User:Famous Hobo/sandbox3

Definition

Found footage is a cinematic technique in which footage from a fictional film is recorded by a character within the film itself. The footage is diegetic, and is recorded using hand-held cameras and surveillance tapes. Found footage films often imply that the character who recorded the footage is either missing or dead, and the footage was subsequently discovered by either another character or by the audience. As a result, the technique is most commonly used in horror films. Found footage bears similarities to the mockumentary format, as the character recording the footage is not only attempting to document the unfolding events around them, they may also interview other characters and provide voice over. Film critic Alexandra Heller-Nichols notes that the two formats are differentiated by their methodology. Mockumentaries use the principles found in documentaries to satirize the format, while found footage films instead use it to create an authentic aesthetic.

Film critic Pete Turner attempted to define three distinct categories of found footage films:

• Films that resemble documentaries, mockumentaries, and reality television shows. Films within this category include The Blair Witch Project (1999), Noroi: The Curse (2005), and Rec (2007).
• Films that resemble amateur films and home videos. Films within this category include Paranormal Activity (2007), Exhibit A (2007), and Cloverfield (2008).
• Films that focus on or are recorded by the antagonists. Films within this category include Man Bites Dog (1992), Zero Day (2003), and Autohead (2016).

Turner notes that the categories are only loosely defined, and that found footage films often stylistically overlap between categories. He also cautioned against defining found footage as a genre, as traditional fixed camera films may sometimes use the technique for only a small part of the film, such as Cannibal Holocaust (1980). Additionally, screenlife films use diegetic footage from electronic screens such as computers and smartphones as a method for characters to communicate with each other, such as through video calls and live streams. Screenlife films that feature similar aesthetics to found footage include Unfriended (2014) and Searching (2018).

History

According to film critic Alexandra Heller-Nichols, fictional narratives that attempt to convey authenticity serve as historical precedent for found footage. An early example is epistolary literature, which uses letters, diaries, and other documents to tell the story as opposed to an omniscient narrator. Hoax articles like the Great Moon Hoax and "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall", as well as Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast "The War of the Worlds" depicted fake stories as authentic journalism. Heller-Nichols notes that filmmakers in a similar vein have long been fascinated by narrative authenticity. Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901) features real shots of the prison on the day of Leon Czolgosz's execution, while Electrocuting an Elephant depicts the actual electrocution of an elephant. Other precursors to found footage include educational films that featured actual crime scene photos, and 1970s snuff films. The last scene of the 1976 film Snuff shows the film's supposed director brutally killing a female crew member, and was deliberately shot to look as real as possible.

Which film can be considered the first found footage film is the subject of debate among film historians.