Middle School Media
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Movement
Camera movement in a shot directs the audience to where the filmmaker wants them to look. It can help establish visual emphasis. But the movement of the camera can also be like our own movement. For example, when the camera moves in it is as though we ourselves have moved closer. So camera movement is important in positioning the audience within the narrative.
Following are the main types of camera movement and their narrative purpose.
Panning
The term is derived from panorama and means moving the camera in a long horizontal sweep from one side of the scene to the other. Since a long rotation from left or right can be difficult to perform, most camera operators use a tripod. A pan helps set the scene. It can also be used to heighten the suspense in the narrative as the audience scans the scene, waiting to be shown something. Probably the most analysed pan in cinema history is the opening shot in Psycho (1960). At the start of the narrative, this shot panning across the city hints how ‘evil’ can randomly enter the lives of ordinary people.
Tracking/ dollying
In a tracking shot the camera moves along the ground — forward, back, diagonally or from side to side. Originally, cameras were moved on little railway-like tracks. This method is sometimes still used today. However, a dolly (tripod with wheels) is often substituted. A dolly is used in the opening sequence of Robert Altman’s The Player (1992).
More recently, Steadicams have also been used. A Steadicam is a gyroscopic camera mount that smoothes out camera movements. It uses weights and counterbalances to allow the camera to ‘float’ on a mechanical arm. The operator wears the Steadicam attached to a special harness. A Steadicam shot is used to resolve the narrative in the closing scene of the film Notting Hill (1999).
A tracking/dollying or Steadicam shot moves the audience through the scene, making it seem more three-dimensional. It is also very precise about what is important — the subject being followed! Tracking and dollying lends narrative significance or importance to the subject. For instance, tracking shots are used to introduce the characters in Goodfellas (1990)
Crane
The crane shot is performed by a camera moving up or down on a mechanical arm or crane. For different effects it can be raised or lowered at all sorts of angles. In a narrative, crane shots give a feeling of entering or leaving a series of events. A crane shot up and away at the end of a scene gives an air of finality.
Zoom
A zoom is similar to a tracking shot but the camera stays still. A zoom does not have the effect of allowing us to move through the scene. Unlike a tracking shot, it does not add to the three-dimensional feeling. Instead, a zoom enlarges or magnifies the subject. Zooming in on a character suggests we should listen to him or her. Zooming out has the opposite effect.
Invented in 1948, the camera zoom is a technique that has no parallel in the human eye. Some filmmakers therefore consider it an unnatural technique and use the zoom sparingly. It used to be used only in nonfiction genres such as news or documentary. However, modern filmmakers are turning to it for its shock value, often using a rapid zoom called a zip-zoom. The technique can be seen in the opening scenes of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet (1996).
Contra-zoom/dolly zoom
Horror movies often use a specialised zoom called a contra-zoom. It can also be called the Hitchcock zoom, since he was the first director to use it. But it has many other names. Some refer to it as a dolly zoom, a triple-zoom reflex or even the trombone shot. In the contra-zoom the camera zooms in at the same time as it tracks back in the reverse direction, leading to a dramatically disorienting change in perspective.
In the narrative, the contra-zoom or dolly zoom is effective in portraying a reaction of horrified awe. This reaction can be seen in The Lion King (1994) when Simba practises his roar and almost gets caught in a stampede. The technique is also used in Jaws (1975) when Chief Brody first spots the great shark’s fin.
Tilt
A tilt movement swivels the camera up or down while it is mounted on the tripod. It is like a vertical pan. Like the pan, the tilt gives the impression that something will eventually be revealed. It can also give the feeling of a scene gradually unrolling like a scroll, from top to bottom. In Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci’s Besieged (1998), a tilt from the bottom of a stairwell to the top landing establishes the distance between an African servant and her wealthy British employer.
