Camera Movement, Scale, Angle and Lens

From “From Words To Image” by Marcie Begleiter (p. 57)

Camera Movement

Camera movement refers to the movement of the camera during a shot. It can be as subtle as a slight tilt to a swooping motion that covers dozens of feet in a few seconds. Some camera moves are dolly shot; pan; swish pan; tracking shot; tilt; boom shot; crane shot; car mount; static shot; steadicam shot; zoom; zolly; smash zoom; handheld; follow shot and travelling shot.

pan – moving the camera along the horizontal (x) axis, usually panning can be done either with a fixed base or using tracks, if done from a stationary position, simply rotate the camera horizontally to follow the action. Panning is often used with tracking shots to follow the direction of action or to reveal something in the bigger picture.

tilt – camera base does not move but the angle changes up or down (tilt-up, tilt-down). Tilting the camera is similar to making the camera look up or down without moving the absolute position of the camera. Tilting is used to track the movement of objects, if the object moves towards the camera e.g. camera following a plane, and is also used to reveal something something higher than the subject creating the impression that the subject is looking up.

zoom – camera does not move but the operator changes the zoom lens to enlarge or shrink the scale; zoom is used when the producer wants to show the setting before focusing on a specific detail in the composition. Zooming in can also be used when the subject focuses his/her attention on something or someone far away. Zoom in is used to create the impression of getting closer/identifying what the subject is seeing. Zooming out can be used to reveal someone or something who is standing (hiding) far away.

Scale

Scale refers to the relationship between the frame to the object being framed. Scales include extreme close-up; close-up; medium shot (m.s.); American shot; full figure; long shot (l.s.); single; two shot; insert; two-T shot.

extreme close-up (e.c.u.) – a shot with a very narrow field of view, usually half a person’s face, which gives the impression of being very close to the subject; used for showing facial details or subtle expressions.

close-up (c.u.) – larger than the e.c.u. showing the subject’s head and shoulders; most commonly used when subject is interacting with someone; to strike a “conversation-like” feeling with the subject.

wide shot (w.s.) – a shot which spans a wide view horizontally; used to depict a wide scene e.g. a living room or a car park.

Angle

Angle refers to the relationship between the camera position and the point it is focusing on. Camera angle can change both horizontally and vertically. Angles can be high angle; aerial shot; low angle; high hat shot; ¾ shot; profile; straight on/frontal; over the shoulder shot (o.t.s.);  canted frame.

high angle – camera is facing downwards on the object from above; high angles are widely used but one of their uses is for overhead tracking in pursuit/action scenes.

Lenses

Fisheye – A type of camera lens which captures and extremely wide shot in a spherical shape. Shots with Fisheye are usually distorted making the photo look wider in the center and smaller at the edges.

Telephoto – A type of long-focus lens which allows for capturing shots at great distances. One advantage of the telephoto is that it has a narrower shot angle and thus distant objects are more proportionately scaled as opposed to using a normal lens and standing closer.