Camera Shake refers to the intentional or unintentional movement of the camera that produces a shaky, unstable quality in the resulting footage. When used deliberately, camera shake is a stylistic choice that conveys tension, urgency, chaos, or a handheld documentary aesthetic. When unintentional, it is considered a technical flaw that requires correction through stabilisation.

In post-production, camera shake is often added artificially to otherwise stable footage to create the impression of handheld or kinetic camerawork. Conversely, stabilisation tools are used to remove unwanted shake from footage captured without adequate support. In visual effects work, camera shake data from a real shoot can be tracked and applied to CG elements so that synthetic and live-action footage move in sync, a technique known as match-moving. The amount of shake, its frequency, and its relationship to the action in the scene are all controlled precisely to serve the intended aesthetic.

In AI video generation, camera shake can be requested through prompt language to give generated footage a more raw, handheld feel. This is useful for action sequences, documentary-style content, or any creative direction that benefits from the appearance of live, in-the-moment capture rather than the smoothness of a stabilised or synthetic camera.