IB Film Year One: Week 14.2

Camera Movement Terminology

Shot Types and Camera Movement

Watch this video to have a better understanding of what each shot type, camera angle, and movement looks like.

Watch This:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4316BUEVYkE

The Problem of the Third DimensionIt might seem hard to believe in today's world where every time you go to the cinema, there is yet another film (often unnecessarily) shot in 3-D. 

Although the technology for shooting and presenting movies in this way has become quite impressive, there is still a hidden truth buried under all the hype - it is all a lie.

As long as a movie is projected on a screen, whether in a movie theater or on your computer desktop or on your personal electronic device, it will always be 2-D. The screen has 2 Dimensions - horizontal and vertical - and no amount of technical wizardry will change that simple fact.

However, once we, as filmmakers, come to terms with this limitation, we can also start to embrace the possibilities of what we can do to make the world of our films seem to exist in all three spatial dimensions.

One of our most powerful tools we can employ to aid us in this endeavor is to get the camera moving.

How do you stabilise your camera?Use a TripodThe essential toolkit of any serious still photographer or filmmakerMost of the time, you will want to stabilise your camera on a tripod.

Holding a camera in your hand, no matter how steady you are, will always result in camera shake, even if it is very slight.

Sometimes, this is what you want, but most of the time, it will not be.

The tripod is your best friend. If you have one, bring it to your shoot.

Ideally, you want one that is aluminum and has little to no plastic on it whatsoever.

The plastic parts wear out very quickly and are harder to lock down.

Once you have one, learn its capabilities and use them.

What can you do if a tripod is unavailable?Guerilla filmmaking, or filming on a budget, involves creativity and improvisation.

Look around. What do you have?

If you think about it, anything the camera can rest on securely can be a virtual tripod.

A table is a good example; a table is actually a quadpod (pod is the root for foot). So is a chair.

A garbage can or a bucket turned upside down can do the job.

What if you want the shot to not be perfectly horizontal?

A great piece of guerilla gear to keep handy is a beanbag that is slightly bigger than your camera.

The bag can conform to the shape of the camera and you can place the camera in the bag at a variety of angles. Then stick the bag in some creative places - like in a tree, or in a windowsill, or in the rain gutter - and your bagpod can do things a tripod could never even dare to achieve!

(Just, please, please, strap your camera in securely!)

What some see as a limitation, the guerilla sees as an opportunity.

Viva la Revolution!

Stabilised MovesThis might seem like an oxymoron, but there are two basic stabilised camera moves - the pan and the tilt.

In both of these moves, the camera is mounted on a tripod, or similar device, and then pivots on one of its axes.

The camera's center-of-gravity, or pivot point, does not change, but the camera body itself pivots on the tripod.

PanA pan is when the camera pivots on the horizontal axis (also called the y-axis), from left-to-right, or vice-versa.

A pan is used to encompass a wide scene and lends itself to the sense of someone examining it, as if the camera were someone's head pivoting on their neck.

It can also be used to go back and forth between two subjects, without cutting.

Be careful of this, since going back-and-forth can feel very amateurish, and is sometimes called fire-hosing, as if someone is spraying the scene with a fire hose.

If the pan is very rapid, it is also called a whip pan or swish pan.TiltA tilt is when the camera pivots on the vertical axis (also called the x-axis), from up to down, or vice-versa.

To continue the camera-as-head analogy, this would be like the camera nodding on a tripod.

A tilt can be used to demonstrate the vastness of a scene in the vertical dimension, or to survey a character from head to toe.Z-axisYou might be wondering, what about the third rotation axis? Isn't there a Z-axis? Yes, indeed.

This is known as sideways rotation, like when you tilt your head to one side.

(Do you remember what the camera angle is called that uses this kind of rotation? If not, hang tight, there will be a review at the end of this lesson).

Why doesn't rotation in this axis have a term?

It is not used very often, because it makes an audience queasy and seasick, but it can create a powerful visual effect, if that is what is desired.

 

Guerilla ModeAre Stabilised camera moves out of the question?Certainly not.

Look around your house.

Anything that pivots on an axis and has at least a small amount of horizontal surface can have a camera rest on it or mounted to it.

For example, some homes have a rotating spice rack.

Clear off the basil and oregano, set your camera on the rack, and spin. Instant Pan!

Strap the camera to a length of timber board with a bungee cord, and give the board a fulcrum, or pivot point, on anything solid, and you there you have a Tilt.

( If the board is long enough, you actually have a Crane, or Jib Arm. More on that next.)

The Crane ShotWith a crane shot, the camera is mounted to a crane arm, or jib arm, which is then attached to the tripod.

The crane is counter-balanced on the opposite end of where the camera is mounted, either by weights or by pressure from crew members pushing down.

The crane pivots at the tripod base, or other fulcrum.

If you can picture a playground teeter-totter that could also pivot in the horizontal axis, you have the right idea.

On professional film sets, this crane arm is often so rugged and elaborate that the camera operator actually sits on the end of the crane arm itself.

Your film productions, if they attempt crane shots at all, will be much more modest, obviously.

However, if you do choose to give it a try, the crane shot will allow you to create very sweeping camera moves that cover a large set in very grand arcs, either horizontally or vertically.

Home-made SteadicamThere are reasonably priced, tripod-mounted crane arms you might be able to procure.

However, if this is not the case, then fear not, young guerilla, you can still use this type of camera move. What can you do?

The previous section had some ideas.

Strapping your camera to a a lenght of timber board, securely, is going to open up all kinds of possibilities.

In fact, you can also keep your camera on a tripod, fold up the legs, and tuck them under your arm.

Now, you not only have a crane arm, but also a guerilla steadicam. 

Improvise. See what other kinds of solutions you can come up with.

Where did the term Dutch Angle come from?Dolly out...Is this a derogatory term?It seems to be unfairly criticising the people of the Netherlands as having a skewed view of the world. The answer is no.

The technique of tilting the camera on its side first came into prominent use in German expressionist cinema. The word 'Deutsch' is the German word for 'German'.

If one gets a little lazy with one's English pronunciation of Deutsch, it comes out as Dutch.

The tilted, or canted angle is also not a reflection of the German people, but a trait of a particular film movement.

One of the earlier non-German expressionistic films to make extensive use of the Dutch angle is the 1949 film, The Third Man, by Carol Reed.

This technique can also be overused to the point of becoming silly.

The 1960's television series, Batman, starring Adam West, was guilty of such campiness by featuring so many canted shots that the technique for a while was referred to as the Bat Angle. True story.

If you put all these aspects of camerawork together - framing, shot type, camera angle, and now camera moves - then you have an impressive toolbox with which to overcome the inherent two-dimensionality of the screen.

A Zoom-in and a Dolly-in are not the same thingPerhaps you are thinking, 'Why bother with a dolly-in, when I can just zoom-in with my camera's lens?'.

Zoom-inA zoom involves changing the focal length of the lens.

A zoom takes a small portion of the image and magnifies it (usually also making the image grainier and noisier, or more pixillated).

Try to change the focal length of your eyes.

Try to stand there and zoom your eyes. Having trouble?

That's right, it cannot be done.

A zoom is not natural; a dolly is.

In general, keep your finger off that zoom button.

Want a close-up?   Move the camera.

Dolly-inA dolly involves physically moving the camera.

A dolly actually changes the information in the frame itself, without a loss of quality.

Think about it this way.

In real-life, if you want to get a better view of something, what do you need to do? You get closer.

You have to physically enter the scene.  You have to walk forward.

That is what a dolly does.

In general, keep your finger off that zoom button.

Want a close-up?   Move the camera.

Dolly's and Tracking ShotsWith these moves, not only does the camera move but the tripod does as wellTypically, the camera tripod is attached to wheels.

The wheeled mechanism is known as a dolly, and comes in a variety of forms.

Dolly wheels are actually what get attached to a tripod, or by mounting the tripod securely on a cart that has dolly wheels.

The wheels either allow free movement in two dimensions (like casters) or they are locked in one dimension and ride on rails (like a train).

Tracking Shot on a DollyWhen the camera parallels the movement of a subject by following along side, this is called a tracking shot, trucking shot, or follow shot. 

The camera usually goes the speed of the subject being tracked, or else the subject quickly leaves the frame.

Any shot where the camera is mounted on a dolly, is technically is a dolly shot, so the tracking shot is a type of dolly shot as well.

Dolly-in, Dolly-outThe dolly shot can do more than just parallel the movement of the subject.  It can move toward or away from the subject as well.

Moving closer is known as a dolly-in or push-in, and moving away is known as a dolly-out.

Add speed to the command, and a director can be quite specific to their crew, such as:

“Give me a slow push-in on the protagonist.”When you talk-the-talk and everyone speaks the same language, a shoot can be very efficient.

Dolly Counter-ZoomOkay, if you really want to use the zoom button, try out a dolly counter-zoom.

If you can do it well, it has a powerful psychological effect. If you cannot do it well, then skip it.

It works like this.

As you dolly-in on your subject, zoom-out at the same time, at the same rate.

Conversely, if you dolly-out, then zoom-in at the same time. 

The effect will seem like the background is being altered radically, and can be used to show, for example, the world seeming to collapse in on the subject.

Hitchcock uses this technique quite a bit in Vertigo (1958)   which is why this technique is sometimes called a Hitchcock zoom.

You can also see it in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) when Frodo first encounters the Ringwraiths in the forest.

What? No Dolly?No problem.

Anything you have with wheels is a potential Dolly.

Office chair with wheels? Dolly.

Shopping cart? Dolly.

Skateboard? Dolly!

You can even make a railed Dolly track with clever use of a length of timber board, skateboard wheels, and sturdy plastic pipe.

Home-made steadicamFinally, you can obviously achieve camera moves by simply holding the camera and walking through the environment.

This tends to create very shaky footage, which is why professionals use a Steadicam setup to balance the camera.

These professional rigs tend to be out of the range of student productions as they are quite expensive, but of course, you can approximate one.

Guerilla steadicamLook for other peoples ingenious home-made steadicams online 

There are plenty of online sites with instructions on how to build a cheap, homemade steadicam setup with pipes and weights.

You can also, as mentioned before, fold the tripod legs and tuck them under your arm and move through the set that way.

Having the camera out on the tripod as opposed to close to your body helps to absorb and counterbalance some of the body's movement.

Some cameras have a handle on top of them (preferred by sports videographers and skateboarders) that allows the camera to be held loosely, minimizing camera shake, as the camera operator navigates the set.

Just remember that excessive use of a handheld technique can lead to a queasy audience.

If you do not believe this, try watching The Blair Witch Project (1999) or Cloverfield (2008) sometime.

Just bring along an air-sickness bag!

Quick Recap

In addition to what you have learned today, consider that you have already (perhaps without knowing it) begun your journey into the third dimension with what you learned previously about camerawork.

In analyzing still images, you considered depth.

Do you remember what that involves? Have you tried composing shots with depth in mind?

You have also learned about a variety of basic shot types.

Camera position requires picking up the camera and moving it closer or further away from the subject, so it also utilises the third dimension.

Extreme Wide ShotA wide view of the environment 

Basic shot type in which the camera is positioned (either physically or with a lens change) to encompass a wide view of the environment.

If there are subjects in the scene, they are usually too small to be seen.

This shot type is often used as an establishing shot for the scene.

Wide ShotThe subject takes up the full frame 

Basic shot type in which the camera is positioned (either physically or with a lens change) so that the subject takes up the full frame and can be seen in the environment.

This shot type is also known as a full shot or a long shot.

Medium ShotShot from the waist up 

Basic shot type in which the camera is positioned (either physically or with a lens change), usually referenced in terms of a human subject, shot from the waist up.

Close-upThe subject takes up the entire frame 

Basic shot type in which the camera is positioned (either physically or with a lens change) so that a certain feature of the subject takes up the entire frame, typically referenced in terms of a human subject, shot from the shoulders up.

Extreme Close-upTo show fine detail 

Basic shot type in which the camera is positioned (either physically or with a lens change) to show fine detail.

On a human subject this might be a shot of just the eyes.

Low AngleCamera pointed up at the subject 

Camera angle that shows the subject from below, with the camera pointed up at the subject.

It sometimes has the effect of making the subject seem larger-than-life, powerful, and heroic.

Eye LevelHow we visually experience the world 

Camera angle which we are used to, in terms of how we visually experience the world.

This generalisation, of course, does not take into account that some people are taller than others.

However one imagines standard height, this is the angle that corresponds to it.

High AngleShows the subject from above 

Camera angle that shows the subject from above, with the camera pointed down at the subject.

It sometimes has the effect of making the subject seem small, insignificant, powerless, and meek.

Birds-eye AngleShows the subject or scene from high above 

Camera angle that shows the subject or scene from high above, as if from the point-of-view of a bird or airplane.

Also known as Aerial Angle.

Canted AngleTo show that the world is off center 

A sideways tilting of the camera to show that the world is off center. Often used in mystery or horror movies.

Also known as a Dutch angle.

Example Shot Types

Film Studies 101 has video samples of all the aforementioned shot types, angles and movements used in famous films.

Enjoy!

Watch and Read - Film Studies 101: The 30 CameraShots Every Film Fan Needs To Know