shaky cam
Unsteady filming technique
Shaky cam is a cinematography technique using deliberate camera movement and instability to create a sense of immediacy or chaos.
Common in action sequences, horror films, and documentary-style footage, it simulates handheld recording: The shaky cam made the chase scene feel more intense.
Critics sometimes use the term disparagingly when the technique distracts rather than enhances.
- handheldDesigned for palm use
- run and gunMobile aggressive shooting
- found footageGenre mimicking discovered recordings
- documentaryFactual film about reality
- war footageRecorded images of conflict
Blair Witch · vertigo · motion sickness · nausea · motion blur · jittery · unstable · raw · authentic · guerrilla · indie film · chaos · action · quick cuts · Jason Bourne · realism · disorienting · intense
- Sam RaimiSpider-Man, Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, Darkman, Bruce Campbell
- footageraw footage, archival footage, stock footage, found footage, documentary footage
- indie filmindie films, indie film, independent, low budget, independent film
- MockumentariesThis Is Spinal Tap, The Office, Borat, mockumentary, Bruno
- documentary techniquesinterviews, narration, voiceover, voice-over, voice over