Infinity War Ruined by Shake Camera

Nothing says lazy directing quite like a stringing together a bunch of randomly shaking camera shots. It's much harder to execute the shots as closely to the story boards as possible. And, since cinema has been built on 9 shots that audiences are familiar with, it's best to stick with those. Of course moving the camera is great, but along with the 9 shots there are traditional moves we expect on camera form a visual story-telling language. And by cranking up the frame rate and shaking the camera, The Russo Brother and Trent Opaloch are failing to communicate in this visual language, (ironically as they are filmmakers and this is a film....go figure!).

Knowing Infinity War was directed by the Russo Brothers and director of photography Trent Opaloch made me predict I would avoid this film. This is because the Russo/Opaloch team were the same people that made captain America: Civil War so frustrating.

Every time there is an action scene in that film, the camera not only begins to shake, but the frame rate is cranked up so high you get super choppy action. And in some scenes, there is no way to follow the action.

I was so angry at Trent Opaloch and the Russo brothers for what they did with Civil War. When I found out this was the team for Infinity War, I decided to wait for it to come out on Netflix. Then again, I haven't watched Civil War again knowing the shake camera is in full effect. So, really what has happened, is that I dislike the camera work so much from this team, that I will happily not ever see the film. So honestly, at this point, I am looking for spoilers just to keep me up to date with pop culture.

One of my favorite examples of how to write, storyboard, and then shoot a proper action scene is from The Spy Who Loved Me. This is a 007 James Bond film that was shot by Claude Renoir. And, you can see all the hard work put into the stunt sequences clearly, because....wait for it...Claude Renoir shot it so the audience would see it.

And, he did a great job of documenting the stunts done on snow, road, and air. This film is primarily known for the Lotus that turns into a submarine.

But, it also contains some of the best car chase scene ever filmed. The helicopter pilot in this film is amazing. And the shots with it chasing James Bond's Lotus are amazing.

Conversely, today Trent Opaloch is leading the way from the cinematography camp that attempts to make the audience "feel" the action. Fuck that ! If I want to feel action, I will go to an amusement park. If I go to see a film, guess what? I want to see it. What really bothers me about the shake camera and the high shutter speed is that knowing how well action was done with the technology that Claude Renoir had in 1976. When you compare how that film looks with Infinity War and you have to wonder how the film would look if Opaloch shot it better.

This shot from the opening sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me is a good example of crafting a shot in an action scene