Dev actually said he purposely did shaky cam at the beginning of his character’s revenge arc because his fighting skills were not fully developed. Then later in the movie his character gains more strength and confidence in his fighting abilities the camera moves more eloquently with the action. Even some “shaky cam” moments showing pov shots of characters getting beat up or running through people were used strategically well to show the grimy dirty uncomfortable anxiety-driven moments of the character. Dammit I LOVED this fucking movie!
This is exactly what I was thinking when I watched the movie! Glad it was picked up on and intentional. The scenes at the beginning felt anxious and the character was clearly not prepared for the fights he was in
Yup I thought it was the shaky camera work in the beginnning was a metaphor for the fear and lack of confidence in his abilities to enact his revenge. It was like you were participating in the action from Dev’s perspective. Then once he goes through his almost mythological transformation the camera work becomes sleek and smooth just like his fighting style. The movie is an analogy of the myth they foretold at the beginning of the movie. Also the closeups really depict the atmosphere of the slums quite well. Slums are meant to be dirty, stuffy and filled with chaos. Like you can’t even breathe. Though the movie’s cinematic choices aren’t the most comfortable for those watching it 100% had a purpose.
i totally agree, i really thought the shaky cam added the film! like there is a scene where he gets hit by a car and then as he stands and run away the camera is VERY shaky, but like obviously that was meant to add to the disorientation that our main guy is feeling, and it definitely did that! i think when shaky cam is done purposely it can be really effective
I liked the shakey cam. He's an unfocussed fighter, injured and all over the place. It reminded me of Fight Club when the main character's mental state os falling apart. He heals, becomes stronger and more focussed and the filming reflects that. His movements are smoother, the camera work is smoother
5:02 The Chugs on the action sequence is by my band Bloodywood from our song Dana-dan, we are an Indian folk metal band and the growls are done by yours truly! So cool to get a pseudo shout out from you! :p
Just wanna say, there's no one else on the scene who sounds quite like you guys. Listened to Rakshak on repeat for a long while when I first discovered it, you're a brilliant vocalist mate🤘
Starring Dev Patel Produced By Dev Patel Story and Screenplay By Dev Patel Directed By Dev Patel So instead of waiting for Hollywood to cast him, he went straight to boss mode and decided to make his own action movie. What an amazing talent Patel has, I hope Monkey Man pushed his recognition even more
The shakey cam was due to reflect the characters growth and getting accustomed to pain. Once he starts to train and get a better grasp of his combat abilities, you notice the shakiness less and less. That’s the story point and reason. The hardware reason was that they brought their own recording equipment to India that consisted of phones and GoPros and then got access to heavier rigs much later into production.
A big reason for the shaky cam was also due to them filming on iPhones for scenes because of budget and lack of equipment. Was said in an interview with Dev Patel
I think the shaky cam in the beginning was primarily due to budget. They didn’t have the time or budget to choreograph all lesser fight scenes in the beginning. At one point Dev said they were kicked out of an India due to covid and had to film on a separate island which def added to the time crunch. This also explains why for the important fights the choreography is so good, because that’s where they pointed their efforts
Even the close up camera work we can say is an aesthetic thing but for at least the nightclub scenes, it was because they couldn’t afford the set. So they didn’t have things like table tops. So they would film only from the shoulders up to cover that
I also think it can somehow be a metaphor for how in the beginning he had no purpose and was just lost, but then he becomes calm and collected? might be a scretch
I saw an article going over an interview with that Director of the show and it was mainly talking about how they were constantly running out of money and were having to use their own phones and GoPro‘s to film because of the lack of budget if any of the cameras or equipment they had broke they couldn’t really afford to get replacements and shipping would take too long and he continued to say that filming this movie was the hardest, nine months of his life so that’s probably why the camera work is so bad
The camera work isn't even "bad" though, the cinematography is great throughout the movie, and really is only really noticeable in 1 specific scene. The shaky cam was an intentional choice to show the characters growth throughout the movie, since after he trains and becomes more confident, there's a lot less shaky cam in the fights.
@@jeremiahbennett3004Can you give me a link to this interview? Cause I have tried looking this up myself & everyone is constantly bringing it up in these comments, but no one is actually linking to it so I’m starting to wonder if this was actually said anywhere.
I just saw it and I felt like the chaos and close ups and shaky camera work in the beginning were to show how unskilled, and all over the place, and not sure of himself was. The camera is focused and steady and following it all at the end because he’s on another level. Just my opinion
Lots of people are explaining the shaky cam but very few are talking about the closeups I feel like I saw an interview where Dev Patel mentions the claustrophobia being deliberate, because that’s how the Mumbai-coded city feels. It’s important to establish that whether he’s in the ring, the kitchen, the penthouse, or even in VIP, everything feels claustrophobic, oppressive in a way where there isn’t enough air. It’s very clearly juxtaposed with 2 other locations that are no less filled with people: the temple of the Hijra and the jungle he grows up in. There are many people engaging with each other both in the city locations and in the temple/jungle but the latter ones are distinguished by the warmth and connection of people whereas the ones in the city are the proverbial crabs in a bucket
While I can see it being the case artistically, it's a personal choice I did not like. I wanted to see his action better on the latter half of the movie, where while its clear, its still sort of shaky and the closeup and quickcuts still make the action harder to see. I also felt like for a movie that was being thought out for 10 years, the social commentary was pretty tame and the main villain and side characters were not properly developed. If there is going to be a sequel tho, that definitely sets some plotlines
@@Dubulclemovies cost too much now a days too form “your own opinion” sorry I can’t drop 10$ on every little time and then get 10$ popcorn Broski people don’t got it like that
i dont think a single person has said he's not a great actor ... so not sure how he's underrated. i think u mean to say how is he not more popular ... and the answer to that is, his movies before "Monkey Man" have been a little niche
@@rotcev1327 I think he’s underrated! I’ve never heard anyone say he’s not a good actor, but I feel like I haven’t heard enough people say he’s a great actor, which he is. I think he’s been appreciated but I don’t think he’s gotten the appreciation he deserves yet.
Probably the only movie that cleverly used a shaky cam was United 93. It worked there because it never felt distracting and made you feel like you were watching a documentary.
That director (Paul Greengrass) really is like the only director who actually knows how to use shaky cam IMO, he also directed the latter two Bourne films in the original trilogy and Captian Phillips and in all of those, shaky cam is used to basically make the viewer feel like they are almost a part of all of the action and to create a really immersive, documentary-like experience. Those movies show that shaky cam can actually be a really cool effect if done right, which unfortunately seems to be super rare.
@@michaelvessel4604 true true but also Doug started it as well in the Bourne identity. Here monkey man feels to clean to John wick. It doesn’t feel new or boundary pushing. Dunes fight scenes aren’t even shaky and they are amazing
The shaky cam was well used. It didn’t seek to cover anything up like lots of shaky cam. And the close ups I think adds to the intensity. Like you can’t escape from the primary subject. It reminds me of the weird face close ups in mr robot
Hearing what Dev had to go through for the his passion project sucks to read about but looking forward to catching this movie dude is a talent house with mad range.
@@jettlii5872js found another comment talking about that so I’ll paste it here for u ya this guy (Patel) broke his hand on first fight scene. halt entire production due to covid, had to waste 4-5 months in indian location that he had booked to shoot but doesn't get to shoot due to covid. he lost many of his crew, their demise did hold them back but more than that they were sad about losing them at first place, they had stunt crew of john wick before covid. dev had to find this indonesian stunt crew of just 4-5 people to work with in that limited budget. since he can't shoot in india, he had to put sets in indonesia and shoot. 255 people of crew was behind the operation at beginning but by the end there was only 40-60 people. man said he didn't had budget to even do small VFX shots so he entire relayed on practical effects. shakky cam happened because there weren't gimbals they were all hand held or camera attached to body. a camera can stablize some portion of it but that does loses some quality. he shot the rickshaw (3 wheeler cart) from an iphone. the budget was Tighter than my effing butthole man.. so i understand people who said they hate that camera shake but they just couldn't do anvthing about it he let it be the flaw
I am an indian-brit so i'm so exited for this, a part of my culture from a genre I love. I've never connected with bollywood cinema bar few so this really is something I am pretty passionate about
You'll appreciate the film as Patel is also a Brit-birn Indian so understands his roots & culture from both countries which is represented well in his work
I was incredibly blown away by this film, and hearing about the production hell it went through makes me appreciate all the hard work and passion Dev poured into this thing even more
I noticed the switch from uncomfortable close ups/shake-y cam to the more classic fight scene camera as well - my theory is that this switch helps to show Kid’s (Dev Patel) state of mind throughout the film. At the start , even shots of his mom are super unclear, so close that you can’t really see her face. The fights are also filmed in a disorienting way, especially his first round against the police chief. But after he goes on his (metaphorical) trip and training montage, his purpose becomes clear and so does literal framing of everything he does after that .
Yep. It’s not a good idea. As above as below was a good movie, but it’s impossible to watch without getting severe motion sickness. It’s sad. And ever since then I’ve been against shaky cam. Shout out to Gears of war for the roadie run using shaky cam appropriately and has been imitated but never recreated.
It was intentional is what Dev Patel told. It was to emulate the amateur fighting and the chaos that the character goes through in the beginning and as he gets proficient in fighting, the camera gets more grounded and stable to emulate the calm and growth the character has been through.
@@JoseMolina-jz9hhI meeeean As Above So Below is a found footage movie . All those movies from that genre have shaky cam but most ppl surprisingly don’t have an issue with it cuz it comes with the territory. I personally didn’t have an issue with the shaky cam in that movie .
After seeing the movie I have to say I disagree to an extent. I understand that the shaky cam isn't for you (not trying to say ur opinion is invalid because it is and multiple people feel the same as you) but it feels like the shaky cam in the start is a direct correlation to dev patels character being erratic and unpredictable, he's so enraptured by rage he doesn't care if his melee is unrestrained, whereas the camera work at the end shows that he's learned to control his movements and use his anger to guide his movements. Again your opinion is valid there could definitely be a way to do the camera work better, but for me I absolutely adores this film and I thought it was almost perfect
I think the shaky cam for the first half was very intentional since his whole purpose led up to that first encounter. Once he grounds himself after his training he’s more sensible and controlled like the camerawork. I get it though wanting to actually be able to see sometimes haha
i also think that the shaky cam works in that the messiness brings an authenticity to the movie. it feels like you’re a bystander who’s witnessing this unfold in front of you. having people pass by you and ultimately becoming kind of hypnotic. i personally thought it worked.
Okay that was immediately what I thought of when Charlie said that. Sounded like a creative choice rather than some kind of production mistake. Silly Critikal.
This was my thought exactly, it brought a sense of panic to the whole first half, which makes sense because he just flubbed his chance at killing the guy he waited his whole life to kill due to him not really knowing what he’s doing, and then has the entire police force after him. It’s a chaotic sequence of events and the camera, while absolutely disorienting, absolutely encapsulates that whether intentionally or unintentionally
This is just my opinion but I think the shaky cam in the first half is due to devs character being an amateur fighter therefore to signify it the cam is very shaky.But in second half when he learns how to fight it becomes stable and the cam becomes smooth. Similar situation to across the spider verse
What it sounds like, production scheduling problems. I haven't seen the movie yet, but based on what you're saying, If the later fight scenes were well made and the beginning scenes were shaky, they were probably in a biiiiiig rush to shoot those first scenes, and dedicated more rehearsal time and shoot time for the last fight scenes. Making movies is really freakin hard, and the fact that Dev Patel wrote, directed, and starred in this film is INSANE. Hats off to him, I saw him in Wes Anderson's short films on Netflix and love his performance.
“Monkey Man” is literally what my aunt used to always call. It wasn’t just me when I was acting silly or crazy, it was literally just her name for me every time she saw me. She passed away a decade ago from cancer and I still miss her, but seeing this movie and it’s title put a smile on my face because it reminded me of her.
I just came home from Monkey Man and it may not be perfect but I liked it a lot! It's a phenomenal directorial debut and I can't wait to see what else Dev Patel brings to the big screen, both as an actor and a director! He proved he definitely has the chops to be an action movie star! I agree with a lot of what Charlie is saying about the chaotic camerawork, especially in the first half of the film, but I feel like it was a deliberate stylistic choice. Without spoiling anything, the movie is basically split into two halves -- a before and an after, linked together by a training montage. In a way I feel like the shaky cam in the first half was before, and the more steady camera work was a good way of showing the character's progression after an incident that happens halfway through the film. It's an interesting movie and I really hope it does well at the box office because this is heat!
I haven’t seen the movie yet but I wonder if the choice to go from the shaky camera look to a more steady view by the end of the movie is a thematic choice that is in line with the narrative somehow. You’ll see some filmmakers sometimes use the camera to help illustrate different things the movie wants you to take away from it or understand.. even if subconsciously. Something somewhat similar to what I’m talking about is in the first animated Spider-Verse movie; Miles Morales is rendered in 12fps, much like the rest of the movie and many other animated movies - however, later in the movie when he fully taps into his abilities and is ready to face the ultimate challenge that lies ahead.. he is instead rendered at 16fps. It’s subtly done but this decision was made as a subtle, visual way to indicate that he understands his powers, their importance, and is ready and able to fully utilize them. He is indeed smoother with it at that point
Agreed shakey cam settles out by the end. It makes sense knowing the backstory of the film production being so chaotic. As i was watching it i took it as though the action in the beginning is dev being inexperienced and hopped up on adrenaline in that scene which contrasts to the cool confident dev later in the film
Of all of the things from the “Hey Arnold” series to pull from to make a feature length film of, second to “what happened to Arnold’s parents” which became the Jungle Movie, I’m extremely happy they decided to make a Bio flick of Monkey Man’s life, it might seem completely random, but it was one of the most asked questions from that series and I’m glad they had the courage to do it.
Monkey Man's ascendancy to aristocratic snobbery and pretension is what led to Sid getting jumped and robbed of his Beatle boots. "I for one think it's m-m-marvelously minimalistic and jejune."
While I haven't seen the movie yet, but the boys in Bloodywood revealed it. The Doom like music with chuggs and screams you are talking about is actually the Indian Folk Metal band Bloddywood. They revealed on IG that their song Dana Dan is featured in the movie. It is a song from their debut and independent album Rakshak that released 2 years ago. All their songs come with a social message, with the whole song structured around it, and Dana Dan is about SA, especially how big of a problem it is in India. Those boys blew up with their debut and they are really good, would defo recommend checking them out if anyone is even remotely interested. They also did extensive touring around that time till last year, just wishing they do a show near to me that I can visit, coz they rip it.
I feel like the kingsman shaky cam was pretty good. It still made the action scenes feel less stiff while giving a slight sense of immersion in the scene. I haven't seen em in a while, so I may be mistaken. But, what I remember seems good.
Kingsmen used the shaky cam in such a way that felt like there was momentum and weight to movement as we follow harry commit serial murder. Normally every other shaky cam is used in a way that’s hella disorienting and can’t fucking tell what’s going on
shaky cam can definitely be attributed to the makeshift rig, i want to say in the fight ring they had a camera on a literal rope which was swung around with camera men circling in the crowd to catch it if it fell
I thought he was talking about that one TikTok dude who has beef with a monkey that’s called monkey man and his evil twin albino monkey man, that’s some good quality videos
I absolutely loved the wild camerawork during the action scenes. It added so much character and personality to the film and it made the fights feel more brutal and disorienting.
I wanna say the change from shaky cam to steady was actually on purpose. Shows the growth of the character before and after his training, I personally loved that visual storytelling
Just saw it. 100% my thoughts. I'm pretty sure the reason they switched up the shooting style at the end was to show the character's control over the fights after his 'training' to take on the villains. However, because it doesn't get to that until the last 30 mins, the shaky disoriented camera was too much. If it was shaky for the first 30 or 45 minutes and then switched up it would've been fine but too tight on the focal lengths for that level of shake for the first 90 minutes. Otherwise though I thoroughly enjoyed it and hats off to Dev for taking on so many roles in the production. I'm excited to see what he does next.
2:04 i get why people have issue with shaky cam. but here is the thing, this guy broke his hand on first fight scene. halt entire production due to covid, had to waste 4-5 months in indian location that he had booked to shoot but doesn't get to shoot due to covid. he lost many of his crew, their demise did hold them back but more than that they were sad about losing them at first place, they had stunt crew of john wick before covid. dev had to find this indonesian stunt crew of just 4-5 people to work with in that limited budget. since he can't shoot in india, he had to put sets in indonesia and shoot. 255 people of crew was behind the operation at beginning but by the end there was only 40-60 people. man said he didn't had budget to even do small VFX shots so he entire relayed on practical effects. shakky cam happened because there weren't gimbals they were all hand held or camera attached to body. a camera can stablize some portion of it but that does loses some quality. he shot the rickshaw (3 wheeler cart) from an iphone. the budget was Tighter than my effing butthole man.... 😂 so i understand people who said they hate that camera shake but they just couldn't do anything about it but let it be the flaw.
I am looking forward to seeing Monkey Man! I've heard good things about it from several different people now and it surprisingly only had a $10 Million budget which is pretty impressive!
At least from this description, it sounds like this movie did take some inspiration from 'Hardcore Henry' . In the way the camera moves, it seems like it's an attempt to put the viewer "into" the scene. However they seem to forget, that only really works in 1st person POV
Dev should've hired RRR's action director for this. That movie's action is some of the coolest action ever. Neatly cut, no shakey cam and yet the hits are HARD!
The last 30 minutes (especially the elevator fight) smack Some of the editing towards the front half was little jarring though. I will say, I think the shaky cam followed by the good takes at the end are intentional (though that doesn't make it a good choice). I think the way the 30 minutes are shot highlight just how confident and in control he's become, while the shaky scenes show how out of his depth and rattled he is. Of course, it's still an eyesore
If i remember correctly from some of the press stuff. there was a lot of production issues where their equipment didnt arrive or broke and they had to rely on making iphones to film at least a portion of production. so the shakey cam could be a result for those limitations
i've taken a few professional film classes and i remember last year as soon as we got into camera work my teacher just said "you don't do shaky cam. sometimes it can work for specific scenarios, but no it doesn't"
I thought the change in camera work helped to exemplify his change in character and fighting ability (more technical and clean). while the early shaky camera scenes make the audience feel similar to the protagonist (panicky and desperate). Idk my take on it. Loved the entire movie, worth the watch in theaters!
This movie was amazing. This the only time I think Charlie is yapping of the tiny mistake when in all actuality the shaky cam was done well with intent.
