How do you make a found footage film anyways?

Lately, I have been questioning how found footage films are even made. Do the actors just film the entire thing, or are there people holding the cameras for them as if they were the actors themselves, like a Kim Kardashian selfie? Also, how do I avoid including cheesy, and unrealistic cuts. If the footage was truly found, wouldn't the entire film be one gigantic master shot? Today, I am going to delve deeper into the production side of found footage films as I start to get closer to beginning the filming process on my opening.

The first step is within the dialogue. When watching found footage films I commonly question why the main characters continue to film such traumatic events. If a demon was attacking me, the last thing I'd be worried about is documenting the events. This is where a lot of these films go wrong. I would like to try and justify these actions by having the characters question this as well. If the character "Sarah," is chasing after the camera after her stumble on the ground, I would like to have Chloe tell her to leave the camera behind, but Sarah have some logical reason to continue filming. I'd have to create some superficial personality trait within the character in which maybe her camera was expensive so she didn't want to leave it, or maybe she wanted the world to see what they were experiencing. I will have to think about this deeper, but I would like the dialogue to explain some things that would otherwise come off as illogical.

In the midst of my research, I stumbled upon this article. https://www.fastcompany.com/3038769/8-killer-tips-for-making-found-footage-horror-movies-from-the-v-h-s-series-dire It has inspired me to explore multiple options within filming, and another way to justify why they would continue to film. If Sarah suddenly disappears, its hard to believe that her best friend Chloe would continue to film on her camera. It would make sense for the scene to abruptly cut to Chloe hiding behind a tree filming on her phone camera now, to say goodbye to her family. I think I am going to film both outcomes, and I will choose the more logical one in the editing process. The more options the better!

As for "how" to physically film a found footage film, I am still unsure on the details. I've viewed a few behind the scenes videos from some films, but they were all quite useless in answering my questions. I am going to continue trying to search for answers, but it seems that there is no "correct," way to shoot a found footage film. I think each director has their own strategy to creating these, and I might have to use my own as well, and hope for the best. But let's see what else I can found out first..