The Found Footage Phenomenon – Fascinating Look at the Sub-Genre
Director: Sarah Appleton, Phillip Escott
Plot: The Found Footage Phenomenon is an independent documentary charting the origins of the found footage sub-genre, tracking it through to the technique’s current form, and asking what the future is.
Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Thoughts on The Found Footage Phenomenon
Thoughts – The Found Footage Phenomenon is a documentary diving into the history of one of my personal favorite sub-genres of filmmaking, the found footage film. We get to look through the biggest movies in the history of the horror side of the sub-genre, from Cannibal Holocaust, The Blair Witch Project, Ghostwatch, {Rec} and many more, with interviews with the directors who used their visions to create the shock realism the sub-genre is famous for. The documentary will get a glimpse into the director’s visions of why they pushed the limits, how they looked to stand out in the industry, along with the breaking the simple motivation of why they keep filming. The film addresses how the sub-genre can always be the easier target for getting criticised because of the low budget approach used to make the movies. Seeing the evolution of the sub-genre is the most fascinating part of the documentary, where the sub-genre creators has always looked to adapt to the next level of technology available. The only downside of this documentary comes with a couple of the interviews with non-English speaking directors, doesn’t seem to have subtitles, so we don’t get to learn about their points about their movies.
Final Thoughts – The Found Footage Phenomenon a fascinating look at one of the polarising sub-genres in film.
