Cinematography: Moving the camera: An Open Learning Guide

Large flyovers (Helicopter/Jib) may represent large distances or a higher angle - ie: looking down on your subject.

It's easy to think that buying or hiring expensive equipment will just yield great camera movements naturally; however, this isn't the case. When using specialized gear such as a Steadicam or any sort of airborne device, it is advised that an experienced operator is hired. Although it is possible to hire grip equipment for relatively little money, do not fall into the trap of using inexperienced operators as you'll make a better film if you keep your shots simple rather than use an inexperienced operator on an exotic bit of grip equipment.

Learning a piece of equipment without guidance can also be harmful to a production. Learning incorrectly is a good way to learn bad shortcuts and habits. It is also an extremely easy way to break expensive equipment such as a hib.

Handheld camera movements can provide specific tones and emotions to a viewer. In found footage films such as Chronicle or Cloverfield, the shaky camera effect is used to represent a home video effect. A handheld and slightly shaking camera can give extra intensity to action sequences and can also give a documentary-drama-like feel to a movie.

There are many pros and cons to using Shaky camera movements in a shot, a balance should be found between both.

A dolly is a filmmaking tool used generally to get moving shots along a 1 dimensional plane. For example, a shot moving down a hall or moving towards a subject may use a dolly. A dolly generally consists of a cart which will hold the camera and perhaps the camera operator and may run on a track. If the camera operator is on the cart, a grip may be needed to move the dolly. This person is rightfully named the "dolly grip".

Wheelchair - A wheelchair is a popular alternative they can be found cheap on auction sites.

Dollies are a popular alternative to a tripod as it can provide interesting shots and don't need specialised operators to run however the dolly and track can take time to set up and operators are needed to run the camera and cart.

Sliders are virtually a small dolly. They usually sit on a tripod and can be operated by a servo or manually. Sliders are generally used when a dolly isn't practical to set up or the shot doesn't need to move too much, for example; time lapses and shots of a smaller subject.

A Jib or Camera Crane is essentially a camera mounted on a crane arm. The crane arm is usually rested on a flat platform such as a tripod, but can is also found on dollies, vehicles and even a SteadiCam. Crane shots are often considered to add "production value" and are often used for establishing shot for this reason. At the base of the jib arm, weights provide a counter balance to the camera allowing the operator to create streamlined movements without exerting unnecessary force. At the base of the Jib arm the operator controls pan, tilt, zoom and focus. In his/her control panel the operator views the camera's digital output via a monitor - when shooting in film the monitor will show the image from the gate.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Movie Making Manual/Cinematography/Moving the camera by Wikibooks contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.