Video essentials: camera movements
Camera movement
Simply put, camera movement is a filmmaking technique that describes how a camera moves about to help enhance a story. Specific camera movements help change the audience’s view without cutting; they can be a great way to make your video more immersive and engaging. Camera movement can add a lot of meaning to your footage, changing and shaping a viewer’s perspective of a scene. It’s essential to understand how your viewers interpret different types before adding in pans, zooms, tilts, and the like.
We’re going to break down the basic types of camera movements in filmmaking that are achievable with a phone, so the next time you’re shooting, you understand the implications of what you’re doing!
Pan
A pan is when you move your camera from one side to the other. Panning generally is helpful to reveal a larger scene, like a crowd, or to reveal something off-screen. Step your speed up a notch, and you get the whip pan, which is handy for transitions showing the passing of time or traveling a distance dramatically or comically.
Tilt
To tilt, imagine your camera is your head nodding up and down. Tilts are helpful as a ‘reveal’ technique: either to unveil something from top to bottom or the reverse.
Zoom
‘Zooming’ is probably the most commonly used camera movement; it lets you quickly move closer to the subject without physically moving. But be careful with these, as zooming lessens your image quality. When you give zooming a go, keep the movement as smooth as possible.
Track
A ‘tracking shot’ is one in which the camera moves alongside what it’s recording. Tracking shots are sometimes called dolly shots, but they can be differentiated by the direction they take. Tracking shots will generally follow along the horizontal axis as the subject moves.
Dolly
A ‘dolly shot’ is when the camera moves toward or away from the subject you’re shooting. Instead of using zoom to get closer, the camera is physically moving relative to the subject. Using a dolly to push in slowly helps build drama or tension in a scene or simply some significance to the subject it’s moving in on.
Following
The ‘following’ shot is a tracking shot in which the camera continuously follows the subject’s action. f you want to achieve a smooth, seamless following shot, Steadicams and gimbals are your friends. Otherwise, shaky, handheld shots give a sense of realism or unease.
Pro tip!
As always we suggest you try these out, the more you practice the better you will get! Try to incorporate this knowledge in your everyday use of your camera/smartphone, get creative and test the limits of your imagination!
Another important thing to consider is that visuals are the way to tell your story, so make sure that you use all the knowledge we’ve provided to support your story!