Script and Shot List for Gareth Edwards "Camera Movement in Film and TV"

 

Red words = Film in woods

Red Italics = shot description for actor and camera operator in woods

Black words = Film at home as voice over

 

 

 EXTERIOR DAY

 

The camera (on the slider track) starts behind a tree then tracks from left to right, to reveal me walking towards the camera, facing the camera. The camera then stays still, with some of the tree still in the frame on the left, and I stop walking, just before I get to the tree, and speak. When I finish speaking, I walk off to the left, going behind the tree.

(MS).

 

Camera movement is everywhere in Film and TV shows nowadays.

You can’t watch anything without there being some form of camera movement in it.

But just how do they get that camera movement?

 

 

I enter the frame from the right, walking slowly to the left, facing the camera at 45 degrees towards the camera. I start speaking and the camera (on the slider track) tracks me as I keep walking to the left, keeping me roughly central in the frame. I stop briefly when I say "just their hands" but the camera (on the slider track keeps moving. Then I continue walking, the camera keeps tracking me keeping me roughly central in the frame.

(MS)

 

Film makers use a myriad of devices to move the camera, sometimes it’s even just their hands.

And there are lots of different types of camera movement, from a simple pan and tilt to drone, crane or even car shots.

 

 

I am sat on a log, central in the frame. The camera (on the slider track) tracks from left to right slowly while I speak to the camera.

Film this 2 ways

1. LS with all of me in frame

2. MS showing all of me from the waist up but not worrying about getting my feet in shot

 

And it’s the cinematographer’s job to make sure that all these movements are smooth and almost unnoticeable while also adding emotion to the scene.

 

 

I am standing, central in the frame, facing the camera. The camera is stationary while I speak to the camera.

(MS waist up)

 

There are plenty of reasons to move the camera, for example revealing information hidden to the audience, to follow characters as they talk, or simply just to keep your attention.

 

 

I am standing central in the frame, facing the camera, with a tree in the right of the frame. The camera stays stationary. After I finish speaking, I walk out of frame to the left.

(MS)

 

So today I’m going to look at the difference that camera movement makes to a scene, as well as showing the difference in a short scene I filmed.

 

 

Back in Ye olden days of cinema, when moving image cameras were first coming into being, they weren’t really moved all that much due to their size.

 

The first camera movements invented were the pan and tilt, makes sense given they are the simplest moves you can do with a camera. I mean it is just, up, down, left, right. Not that hard, with a small camera.

 

The first person to use camera movement in a film was Edwin S. Porter in “The Great Train Robbery”.

 

He uses both a pan and a tilt in this film. One shot shows the robbers escaping into the woods as the camera pans to follow them and reveals horses which are their means to escape.

 

Later on, cameras, which used to be pretty big, became more compact, and thus more types of camera movement equipment came along such as dollies, tracks, cranes, Steadicams, gimbles and even cars.

 

 

EXTERIOR DAY

 

I start by standing on the right half of the frame, facing the camera. I stay stationary. As I speak, the camera (on the slider track) tracks from left to right. My position in the frame moves from right to left, and I end up in the left half of the frame

(MS)

 

Camera movement can help improve scenes by helping to keep our attention when characters are talking and aren’t moving.

 

 

For example, in this scene from Picard, where Picard and Soji are talking about Commander Data, the camera is on a slider as it moves back and forth during their conversation.

 

Many Directors of Films and TV shows use this technique, because the slight movement isn’t too much to distract us from the story, while still being enough to keep our attention.

 

Another very effective use for camera movement is to spice up fight scenes. Directors often chose to use this, as the frantic camera movement heightens the tension and the chaos of the fight.

 

Very good evidence of this are the fight scenes from The Kingsman movies. The camera moving around the actors, as well as fancy editing techniques used to make the hits pack more of a punch, helps to add to the adrenalin packed fight and make it more entertaining.

Another creative way that Directors use camera movement in a scene, is to make it look like there are no cuts.

 

For example, in Rocketman during the song “Saturday Night’s alright for fighting” they move the camera around the scene in clever and innovative ways so as to make it seem as if there are no cuts, while hiding any of the actual cuts in wipes when someone or something moves close to the camera.

 

And the same goes for the absolutely amazing movie 1917 which is now my favorite movie I’ve ever seen. Watching the film for the first time, I couldn’t tell where the majority of cuts were, which is due to very clever camera movement planning, and also editing, on the parts of Sam Mendes, the director, and Roger Deakins, the extremely talented cinematographer.

 

 

EXTERIOR DAY

 

I am sat on a log, central in the frame, facing the camera. The camera is stationary while I speak to the camera.

Film this 3 ways

1. LS with all of me in frame

2. MS showing all of me from the waist up including part of my legs but not worrying about getting my feet in shot

3. Close-up of me from the waist up

 

But I’m not here to talk about the history of camera movement, albeit very interesting, I’m here to show the difference that camera movement can have on a scene.

 

 

Directors and Cinematographers are well aware that psychologically we humans notice changes, particularly involving movement. It is what helps to keep us alive, since it allows us to be alerted to danger, whether that danger is from a predator or from a fast approaching car. This innate response is very useful to a director since they can make use of it to direct an audience’s attention to somewhere particular on the screen, use it to create a particular atmosphere like in the frantic Kingsman fight scenes I mentioned earlier, or to simply keep our attention.

 

I’m going to explore some different ways that the camera can be moved, as well as showing the difference that camera movement can have on a simple scene, in terms of keeping our attention.

 

I’ve chosen to explore 3 types of camera movement. Firstly, with the camera stationary on a tripod. Secondly, with the camera handheld with a bit of a shake, and thirdly, with the camera attached to a slider track.

 

And yes, I count the first one, stationary on a tripod, as camera movement because it’s the lack of camera movement, which still has an effect on the scene.

 

So here I am in the woods filming a series of shots with no camera movement, handheld, and with the slider. This is to show the difference that adding even a bit of camera movement can have on a scene.

 

In this scene, I’m filming someone standing in the woods, as they either think about what to do next or what’s just happened.

 

The shots with no camera movement still work as a general sequence, however it is quite bland and doesn’t really keep your attention all that well. Due to the lack of movement, our eyes lose focus because nothing is happening.

 

In comparison, the handheld with a bit of shaking adds some movement and thus also some realism to the scene, which helps to keep the audience’s attention more than if it were still. In real life, we never view things as smooth when walking or looking around, so the shaking adds that aura of real life to it. It can also help to add some unease for the audience because it’s not perfect.

 

The moving background in the slider shots sequence helps to keep the audience’s attention while there aren’t any words being said. The moving shots activate our innate ability to be drawn visually to movement. It also helps to make us feel like we are there, since we would be looking around. This keeps us involved with and invested in the sequence.

 

I also tested out using a monopod, which I made by using a tripod with all the legs closed, to see if that would be a way to recreate slider movement without the slider. As you can see, it was not that effective, because as it pivoted on a point it made the shot tilt. I tried it several times, and maybe a more skilled operator could eliminate this circular tilt, but this was the best version that I got.

 

I also used an editing technique to make it look like a stationary shot was on a slider which I feel mostly worked, however it does looks more like a pan than a track on a slider. But it could be a way to add movement if you don’t have any movement equipment.

 

Back to the 3 main methods that I investigated. As I think you can clearly see, even the slight movement of being handheld added interest to the shots.

 

However, using the slider gave a more professional look, and keeps the audience looking at the shot in the way that the director wants them to.

 

Finally, I did an edit using some of the stationary shots and some of the slider shots, which I feel is the best combination, because as I mentioned earlier it is the “change” element of movement that attracts our eyes, and thus changing between stationary shots and shots with movement adds a second layer of change, keeping the audience’s attention even more.

 

In conclusion, even in a very simple sequence, it is easily apparent that camera movement can make a big difference, for example here keeping the audience’s attention.

 

 

EXTERIOR DAY

 

Start back by the original tree, the tree in shot on the left in the frame and me standing central in the rest of the frame. The camera (on the slider track) starts by staying stationary as I speak. Then as I finish speaking, I walk off out of frame to the right of the frame, forwards at 45 degrees and at the same time the camera (on the slider track) tracks from right to left stopping when the tree is in the left half of the frame.

(MS)

 

So, the idea with camera movement is to keep your eyes engaged, while the story keeps your brain entertained.

And cinematographers are masters at utilizing the camera as well as the equipment used to move the camera to aid with the emotion of a scene.

And while a good film doesn’t require camera movement to be good, it certainly can greatly improve it.

 

END