Riddick and Hollywood's Failed Attempts at Using POV Cameras
Released on 01/14/2014
(train whistling)
Where'd I put it?
Where'd I put it?
(cheers)
(breathes heavily)
Movies are totally wasting P.O.V. cams.
Seeing carnage through a character's eyes
used to mean something.
Three decades ago, Sam Raimi piloted his camera in Evil Dead
like it was strapped to a crazed demon.
The original Terminator showed us a robot's outlook,
complete with a barely digital heads-up display
and a bulky comeback algorithm.
But I mean, come on, a sophisticated futuristic A.I.
with grainy 640 by 40 peepers?
(groans disgustedly)
What did these have in common?
They were awesome!
And it should have just gotten better from there.
Head-mounted video cam imagery
was supposed to bring the action
of a fantastic first-person shooter to real life,
not turn every movie into a vapid first-person shooter.
Case in point, Riddick, the final chapter
of Vin Diesel's space follies trilogy.
The first film, Pitch Black,
was a perfectly fine mid-budget thriller
in which the protagonist's ability to see in the dark
was a vital and hair-raising plot element.
But the new one: a conventional blockbuster
with token first-person shots that scream,
I once played a game like this!
I think I can imagine Vin Diesel's point of view
when he agreed to produce this bombastic blockbuster.
(harp music)
If you really want to commit to P.O.V., Hollywood,
I demand an entire summer blockbuster
that's filmed from a first-person perspective.
Do it!
If you think about it,
it would actually be less expensive to mount,
because all cool heroes turn their back on explosions.
And when the hero's evil half-robot father
cuts off the hero's hand, he could just black out,
and then he has a psychotic break
and he starts hallucinating giant bats
like Hunter S. Thompson.
Who wouldn't go see that?
Let me know when you figure out
how to mount that, Hollywood.
I'll be over here working.
(train whistling)
What's your point of view on P.O.V.?
Let me know in the comments
and subscribe to the Wired channel.
Starring: Chris Baker
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