the camera that shakes because someone is about to die, not because the director is artsy.
means a fiction film shot to look like discovered, unedited recordings made by its own characters, usually right before something terrible happens to them.
from cannibal holocaust (1980) built the whole trick as a marketing stunt so real audiences believed the actors had actually died, and the blair witch project (1999) turned that lie into a genre by convincing the internet its footage was genuine police evidence.
the blair witch project — 1999, three film students vanish in maryland woods
cannibal holocaust — 1980, banned in ten countries for looking too real
paranormal activity — 2007, one bedroom camera launches a franchise
rec — 2007, spanish apartment quarantine turned zombie outbreak