Lesson 7 of 9 · 12 min
Movement
A moving camera changes what the audience knows and how they feel, without a cut. Each move has a name, and each one feels different. A good move is motivated: it follows a character, reveals something, or shows a change inside a person.
In this lesson
- Name ten camera moves and say how each is done.
- See the difference between a dolly and a zoom.
- Know when a move is motivated.
Try it Move the camera
Press a move to play it. The viewfinder shows the shot. The map shows the camera (the orange square) and what it sees. Compare Dolly in with Zoom in: watch the trees and the street behind her.
Press a move to see it.
- Turn the camera: pan and tilt.
- Compare dolly in and zoom in.
- Find parallax: truck and arc.
- Play the dolly zoom.
- Go handheld.
The name for it The moves
There are two kinds of move. In a turn (pan, tilt) the camera rotates on the spot. In a move (dolly, truck, pedestal, crane, arc) the camera itself travels through space. Only travel makes near and far things shift against each other. That shift is called parallax, and it is what makes a move feel three-dimensional.
| Move | How | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| Pan | Turn left or right | Follow action, reveal what is beside |
| Tilt | Turn up or down | Show height, reveal from feet to face |
| Dolly / push-in | Travel forward or back | Push in for importance, pull out to reveal or to leave |
| Truck / track | Travel sideways | Walk with a character, show depth |
| Pedestal | Travel straight up or down | Match a person who sits or stands |
| Crane / jib | Travel high up (and tilt) | Openings and endings, show scale |
| Arc | Travel in a circle around the subject | Heroic moments, romance, rising tension |
| Zoom | Change focal length; no travel | A fast or "observed" look; 1970s style |
| Dolly zoom | Dolly one way, zoom the other | Shock, vertigo, a sudden realisation |
| Handheld | The operator holds the camera | Realism, urgency, chaos, documentary feel |
Equipment names you will hear: a dolly runs on tracks; a slider is a small rail for short moves; a jib or crane is an arm; a Steadicam or gimbal keeps a walking camera smooth; a drone flies.
Motivation is the reason for a move. Good reasons: a character moves and the camera follows; the camera reveals new information; the move shows a change of feeling (a slow push-in as a character understands something). A move without a reason feels like decoration.
A shot with no cut and a lot of movement is a long take or oner. Famous examples are the Copacabana shot in Goodfellas (1990) and the battle in Children of Men (2006).
Check Three questions
Which move shows parallax (near things move faster than far things)?
Only travel through space gives parallax. A pan and a zoom keep the camera in one place.
A slow push-in toward a character as she understands the truth. What is this move doing?
The push-in is motivated by what happens inside the character.
In a dolly zoom, what stays the same?
The camera moves and the lens zooms in the opposite way, so the subject keeps her size while the background changes.
Field exercise Why did it move?
In the next film you watch, notice every time the camera moves. Name the move. Then ask what motivated it: a character, a reveal, or a feeling. Count the shots where you cannot find a reason.