Camera Movements

Camera Movements

Pan

A camera movement with the camera body turning to the right or left. On the screen, it produces a mobile framing which scans the space horizontally. A pan directly and immediately connects two places or characters, thus making us aware of their proximity. The speed at which a pan occurs can be expoited for different dramatic purposes. For instance, in a Mizoguchi or a Hou film, two characters may be having a conversation in a room, and after several minutes, the camera might pan and reveal a third person was also present, thus changing the whole implication of the scene. In a film likeTraffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000), on the other hand, pans are usually very quick, suggesting that characters have no time to waste, and that decisions must be taken fast, therefore contributing to the sense of imminent danger and moral urgency that the films tries to communicate. For example, 

  Track

A mobile framing that travels through space forward, backward, or laterally. See also crane shot, pan, and tilt. A tracking shot usually follows a character or object as it moves along the screen. Contrary to the pan, which mimicks a turning head, a tracking shot physically accompanies the entire range of movement. It therefore creates a closer affinity with the character or object moving, since the spectator is not just watching him/her moving, but moving with him/her. A standard tracking shot, as it was devised in the Classical Studio filmmaking, consisted in placing the camera on a wheeled support called a dolly, and moving it along rails or tracks to ensure the smoothness of movement associated with the continuity editing style. As cameras became lighter and steadier, tracking shots became more flexible and creative: bycicles, wheelchairs, roller skates, and many ingenious wheeled artifacts augmented the range of movement of tracking shots. In this clip from Central Station (Central do Brasil, Walter Salles, Brazil, 1998), one ininterrupted movement is rendered with two different tracking shots, linked by a match on action.The first is a classic tracking shot, with the camera on rails sideways to the character that is moving, following the child as the trains departs. The second uses the train as a dolly, as it moves away from the running child. Indeed, tracking shots are one of the most suggestive and creative camera movements, one that can be accomplished in a number of clever ways. Not surprisingly, some auteurs like Max Ophuls or Orson Welles made virtuosistic tracking shots a staple of their films, often in conjuntion with long takes. For example, 

Lumiere Brothers - Tracking shot of Lyon, France (about 150 years ago)

Tilt

Tilt is the vertical axis of camera movement. When the camera tilts, it pivots up and down. Tilting is commonly used to look over tall objects such as an office building.To conceptualize a tilt, look forward and move your head to look up and down.Like the Pan, this technique is used to follow a character in motion. For example, 

Pull Focus

Pulling Focus is considered a natural technique. Like our eyes, which pull focus whenever we look at objects that are at different distances in our field of vision.We can either focus on something close up or on something far away. Since we can't focus on both simultaneously, our eyes must Pull Focus to compensate.When filming, Pulling Focus is often needed, because like our eyes, most camera lenses don't keep the entire scene in focus. As the camera moves around, a crew member (focus puller) will adjust the focus to match whatever the camera is looking at. For example,

Crane

A shot with a change in framing rendered by having the camera above the ground and moving through the air in any direction. It is accomplished by placing the camera on a crane (basically, a large cantilevered arm) or similar device. Crane shots are often long or extreme long shots: they lend the camera a sense of mobility and often give the viewer a feeling of omniscience over the characters.Crane shots can also be used to achieve a flowing rhythm, particularly in a long take, as in this clip from The Player (Altman, 1992). For example, 

Go to :- http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Crane-Player.wmv

Aerial

An aerial shot is typically made from a helicopter or created with miniatures (today, digitally), showing a location from high overhead. For example, 

Zoom In

To cause a camera or computer to make the image of something or someone appear much larger and nearer.

                                           

Zoom Out

To cause a camera or computer to make the image of something or someone appear much smaller and further away. For example, 

                                           

Whip Pan

An extremely fast movement of the camera from side to side, which briefly causes the image to blur into a set of indistinct horizontal streaks. Often an imperceptible cut will join two whip pans to create a trick transition between scenes. As opposed to dissolves, action or graphic matches, and fades --the most common transitions of the continuity style-- whip pans always stand out, given their abrupt, brisk nature. Commonly used in flashy action genres such as kung-fu movies from the 70s, like Fists of Fury (Tang Shan Da Xiong, Wei Lo, Honk Kong, 1971). For example, 

Handheld And Steadicam

The use of the camera operator's body as a camera support, either holding it by hand or using a gyroscopic stabilizer and a harness. Newsreel and wartime camera operators favored smaller cameras such as the Eclair that were quickly adopted by documentarist and avant-garde filmmakers, notably the cinéma verité movement of the 1950s and 1960s. They were also used by young filmmakers since they were cheap and lent the images a greater feeling of sponteneity. At the time this challenge to prevailing standards was perceived as anti-cinematic but eventually it came to be accepted as a style. Whereas hand held cameras give a film an unstable, jerky feel, they also allows for a greater degree of movement and flexibility than bulkier standard cameras --at a fraction of the cost. Filmmakers now are experimenting with digital video in a similar way. Gyroscopically stabilized "steadicams" were invented in the 1970s and made it possible to create smooth "tracking" shots without cumbersome equipment. More recently, they are extensively used in music videos and in the films of the Dogme movement, such as Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (Denmark, 2000).  For example,

Steadicam

Ironically, while today's steadicams allow for a fairly stable image, Lars Von Trier and his accolites prefer to exacerbate the jerkiness and unstability traditionally associated with these cameras as a marker of visceral autorial intervention. In fact, combining steadicam shooting with aggressive reframings and jump cuts , or even by shooting on low definition formats, Dogme and other radical filmmaking movements attempt to create a new cinematic look as further away as possible from mainstream Hollywood. For example, 

Handheld

Dolly

A camera dolly is a specialised piece of filmmaking and television production equipment designed to create smooth camera movements (cinematic techniques). The camera is mounted to the dolly and the camera. The dolly grip is the dedicated technician trained to operate the dolly.

The camera dolly may be used as a shooting platform on any surface but is often raised onto a track, to create smooth movement on a horizontal axis know as a dolly shot. Additionally, most professional film studio dollies have a hydraulic jib arm that raises or lowers the camera on the vertical axis. When a dolly grip operates a dolly on perpendicular axes simultaneously, it's known as a compound move.

Dolly moves may also be executed without track, giving more freedom on the horizontal plane and with it, a higher degree of difficulty. These are called dance floor moves and may either be done on the existing surface (if smooth enough) or on an overlay designed for dolly movement. The ground overlay usually consists of thick plywood as a bottom layer and masonite on top.

Camera dollies have several steering mechanisms available to the dolly grip. The typical mode is rear-wheel steering, where the front wheels the font wheels remain fixed, while the wheels closest to the operating handle are used to turn. A second mode, round steering, causes the front wheels to turn in the opposite direction from the rear wheels. This mode allows the dolly to move in smooth circles and is frequently used when the dolly is on curved track. A third mode, called crab steering, is when the front wheels steer in the same direction as the rear wheels. This allows the dolly to move in a direction diagonal to the front end of the dolly.