MovieChat Forums > John Adams (2008) Discussion > what's with the zany camera angles and t...

what's with the zany camera angles and the random fly buzzing?

posted 13 years ago by frankduxvandamme
2 replies | jump to latest

It was a decent series. I wouldn't quite shower praise on it like some other posters here, but i did enjoy it. Still, there are some puzzling elements to the artistic choices made that i don't quite get.

Why are there so many zany, slanted camera angles? It's like it was filmed by the guy who filmed Adam West's Batman tv show. I'm not even exaggerating either. I'm watching episode 2 right now and half the scenes are filmed on a slant. WHY?

Also, what's with all of the fly buzzing. Both inside and outside! Ok, there were bugs back then, but what the hell? fly buzzing every few minutes. WHY?

These were some seriously strange artistic choices.

[–] AnonyJones 13 years ago

It's called a "dutch angle". It works in a small amount of film and photography. I would definitely agree that this style combined with the lack of steady cam usage in John Adams is inappropriate and distracting considering the content. It's my biggest issue with a mini-series I otherwise find really interesting.

[–] MisterWhiplash 9 years ago

I shower praise on the acting and writing and the whole look of the thing. The direction/camerawork was just mind-boggling.

When has Tom Hooper ever been good?

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