Was released in theaters on May 25, 2016, Pandemic, an American film by John Suits, in a rather particular format.
Indeed, it was entirely filmed in subjective camera or POV (Point Of View) that is to say a format where the camera is the subject of the action, a format where the camera becomes the eyes of the main character, or alternatively of several characters in the case of Pandemic. The goal is to accentuate the usual process of identifying spectators with the character(s).
This format has been popularized in video games with FPS (First Person Shooter) such as Call of Duty to name but one. Nevertheless, it has also been very present in the film genre for some time.
However, if subjective camera viewing is common for some scenes of a film (In the shoes of John Malkovich – 1999, Gravity – 2013), directors using such a format throughout their film are much rarer. The first film to do so was a 1947 American film: The Lady of the Lake. More recently came out this year: Hardcore Henry, a Russian-American film.
For the synopsis of his film, John Suits employs a structure similar to the instructions received by video game players before completing each objective: "A virus has infected most of the population. In Los Angeles, you joined a battalion of survivors, scientists and fighters. Your mission: stop the epidemic, fight the infected and rescue the survivors. After gathering weapons and survival suits, you go camera to helmet to face chaos. You are humanity's last hope, good luck! »
This post-apocalyptic film has among its cast: Rachel Nichols (Star Trek, 2009), Missi Pyle (The Artist, 2011), Mekhi Phifer (Divergent 1 and 2, 2014-15), Alfie Allen (Game of thrones) and Paul Guilfoyle (the experts).
Since its theatrical release, Pandemic is also available on Blu-Ray, DVD and VOD from Marco Polo Production.
