Cinematic Techniques That Actually Worked On You.

[DuplicateValue]

Okay, I did search for this, but nothing similar came up.

So, whenever I watch movies, i'm always aware of what techniques the director is using to try and make the film more appealing or engrossing.
For example, I immediately notice when they are trying to get you to relate to a character through making you watch the character's everyday routines and the like.

Because of this I'm almost always distanced from the movie i'm watching and it doesn't leave much impact on me.

*Spoilers I guess*
But recently I bought the movie "Elephant" on DVD and the ending sequence (the school shooting) genuinely startled me.
I only realized afterwards that the entire movie up to that point, because it was so dull, quiet and monotonous, had caused me to be so shocked at the bluntness and brutality of the final shooting scenes, especially when one of the shooters casually murdered what appeared to be his only friend without any notice.

So I guess what I'm asking is, are there any movies that have actually surprised/saddened/angered you by using cinematic techniques effectively?

 

[Clashero]

Pretty much every good movie does it, but sometimes you don't notice. It may be very subtle things like a change in the tempo of the score, a worm's-eye camera angle, a slightly more saturated shot or a character having some sort of quirk, like pinching the bridge of his nose all the time.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

I can't think of any that work on me but I can think of the one that immediately puts me off pretty much any film, if you're still interested?

Ooh, actually I'm still sort of answering!

The technique of Wobbly Camera angers me. I can't see shit and I want to know what's going on. And it looks like they hired a tramp to run around after the characters with a camera strapped to his face.

 

[DuplicateValue]

I can't think of any that work on me but I can think of the one that immediately puts me off pretty much any film, if you're still interested?

Ooh, actually I'm still sort of answering!

The technique of Wobbly Camera angers me. I can't see shit and I want to know what's going on. And it looks like they hired a tramp to run around after the characters with a camera strapped to his face.

But i've always found that it gives you more of a sense of vulnerability or uselessness when you don't know what exactly is happening and you can't do anything about it. Don't you think?

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

I can't think of any that work on me but I can think of the one that immediately puts me off pretty much any film, if you're still interested?

Ooh, actually I'm still sort of answering!

The technique of Wobbly Camera angers me. I can't see shit and I want to know what's going on. And it looks like they hired a tramp to run around after the characters with a camera strapped to his face.

But i've always found that it gives you more of a sense of vulnerability or uselessness when you don't know what exactly is happening and you can't do anything about it. Don't you think?

It gives me a sense of a crippled cameraman.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

I can't think of any that work on me but I can think of the one that immediately puts me off pretty much any film, if you're still interested?

Ooh, actually I'm still sort of answering!

The technique of Wobbly Camera angers me. I can't see shit and I want to know what's going on. And it looks like they hired a tramp to run around after the characters with a camera strapped to his face.

But i've always found that it gives you more of a sense of vulnerability or uselessness when you don't know what exactly is happening and you can't do anything about it. Don't you think?

It gives me a sense of a crippled cameraman.

I would go into why I hate the Wobbly Camera, but instead of creating a wall of text, I will refer to Maddox, as his thoughts reflect mine on this particular matter. His language may be a tad more juvenile than my own, but he gets the point across well enough.

Why does every battle scene in the universe have to have a shaky cam? Just whose view point are we seeing this from anyway? Wow, the cam is shaky, I feel like I'm right in the battle, looking through the eyes of some idiot who can't fight, yet he still can't focus on an object for more than a few seconds. Hey assholes, here's an idea: how about the perspective of someone who got stabbed in the face? The camera would just sit there staring up at the blue sky as an occasional limb would come flying across, or someone would trip over his body. That would be tits.

 

[DuplicateValue]

I would go into why I hate the Wobbly Camera, but instead of creating a wall of text, I will refer to Maddox, as his thoughts reflect mine on this particular matter. His language may be a tad more juvenile than my own, but he gets the point across well enough.

Why does every battle scene in the universe have to have a shaky cam? Just whose view point are we seeing this from anyway? Wow, the cam is shaky, I feel like I'm right in the battle, looking through the eyes of some idiot who can't fight, yet he still can't focus on an object for more than a few seconds. Hey assholes, here's an idea: how about the perspective of someone who got stabbed in the face? The camera would just sit there staring up at the blue sky as an occasional limb would come flying across, or someone would trip over his body. That would be tits.

If you think about it, a fight scene without shaky cam is really just a bunch of guys jumping around, pretending to hit each other.

I guess shaky cam is really just put in there to hide the fact that the people aren't actually hitting each other. =]

 

[Malkavian]

I would go into why I hate the Wobbly Camera, but instead of creating a wall of text, I will refer to Maddox, as his thoughts reflect mine on this particular matter. His language may be a tad more juvenile than my own, but he gets the point across well enough.

Why does every battle scene in the universe have to have a shaky cam? Just whose view point are we seeing this from anyway? Wow, the cam is shaky, I feel like I'm right in the battle, looking through the eyes of some idiot who can't fight, yet he still can't focus on an object for more than a few seconds. Hey assholes, here's an idea: how about the perspective of someone who got stabbed in the face? The camera would just sit there staring up at the blue sky as an occasional limb would come flying across, or someone would trip over his body. That would be tits.

If you think about it, a fight scene without shaky cam is really just a bunch of guys jumping around, pretending to hit each other.

I guess shaky cam is really just put in there to hide the fact that the people aren't actually hitting each other. =]

Yup. It's like atmospheric music. Of course, noone brought a boomblaster to the battlefield that day, but without it, the fighting is just less captivating. That goes for all music in films, BTW.

 

[DuplicateValue]

I would go into why I hate the Wobbly Camera, but instead of creating a wall of text, I will refer to Maddox, as his thoughts reflect mine on this particular matter. His language may be a tad more juvenile than my own, but he gets the point across well enough.

Why does every battle scene in the universe have to have a shaky cam? Just whose view point are we seeing this from anyway? Wow, the cam is shaky, I feel like I'm right in the battle, looking through the eyes of some idiot who can't fight, yet he still can't focus on an object for more than a few seconds. Hey assholes, here's an idea: how about the perspective of someone who got stabbed in the face? The camera would just sit there staring up at the blue sky as an occasional limb would come flying across, or someone would trip over his body. That would be tits.

If you think about it, a fight scene without shaky cam is really just a bunch of guys jumping around, pretending to hit each other.

I guess shaky cam is really just put in there to hide the fact that the people aren't actually hitting each other. =]

Yup. It's like atmospheric music. Of course, noone brought a boomblaster to the battlefield that day, but without it, the fighting is just less captivating. That goes for all music in films, BTW.

Yeah in the movie I mentioned in the OP, Elephant, there is actually little of no music - all the sounds are just people and background noise. It was really noticeable and I didn't like it tbh....

 

[Gummy]

the best film techniques are ones you don't notice. but if you have an interest in such devices, hit http://tvtropes.org
but beware. only this morning I wasted 9 hours of my life to this site. 9 hours I won't get back.
(to find out why. xkcd.com/609

 

[Skeleon]

Did you see the movie Gothika? Very predictable story (X-Factor niveau) and horror elements, however there was one scene which startled not only me but the whole cinema audience.
In retrospect, it was quite funny to hear everybody gasp at the same time.

Spoiler

If you're interested to know which scene I mean: It was the one where Halle Berry sees a shadow move past the door and bows down to look underneath it and the girl is RIGHT THERE!

 

[hardter]

the best film techniques are ones you don't notice. but if you have an interest in such devices, hit http://tvtropes.org
but beware. only this morning I wasted 9 hours of my life to this site. 9 hours I won't get back.
(to find out why. xkcd.com/609

I got stuck on that site ages ago. Its so involing you have to keep reading. Dam you linking it. Now I'm going to waste the next 3 hours of my life there.

My favourite film technique is the continuous shot. The beginning of Firefly is an example of this.