Camera Movements

Pan - A pan is a horizontal camera movement in which the camera moves left and right about a central axis.

Tilt - A tilt is a vertical camera movement in which the camera points up or down from a stationary location.

Dolly - A dolly is a cart which travels along tracks. The camera is mounted on the dolly and records the shot as it moves. It is quite similar to a tracking shot but is often defined as moving closer or further away from the action

Uses of Dolly Shots: Camera Moves -- powered by eHow.com

Tracking - As I said this shot and the dolly shot are very similar with the main difference being that the tracking shot is generally defined as being movement parallel to the action

Here is an iconic tracking shot from a scene in the movie 'Goodfellas'




(This was one of the only clips on YouTube of this great scene from 'Goodfellas' that would allow me to embed it, so sorry about it being in German!)


Zoom - Technically this is not a camera movement as the camera itself does not move but instead the lens zooms in or out. It can be combined with a dolly shot though to create an effective dolly zoom

Camera Shots and Angles

Extreme Close Up (ECU) - Extreme close up focuses the audience's attention on a particular detail. It has the effect of intensifying and concentrating an idea, emotion or atmosphere.

Close Up (CU) - Close ups are useful for showing detail. A close-up of a person emphasizes their emotional state. For example the picture below shows the boy to be happy.

Medium Close Up (MCU) - This shot allows the audience to like they are close enough to the subject to have a conversation with them.

Medium or Mid-Shot (MS) - The mid shot shows some part of the subject in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. It also allows enough room for hand gestures and movement.

Long Shot/Establishing Shot (LS/ES)- Shot which shows all or most of a fairly large subject (for example, a person) and usually much of the surroundings.

Extreme Long Shot/ Establishing Shot (ELS/ES) - This is generally taken from up to a quarter of a mile away and can be used as a scene-setting shot, which establishes location.

Two Shot (could be CU/MCU/MS) - Two-shots are good for establishing a relationship between subjects. A two-shot could also involve movement or action. It is a good way to follow the interaction between two people without getting distracted by their surroundings.

'Over the shoulder shot' (OSS) - This shot is framed from behind a person who is looking at the subject. The person facing the subject should usually occupy about 1/3 of the frame. This shot helps to establish the position of each person, and get the feel of looking at one person from the other's point of view. It's common to cut between these shots during a conversation, alternating the view between the different speakers.

High Angle Shot (looking down) - This has the effect of diminishing the subject, making them appear less powerful, less significant or even submissive.

Low Angle Shot (looking up) - This shows the subject from below, giving them the impression of being more powerful or dominant.

Tilted Frame/Dutch Tilt - This camera shot in which the camera angle is deliberately slanted to one side. This can be used for dramatic effect and helps portray unease, disorientation, frantic or desperate action, intoxication, madness, etc. A dutch tilt can be a static shot, or used with simultaneous panning, tilting or zooming.

Point of View Shot (POV) - This shot shows a view from the subject's perspective. It is usually edited in such a way that it is obvious whose POV it is.

Continuity Editing

Both match on action and the 180° rule promote continuity editing. Continuity editing is defined as 'the predominant style of editing in narrative cinema and television. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.'


Other techniques that help create continuity editing are fade out/ins, cross cutting, diegetic sound, establishing shots and eyeline matchs.

Match On Action

Below is a prime example of match on action, the the director must manipulate the camera as if the film reality they're creating exists when not in view of the camera. For example an action that starts in one shot and finishes in the other, this just says to the audience that when one shot ends another will pick up from where the other one left off making the reality of the film fluid and continuous. 

180° Rule

The 180° rule tells us that one person should always be on the left side of the shot and the other should always be on the right side of the shot. This is a visual clue as to who's talking. Imagine if close ups showed both of the characters on the right side of the shot, the immediate assumption would be that they were talking to someone else, off camera.

Below is a schematic that best explains the 180° rule:

The above schematic shows the axis between two characters and the 180° arc on which cameras may be positioned (green line). When cutting from 180° arc to the red arc the characters switch places on the screen.

Below is a short video I found on YouTube which goes into more detail about this subject:

The Lost Edit - Sound Does Matter!

This is a version of an early edit from our camera work.
In this clip you will see our first edit of our camera work but with funny background music and effects such as, the Benny Hill theme tune, Homer Simpson laugh and the start of the Spongebob Squarepants theme tune.

The idea of this clip is to show you how changing the music and sound effects completely changes the atmosphere and levels of tension/suspense in a film.

This video is quite lighthearted and comical but should you watch the third edit of our camera work (3 posts below) you will see that the exact same video can be spooky and suspenseful with the right music and sound effects.

Year 13 Preliminary Task Research and Analysis

George and Jack's Preliminary


What I liked about this was:

• There was some suspense music then all of a sudden it was as if the music had been muted which created a tense atmosphere, they maintained the anonymity of the characters by not showing their faces to begin with, which also creates tension.

• There was a close up shot of Jack's mouth which focused on what he was saying. This was a good use of the camera and also made the scene more effective.

What I thought could have been improved:
• At certain points in the task, the camera was shaky; they probably should have used a tripod to get rid of any shakiness. The music played when one of the characters was exiting was out of place and wasn’t conventional of a thriller film, therefore it did not sustain any tension created


Callum and Zoe's Preliminary


What I liked about this was:

• I liked the night time setting, this creates tension and mystery. The street lights added an ominous glow which also creates an atmosphere.

What I thought could have been improved:

• Callum and Zoe probably had a good plan and idea of what they wanted to do but when they came to create it, they had problems with sound as you can hear conversations in the café they filmed in.

• Also some of the camera shots were a bit grainy which was probably down to them filming at night. This should have been considered before.

Livi, Tilly, Claudie and Ellen’s Preliminary


What I liked about this was:

• This task felt like it was put together the best as the scenes are well planned out bar the final scene.

• The shot through the doors gave a prison-like feel seeing as the doors have a cubic pattern on the window that looks like prison bars.

• The close up shot of the girl lying on the stairs shows how she is lifeless; this creates tension and suspense and makes the viewer question what has happened therefore engaging them.

What I thought could have been improved:

• The final scene is not quite as good as the rest of the task, they build suspense and tension up well but fail to sustain that through the last scene.

Cissie, Chloe and Jasmine’s Preliminary


What I liked about this was:
• The intro music was quite good and conventional of a thriller.

What I thought could have been improved:
• Apart from the intro music there wasn’t really much conventional of a thriller included which didn’t help.

• This task didn’t build suspense or tension as well as the other tasks, it spent a lot of time interviewing one character, they had obviously planned the camera shots and script well but the editing side of things didn’t produce much excitement or tension

Matt and Lauren’s Preliminary


What I liked about this was:

• The music worked really well especially during the shots on the stairs.

• When the girl was found in the cupboard, this was effective and the screams and constant struggling really showed how she was vulnerable and scared.

What I thought could have been improved:
• The beginning of their piece was very random and didn't really fit in with the rest of their task but apart from that it was a very well produced piece.

Josh and Victoria’s Preliminary


What I liked about this was:

• The darkness of the scene worked well however at certain points

• The effect of hearing her footsteps walking up the stairs also worked very well as it created a lot of tension.

What I thought could have been improved:
• At some points it was too dark to the point where you couldn't see anything.

• The sound of their scene wasn’t as good as some of the other tasks

• Some pauses during the conversation might have increased the tension and some low volume background suspense music throughout the scene would build suspense and eliminate any shots with no sound.