie with one camera and on film is amazing. There was a lot of handheld, but you could see what was going on. The Smallville scene, was one of the best shot action scenes in any of these types of movies. The film aspect was important as well, it did not look like shiny video as all these movies are going that way.
 
I groan when I think about the hand held shakiness in MoS. It's fine in a action scene, but when Pa Kent and Clark are talking next to a truck, or Jor El is addressing the council, and the camera is shaking all over the place, I just have this picture of Synder being really pleased with himself for subverting expectations, since instead of using his well known over the top slow motion techniques, he's now doing an artsy hand held camera shake. For some reason.

I completely agree. That's all I'm arguing about and this is what surprised me that he suddenly changed his style. 300 is so beautifully shot and Watchmen. Superman is just as epic. Don't get me wrong, much of Man of Steel is beautifully shot. Krypton, the sun, the shots of the dragonfly bird...I forget what they called it. That amazing shot where Superman rescues Lois and is trying to speed away from the phantom drive dragging him in. It's iconic.

When it came to most of the action scenes or with visual effects, it looked great. When they have a bird's eye view shot, it's never hand held. Just simple camera movement. Or those shots of the ships flying in on Krypton. Beautiful.

Though it is hand held, the shot of Superman facing Zod with the background of the destruction in Metropolis is a great shot, and the following shot of Superman just standing and listening to Zod.

I felt like other scenes in particular that should have stayed still with the camera angle, like when Clark talks to Jor-El. All those pretty visuals in the background, couldn't he just have kept the camera still?

Another good shot was Superman flying himself up from the ground getting ready to fight Zod, "You're a monster Zod..." The CGI cape looks awesome.
 
tl;dr

But I will say that while I was watching the movie I didn't even notice it. And I'm surprised how many people have issues with it.
 
tl;dr

But I will say that while I was watching the movie I didn't even notice it. And I'm surprised how many people have issues with it.

Yeah, wasn't an issue for me either. MOS doesn't come anywhere remotely close to fitting my definition of shaky cam.
 
Yeah, wasn't an issue for me either. MOS doesn't come anywhere remotely close to fitting my definition of shaky cam.

Thirded, people act as if the movie was shot like The first Hunger Games movie's final battle between Katniss and a tribute whose name escapes me...
 
The cinematography was probably the strongest aspect of the film, for me. And the production design.
 
I disagree absolutely. I never noticed any shaky camera in TDKT that Snyder was supposedly aping, and I thought it worked wonderfully in MOS. In the Kansas scenes it adds a homespun quality, in the action scenes it forces a first-person perspective. It's not intrusive like Cloverfield or any of those found-footage films, and it wasn't shaky throughout. Sure, scenes like the interview scene (with Lois and the military behind the glass) are obviously hand-held, it's not shaky enough to be noticeable unless you're obsessing over it.
:bow:
 
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. MOS had both times.
 
I want a mix. Handheld shots for distant, POV views from bystanders, and steadycam for dialog moments and up close action. And don't go whipzoom crazy this time ;)
 
The Winter Soldier had a fair bit of shaky cam, and they pulled it off pretty well. I don't see anyone complaining about it. I guess overall disappointment with a film exacerbates issues....or even makes new ones out of nowhere.
 
Some should be the hand held camera. Some should not. I also think they should have some in 16:9 ratio like in TDKR.
 
As long as they do not zoom, I could care less what they do.
 
I had read the reviews saying the Shaky Cam was bad, so I went in expecting some awful shaky cam work. But after the Krypton council scene, I didn't notice any overt shaky cam in the movie. So I actually have no idea what the argument is around shaky cam - since it was just not noticeable for me.
 
I hated it too. The shakiness and the auto-zoom. The film could've done better with a more conventional cinematography IMO.
 
I wasn't bothered by how MOS was shot. I found it pretty unique actually. I wouldn't go as far to call it shaky cam. It was...slightly unsteady cam.
 
THey should definitelly drop the zoom in> unfocus> focus thing they did in the first filmevery time there was something in the sky, it works once, but not when you keep using it, at some point it just becomes tired.
 
yes!!!!! agreed completely, it only works for some films
 
Hand-held/shaky cam didn't bother me.
 
I wouldn't say its distracting, but it is a little unnecessary. With a $225 M budget and the biggest possible CBM property in your care, the least you can do is spring for some tripods.
 
I'll say that's a better word, "unsteady cam". I liked it in some shots, I don't know why, the upclose shot of Jor-El and Superman, as Jor-El says, "You can save her, Kal..." And Superman's look, slightly shaky cam. I felt a realistic moment there.

I don't think all hand held films are terrible, because several movies are hand held, but the difference is that most directors managed to keep the camera steady.

Okay, for me, the worst hand-held movie was from Steven Spielberg himself, Saving Private Ryan. I don't care if it's because that's real life. That film was easy money and won an oscar because it was about war. Two hours of the camera shaking all over the place was distracting.

Somehow I never understood why the first shot of Superman in the Superman suit walking out of the scoutship as the doors open is shot hand held, still a beautiful shot, but a shot like that should just be "steady". That calls for a "steady" shot.

But most of the camera work in Man of Steel felt alarmingly unsteady and constantly shaking which was annoying.
 

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