Handheld Camera Technique
A handheld camera technique shakily follows Genesis Potini at the start of the film, The Dark Horse, to illustrate that Genesis is disorientated. The viewer's vision is disrupted through the jarring camera movement created by the hand held camera and they also hear the disturbing and disruptive sounds of car horns beeping. These combined techniques serve to put the audience in the same situation as the character being shown and thus the director creates an empathy that might not otherwise exist. The director intends to highlight that mental illness is a painful daily or hourly event for people who live with these conditions and the film technique causes the audience to experience a little of the disturbing sensations.
Mean Creek
Similarly in Mean Creek, Sam's revelation that he has never seen his brother 'more out of control in his life' is delivered to the audience through the medium of a hand held camera. The shakiness of the frame disorients the viewer to reflect how disturbed Sam is by the recent events in his life.