Many successful films and TV shows have succeeded in fooling their audiences by masquerading film or digital footage as being real. The idea is that you create a documentary style appearance which translates into the audience believing what they’re seeing more.
If it appears awkward, or slightly amateurish, nine times out of ten your audience will interpret that what they’re seeing is an actual record of events… If created properly.
Take films like “Cannibal Holocaust” or “The Blair Witch Project” for example. Why did these films have their audiences so engrossed? They believed what they were watching. The images they saw seemed more convincing and plausible based on the fact that the camera work was slightly (or extremely) shaky, implying the camera operator didn’t use a tripod or dolly, but went handheld… With that, the audience forgot that a camera was being used and their minds moved to believe what they were seeing was real. The way it interacted with the story being told was vital, the camera shook when relevant and remained quite static when not, however it was rarely one hundred percent level so as to always have an implication of being held.
Your aim, whether you’re making a mockumentary or horror, whatever the case may be, is to have your audience submit to the tale. You want them to become enthralled and deeply involved in what they’re seeing. Using documentary-esque styles and footage can be advantageous.
However, you should tread with caution. Though many people loved and enjoyed movies like “Cloverfield” and “Quarantine,” many complained of being taken out of the story because the camera played too much of a role, and whilst running, the movement caused them to feel unwell as they viewed the images sway and turn at such speeds.
The camera can take on a role, like in the aforementioned two films. Having the camera seem as if it’s being used to tell an autobiographical story can re-inforce the validity of your tale. It adds another dimension and can easily lend itself as being your audience’s p.o.v. (point of view), helping them believe your story. They become a character in their viewing (they take the place of the camera).
