Action Sequences in Films

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This is something I have noticed with a lot of new films these days. During Star Trek in every action seen the camera was panning about so much it never focused on anything and all you got was a blur. When Kirk and Spock beam over to the Romulan ship the camera moves about so much you have no idea how many people they are firing against and who is winning or losing.

The other trick they like to do all the time is have really short shot times and switch camera all the time, this was done in Quantum of Solace a lot. it means that you have no idea what is going on at all.

In Spider Man you get the camera sweeping about all over the place so again you can't really tell who is or isn't winning a fight \ action scene.

What is the point of an action scene these days if you can't tell what is going on. If they are going to spend all this money and do these flashy CGI stuff why not have a fixed camera and then we will know what is happening
 
i thought "crank" was like this, and "eagle eye"

all the fast cuts, and jolting and jarring around gave me an actual headache, as my eyes strained to make sense of the imagery

i know exactly what you mean
 
Transformers is the same.

Personally I think a large part of the problem is that movies are filmed at 24fps, which isnt enough to handle these fast paced shots with camera shake.
 
yes Tranformers is another film where you can't tell what is going on. Surely the director must watch these scenes back and if you can't tell who is fighting who and what is going on what is the point of the scene
 
I found transformers far more "watchable" on my TV at home than it was at the cinema - the camera shake isnt nearly as bad when viewed on a smaller screen.

I saw StarTrek at the London IMAX on its opening night and couldnt see what the hell was going on. We were sat quite close to the front though (note to self - sit near the back when going to see fast asced action films).

I think the problem is that when editing - the director, editor, producer view their creation on relatively small screens - not cinema screens.
 
There seems to be an urgency for doing action sequences so fast these days. Probably because they cram too many into a film. Action sequences must be incredibly hard to direct and edit and rarely make sense so I would suggest slowing down and doing fewer more coherent ones.

Or is it us? Are we such a dumbed down audience we get bored unless scenes flash by us? :D
 
i'm not sure the size of the screen makes much difference i've watched films at home and still have the same problem it just seems as if the industry has decided this is the way action scenes will be these days.

I saw Star Trek at an IMAX and sat at the back with the same problem
 
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