The manner in which the cameraperson moves his/her camera plays a very important role in giving the entire scene the requisite effect. The basic two ways in which a camera moves is:
- The camera's head alone moves above its stationary pedestal/tripod.
- The camera moves along with its pedestal/tripod.
Some of the standard Camera movements that a cameraperson should keep in mind are:
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PAN: A pan is a
horizontal camera movement in which the camera moves left and right
about a central axis. The Pan movement should have a definite direction. It should have a start and end point. The camera swivels (in the same base position) to follow a moving subject. A space is left in front of the subject: the pan 'leads' rather than 'trails'. A pan usually begins and ends with a few seconds of still picture to give greater impact. The speed of a pan across a subject creates a particular mood as well as establishing the viewer's relationship with the subject. 'Hosepiping' is continually panning across from one person to another; it looks clumsy. |
COMMAND: Pan Left, Pan Right
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TILT: A tilt is a
vertical camera movement in which the camera points up or down from
a stationary location. For example, if you mount a camera on your
shoulder and nod it up and down, you are tilting the camera. This movement is not used as much as panning due to human nature. We tend to look left and right more than we do up and down. |
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PEDESTAL: A pedestal shot means moving the
camera vertically with respect to the subject. This is often
referred to as "pedding" the camera up or down.
The term comes from the type of camera support known as a pedestal
(pictured right). Pedestals are used in studio settings and provide
a great deal of flexibility as well as very smooth movement. Unlike
standard tripods, pedestals have the ability to move the camera in
any direction (left, right, up, down).
Note that a pedestal move is different to a camera tilt; h means
the camera is in the same position but tilts the angle of view up
and down. In a ped movement, the whole camera is moving, not just
the angle of view.
In reality, like most camera moves, the pedestal move is often a
combination of moves. For example, pedding while simultaneously
panning and/or tilting.
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DOLLY: A dolly is a cart
which travels along tracks. The camera is mounted on the dolly and
records the shot as it moves. Dolly shots have a number of
applications and can provide very dramatic footage. In many circles a dolly shot is also known as a tracking shot or trucking shot. However some professionals prefer the more rigid terminology which defines dolly as in-and-out movement (i.e. closer/further away from the subject), while tracking means side-to-side movement. Dollies are operated by a dolly grip. In the world of big-budget movie making, good dolly grips command a lot of respect and earning power. The venerable dolly faced serious competition when the Steadicam was invented. Most shots previously only possible with a dolly could now be done with the more versatile Steadicam. However dollies are still preferred for many shots, especially those that require a high degree of precision. |
COMMAND: Dolly In or Dolly Out
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TRUCKING: : This is the
lateral movement of the camera on its pedestal. Trucking is basically the same as tracking or dollying. Although it means slightly different things to different people, it generally refers to side-to-side camera movement with respect to the action. COMMAND: Truck In or Truck Out |
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TRACKING: The term tracking shot is widely
considered to be synonymous with dolly shot; that is, a shot in
which the camera is mounted on a cart which travels along
tracks.
However there are a few variations of both definitions. Tracking is
often more narrowly defined as movement parallel to the action, or
at least at a constant distance (e.g. the camera which travels
alongside the race track in track and field events). Dollying is
often defined as moving closer to or further away from the
action.
CRABBING: The term crabbing shot is a less-common version of tracking, trucking and/or dollying. These terms are more or less interchangeable, although dollying tends to mean in-and-out movement whereas the others tend to mean side-to-side movement at a constant distance from the action.
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ARC: A combination of
dolly and truck, the ARC is a
semicircular movement or to reveal a view from behind the principle
subject. COMMAND: Arc right or Arc Left |
CRANE: A crane is the movement of the camera
atop the long arm of a crane.
COMMAND: Crane up or Crane Down.
Sometimes the command Boom up and Boom down is used. A horizontal
movement of the crane arm is called Tonguing.
A Pictorial Summary of
the various types of shots is as follows:
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