Found footage (film technique)

Found footage is a film subgenre in which all or a substantial part of the work is presented as if it were discovered film or video recordings. The events on screen are typically seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved, often accompanied by their real-time, off-camera commentary. For added realism, the cinematography may be done by the actors themselves as they perform, and shaky camera work and naturalistic acting are routinely employed. The footage may be presented as if it were "raw" and complete or as if it had been edited into a narrative by those who "found" it.
The most common use of the technique is in horror films ("e.g.", "Cannibal Holocaust", "The Blair Witch Project", "Paranormal Activity", "REC", "Cloverfield"), where the footage is purported to be the only surviving record of the events, with the participants now missing or dead. It has also been used in science-fiction ("e.g.", "Chronicle", "Project Almanac", "Europa Report"), drama ("e.g.", "Zero Day", "Exhibit A"), comedy ("e.g.", "Project X") and family ("e.g.", "Earth to Echo") films.
Although "found footage" was originally the name of an entirely different genre, it is now frequently used to describe pseudo-documentaries crafted with this narrative technique. The film magazine "Variety" has, for example, used the term "faux found-footage film" to describe the 2012 film "Grave Encounters 2". Film scholar David Bordwell criticizes this recent usage, arguing that it sows confusion, and instead prefers the term "discovered footage" for the narrative gimmick.
Characteristics.
Found-footage films typically employ one or more of four cinematic techniques—first-person perspective, pseudo-documentary or mockumentary, news footage, or surveillance footage—according to an analysis of 500 found-footage films conducted by Found Footage Critic.
History.
As a plot device, found footage has precedents in literature, particularly in the epistolary novel, which typically consists of either correspondence or diary entries, purportedly written by a character central to the events. Like found footage, the epistolary technique has often been employed in horror fiction: both "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" are epistolary novels, as is "The Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft.
In filmmaking, the 1980 cult horror feature "Cannibal Holocaust" is often claimed to be the first example of found footage. The device was popularised by "The Blair Witch Project" (1999). Found footage has since been used in other commercially successful films, including "Paranormal Activity" (2007), "REC" (2007), "Cloverfield" (2008) and "Chronicle" (2012). Reviewing "V/H/S" for The A.V. Club, Scott Tobia notes that the genre "has since become to the ’00s and ’10s what slasher movies were to the ’80s."
The genre appeals to film producers because of its lower cost, as it is believed the illusion of amateur documentary style allows lower production values than would be accepted on a conventional film.
Writer-director Christopher B. Landon, who has made several found footage horror films, posits that the genre is likely to extend in the future outside horror.
Examples.
Films.
The following entries are notable films in the found footage genre, though some were only partially made in that style.