MovieChat Forums > Baghead (2008) Discussion > Did camera work take you out of it??

Did camera work take you out of it??

posted 15 years ago by JBoze313
5 replies | jump to latest

I've watched 45 mins so far, and the camera work (very sloppy and jittery) is totally taking me out of. Everytime the characters talk to each other, I feel as if I'm watching a scene from a scripted "reality" show...I think it's the camera movement that's taking me out of the story the most. I actually keep forgetting that I'm seeing two characters who are supposed to be in a room alone, it feels as if they're talking to each other but as part of a documentary and they know the camera and others are there with them.

[–] druquzdog 15 years ago

A tiny bit. There was a lot of slightly zooming out of close up shots to frame the faces better, almost obsessively. I didn't think this detracted from the film as a whole. Yes, I noticed it, so I guess it "took me out of it". To no detriment of the overall feel or effect though.

[–] transmentalist 15 years ago

Very good point, I think, with implications for the whole "mumblecore movement."

It didn't take me out of the film, personally, because I accepted the style early on as precisely that: a "reality show verité" style. Like black & white doesn't take you out of it, when done well.

Not to say it was done well here, just that I accepted it early on and wasn't bothered by it going forward.

Wonder if a filmed stage play would have the same sort of feeling.

[–] lief_palmi 14 years ago

It suited the type of movie that it was. So no it didn;t turn me off but drew me in more

[–] casio_balboa 13 years ago

I concur.

I thought the same techniques in 'Cyrus' to be distracting at best and contrived at worst. However, here it seemed to fit not just the story/theme, but also a necessity given what I presume was the film's low budget (e.g. it's quicker and easier to move the camera from side to side and zoom in and out than shoot two shots, wide shots and close ups).

[–] AceRoccola 11 years ago

It looks, feels, and sounds more like a documentary than a film. Maybe an episode of the Real World or something. And the camerawork is a large part of that. Though I suppose that feel comes with everything these guys do. There are moments that work and occasionally the interactions are inspired enough to merit filming, but overall it's just not...much of anything.

I thought the intro bit was ironic, since the director is obviously being played up as a pretentious doofus, and yet it seems like he could be talking about this film rather than his own in-universe movie when he's giving that Q&A. Or is that the whole point? Mark and Jay Duplass intentionally make ultra low budget low quality films, openly mock themselves and their audience, and then hope that there are enough shameless hipsters out there to eat it up anyway.