Camera Movement
Static
- Good for dialogue
- Allows actor’s performance to shine
- Amplifies what is happening in the shot
Pan
- Used to follow a character’s actions
- Reveals important information
- Slow pan creates suspension
Whip pan
- Rapid pan heightens the energy of a shot
- Normally in time with the music
Tilt
- Directs the camera upward or downward
- Reveals information
- Shows a character’s dominance
- Shows dramatic scale
Push in
- Emphasises a moment
- Shows that what’s happening is important
- Pushing in on objects is common
- Captures a character’s thought process
Pull out
- De-emphasises the subject
- A signal to disconnect from the characters
- Unveils the context of a scene, the setting, or the characters
- Detaches us from a scene
- Emphasises negative emotions like isolation or abandonment
Zoom
- Reveals the context around a subject
- Our eyes can’t zoom which makes this camera movement unnatural
- Draws our attention to a specific detail
- Slow zoom creates uneasiness
Crash zoom
- Used for dramatic or comedic effect
Dolly zoom
Can be done in two different ways:
Dollying in and zooming out –
- Causes the background to grow in size but maintains the scale of the foreground
- Portrays conflict in a shot
Dollying out and zooming in –
- Causes the foreground subject to become dominant over the background
- Conveys either positive or negative psychological effects
Camera roll
- Rotates the camera on its long axis while maintaining the direction of the lens
- Creates an unsettling feeling by making the scene disorienting
- Used to match character movement in moments of panic
- Reverses power
Tracking shot
- Follows them from the front or back
- Physically moves the camera through a scene while following the subject
- They move with a moving subject
- Generates the questions: Where are they going? What will happen when they get there?
- Perfect for long takes and to emerge the viewer into the scene
Trucking shot
- The camera follows the subject left or right
- Establishes the world around them in story book fashion
Arc
- Orbits around a subject
- Can be horizontal or vertical
- Adds dynamic movement while characters are standing still
- Keeps our eyes focused on the subject
- Fast arc shots increase the amount of panic in a scene
Boom
- Moves the camera up or down, scanning the scene
- Captures the world surrounding the character or follows the character during the action
- Reveals more information
Camera shake
- Looks messy and unplanned leading to a subjective experience
- Creates an intimate effect and makes you feel as though you are there
This was the brilliant video I got all this information from:
