Camera Movement

Camera Movement

Hello! Above is the pdf version of my slides for camera movement. Here are some notes to go along with the links that are available in the pdf.

Pan: Moving the camera lens to one side or another.

Reason: To show the audience the entire room/set. Panning from one character to someone who walks through the door to elevate the tension that wouldn’t exist with a fast cut.

Zoom: It involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame.

Reason: Mostly to either scrutinise or exert tension in the scene (if zoomed into a person’s face.)

Pedestal: Moving the camera up or down without changing its vertical or horizontal axis.

Reason: To maintain the camera to subject distance.

Dolly: This is a motion towards or motion from. The name comes from the old “dolly tracks” that used to be laid down for the heavy camera to move along — very much like railroad tracks — in the days before Steadicams got so popular.

Reason: In Hitchcock’s movie, he used it to show that his story is just one out of the many that exist in the world.

Dolly Zoom: The camera is pulled or dollied away from a subject while the lens zooms in, or vice versa.

Reason: Seeing a perspective change without a size change is a highly unsettling effect, often with strong emotional impact. In Hitchcock used it to replicate the visuals of a vertigo effect.

Truck: Trucking is like dollying, but it involves motion left or right.

Reason: You’d Truck if you want your camera to subject distance to stay the same.

Handheld Shooting: To get rid of the tripod and holding onto the camera such that it becomes more mobile and able to follow the action of a scene.

Reason: Mostly, it’s for aesthetic. Handheld shooting can be very bouncy, giving the viewer a sometimes subtle feeling that they’re watching news or a documentary.

Floating Cam or Stabilised Shot: The Steadicam was invented in 1971 by Philadelphia native Garrett Brown. Famously used in the jogging sequence in “Rocky” and extensively with exceptional effect in the Kubrick masterpiece, “The Shining.” It uses a series of counterweights — and gyroscopes on more-expensive models — to keep a handheld camera’s motion very smooth.

Reason:  A Steadicam or 3-axis gimbal gives you the freedom of shooting handheld while keeping your shot perfectly stable, eliminating the distracting shake that often occurs when your camera is unsupported.

Crane/Jib: A crane can be used to lift a camera (and operator, if it’s big enough) from low to high shooting positions. Less expensive jibs can support the weight of a camera and lift it several feet off of the ground. Sometimes a crane will be called a boom, but the boom term usually applies to the device that holds a microphone aloft. For an extreme version of this elevated angle, consider using a drone to capture an aerial perspective. These days, you can use a drone to get an aerial footage with ease.

Reason: You want to show things from a different angle.


I was tasked to watch Hitchcock’s Vertigo and he has managed to replicate the feeling of vertigo by using the dolly zoom camera movement to push for his narrative: Scottie paralyzed by his fear of height and thus cost him his love, twice.

Other than that, I personally did not like the film at the very slightest. Its narrative was choppy at best and quite absurd. I watched Scottie follow Madeleine for close to an hour without any true progress in the narration and the ending felt very abrupt as if it came from nowhere. We as the audience did not find out why Gavin did what he did, as to why Judy took up the job, why did Scottie leave the scene when him being a previous detective should know better than anyone that it was a bad move, did the officers conduct a test to see what happened to have them judge it as a suicidal (because if so, why would Scottie suddenly get roped in for a testimonial in court and not interrogated especially since there’s physical evidence of a murder) and etc. There’s a lot of loopholes that I have to fill in the blanks myself and it was just not that satisfying to watch. But to each his own! :))