Hey, welcome to my blog entry! In this entry, I will be talking a bit about the found footage genre and why I like them so much (as it says in the subject, lol...)

what is found footage?

Found footage films are feature films, shorts or web series designed to look and feel like real filmed events that have been lost and then revealed and eventually made available to the viewer! For a film to be considered “found footage”, all the cameras used to make the footage must be known sources within the film itself - in other words, all the cameras are effectively props in the film. 

This differentiates the genre from the one that is normally used in other horror films, that being the “narrative film”. As the cameras in a narrative film are not considered part of the film itself, directors have the freedom to place the camera in a location that best tells the story. Meanwhile, directors shooting found footage are confined to camera sources defined within the context of the story, as the main character usually carries the camera, filming his point of view in a personal way.

types of found footage

Within the found footage sub-genre, you'll find different micro-genres that slightly modify the main concept of the genre, bringing a sense of novelty that is always welcome  ᵔ ⩊ ᵔ  The main ones being “first-person perspective”, “pseudo documentary”, “news archive” and “surveillance archive”.

The main and best-known micro-genre is, of course, POV. It's all shot from the perspective of the main character, experiencing the moment and documenting it in recordings as it happens.

The pseudo documentary, on the other hand, is filmed/recorded in the form of interviews and investigative reports on the event. It often ends up flirting with POV, because the documentarian ends up bringing this found content and putting it into the 'documentary' as proof of what happened.

News archive and surveillance archive are exactly what the name says (one is made out of archives from news, the other one from surveillance cameras). All the found footage micro-genres can be played at once, and, normally, a feature film contains at least two of those. There are analog horror series on YouTube that use this micro-genre a LOT, and liek. . . . only it. ⚆_⚆

the origins of found footage

Some people believe that epistolary novels were the origin of found footage (novels written as a series of letters and documents between the fictional characters of a narrative, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings). Frankenstein and Dracula are some examples of epistolary novels! 

When it comes to actual video, some people like to consider "cannibal holocaust" as the first found footage movie, or maybe "the Blair witch project", but there are other films that predate both of them, like "the connection" and "the other side of the wind" . . . . Although, when it comes to found footage HORROR, you can say that they were both pioneers of the genre (cannibal holocaust being the first horror movie to use the technique !)

why I like found footage

I personally think found footage is an awesome genre with a lot of potential. It gives people with not-so-big budgets a chance to tell their story, and to actually make a good movie! Sure, most of the found footages movies tend to be a very big '6' when it comes to rating, but the immersion and how easy it is to get nervous watching it due to the first person view sells it to me.

My favorite type of found footage is mockumentaries (pseudo documentary, as I addressed the micro-genre earlier in this blog entry), especially when they are more lore focussed and suspense driven! ^_____^ "Lake Mungo" is currently @ my top 4 Letterboxd watches.

best starter found footage movie?

Oof... this is a hard one. I'd say "REC (2007)" and "The Blair Witch Project (1999)" are nice starters, but be ready if u get motion sickness easily! REC, for me, is certainly a more fast-paced and enjoyable watch than The Blair Witch Project, but since TBWP is a certified classic, I feel it wouldn't be fair to say it's a great one for you to see as a first.

finishing thoughts

Found footage is cool and epic, but I do get why some ppl may not enjoy it as much as a narrative film. If you wish to, please comment your thoughts about the genre, or recommend me a movie to watch! Maybe I will even write a blog entry about it . . . . who knows :P

Thank you for reading my blog entry!