"Why didn't you take the shot?" -- Paz, 'The Bourne Ultimatum'

Film David Bordwell considers the use of shakycam in The Bourne Ultimatum: "Partly, it’s not the pace of the editing but the spasmodic quality of it. Cuts here seem abrasive because they interrupt actions and camera movements. Pans, zooms, and movements of the actors are seldom allowed to come to rest before the shot changes. This creates a strong sense of jerkiness and visual imbalance."

One of my favourite shots in the film was an over the shoulder in which the head and shoulders of the interviewer appeared in silhouette and literally trapped the interviewee's in the corner of the screen. I'm not sure I entirely agree with Bordwell's assessment of the story towards the end. He seems to have not noticed that that section of the film is being told from the point of view of the CIA officers and that it's important that we make the same discovery as the Strathern character at that moment -- the methodology of how he does it isn't all that important -- we just know he has the capacity based on a range of previous scenes. We don't need to see Bourne doing that yet again it's more exciting the way it is, and more mythic.