The earliest recorded use of a point-of-view (POV) shot was in Abel Gance's 1927 film Napoléon.
Gance's film used a camera mounted on an actor's chest, revolutionising the POV shot method and making it a cinematic mainstay.
Despite other directors utilising similar techniques previously, Gance pioneered POV shot in his picture Maniac, popularised by D.W. Griffith.
The POV shot, which has been employed since Napoleon, increases spectator engagement in horror films by allowing them to witness the trauma directly.
Famous POV shots include The Lady in the Lake (1947), Razomon (1950), Vertigo (1958), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), and Alien (1979).
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