Camera Movement

You’ll often hear reviewers describe movies as being ‘cinematic’ or ‘not cinematic’. Among a variety of other elements, camera movements are key to giving your film a ‘cinematic’ feel.

The key when delivering camera movements, is to go SLOW and STEADY. Take your time. You don’t want these to be shaky or to make your audience feel seasick.

Here is a list of the most popular camera movements in filmmaking.

  • Slow tracking shots are a cool way to explore a space or show what a character is seeing. They look a lot better than zooms and most other camera movements. They’ve got to be steady, so the camera needs to be on something like a wheelchair or skateboard or shopping trolley. It can go forwards (track in – or dolly in), backwards (track out or dolly out), or sideways (crab).

Some examples of tracking shots can be found here: Tracking Shots Examples - https://youtu.be/RLuEskAhRGE

  • A tilt angles the camera on a tripod vertically up or down. It’s useful for slowly revealing somebody or something. The classic example is the shot that starts with someone’s feet and tilts up to show how big or scary they are.

Some examples of tilt shots can be found here: Tilt Shots Examples - https://youtu.be/ybQkVloEwvA

  • With a pan, the camera on a tripod turns left or right to scan a scene or follow a movement. It doesn’t look great unless it’s really smooth and steady, which is tricky and takes practice.

This video has some great tips about how to make sure your pan is good: Judder Free Panning – The 7 Second Rule: https://youtu.be/ontPhH7PYS8 

  • ‘Going hand- held’ means taking the camera off the tripod, and getting the type of movement that can only be achieved without the camera attached to the sticks.

    This video has some great tips about how you can get good shots using this technique: Secrets to hand held filmmaking https://youtu.be/ibb_mN7ONbc

  • You can find examples of several popular camera movements here:                                                                              

    Camera Movement Techniques for Beginners https://youtu.be/ZYiWIKnm8_A

Exercise: Camera Movements

Practice shooting these Camera Movements with the camera team. Ask some of the actors to help. This can be very rough while you are learning.