J'adore le Genre: Found Footage

Found Footage films are known to catch a lot of flack – Kind of like when Mitt Romney calls himself a ‘self-made man’.

The public can see through the falsities like the X-ray of a Larval Leaf Scorpionfish

Found Footage films are – in short – contrived bits of amateur film making spliced together to give audiences a front row seat into the action of a story that is presented to have been recorded by accident, and usually involves some disaster, catastrophe, and/or paranormal incident.

I have designated a special place in my heart for this genre to reside because I find these films to be fun, captivating, and - with a little stretch of the imagination - scary.

Mind you, this is coming from someone who yelled at the screen while watching Disney’s Up, “A bunch of balloons carry a house away? This could never happen!” – So you may argue that I have a hard time with suspension of disbelief and should therefore dislike this genre - which is partially true, but an entirely different blog post. But I think we can all agree that suspension of disbelief is a personal experience based on one’s own perception. And for some reason, I do not have trouble suspending my belief for this genre of film.    

I understand that the intelligent part of the  ...
general public is well aware that all of these films are fiction and therefore not actual found footage that has been glorified and commercialized at the expense of the surviving family. But, I argue that knowing that the films are produced works of fiction should not deter a viewer from watching.  After all, if films were ranked based on their ability to make the audience believe the drama is real, the majority of all blockbusters would fail time after time.

I get it though, it’s a façade; Found Footage films are parading around like they are real when in fact they are not. Audiences don’t like to be ‘had’.

I won’t soon forget the 1999 MTV VMA’s when the three ‘missing’ kids from the Blair Witch Project appeared on stage to present an award – my heart sunk. I felt duped. I was seventeen. I was obsessed with that film; I even used the internet (which, in 1999, was a joke in terms of finding information) to research the case and find out more. And there they were, alive and well; on MTV no less.

Another argument against this splendid genre is that the camera work is shaky and makes audiences sick. The Blair Witch Project generated a lot of buzz during it's run on the big screen and the general consensus was that if you see it, you will experience motion sickness. I was determined to see it, but cautious because I had an unfortunate penchant for air, car, boat, you-name-it sickness. I went anyway, and happily reported that I felt nothing. To date, I haven’t actually met anyone who can confirm getting sick from this or any other Found Footage film so at this point I must conclude that the phenomenon is a myth.

I get that one too though; it’s jarring sometimes to be watching the characters run through the woods and all you see is a blur. But it doesn’t make me sick…

Do I sound defensive enough yet?

My wary and guarded prose on this subject may come off as ambivalence and perhaps that’s because I am aware of the general reception these films receive so I am a bit protective over them. But do not mistake it for indecisiveness, as I am positive that this is a genre to be celebrated. And thankfully producers continue to present these gems to the world on a consistent basis year after year, proving that the genre is enjoyed by audiences as well as profitable for the industry.  

The Blair Witch Project (1999) was not the first Found Footage film but it is arguably the most widely known and it was responsible for putting a spark in a sleepy genre and pushing is popularity into the mainstream.

The Paranormal Activity (2007-2012) series keeps in line with the genres tendency to include paranormal activity and scenes that parallel with a typical horror film.

Cloverfield (2008) tried something new by combining the genre with action/disaster, which I found to be very impressive. King Kong meets Blair Witch as young New Yorkers record the destruction of the city as it is happening to them. Seeing the collapse of the Brooklyn Bridge was a definite plus. 

V/H/S (2012) came out this year and all I can say is go for it. Several stories are presented separately within the film, each being strange, supposedly found footage from old VHS tapes. This one is not for the squeamish or faint of heart.    

Now if only this genre could produce something truly epic; like a combination of Found Footage and Jurassic Park where we get to see a ‘real-life’ depiction of what would happen if humans came into contact with Dinosaurs.

Wait, what? Oh yeah, it already exists.

The Dinosaur Project (2012).

It’s a cinematic miracle.