1. Broadchurch, Season 1, Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGzhCmsVb2c
Watch for the first fifteen minutes. Pick a shot or combination of shots (short scene) and discuss the camera movement. Find examples of shots with five different types of camera movement: Pan right, pan left, dolly, dolly in, dolly out, reverse dolly, zoom in, zoom out, tilt up, tilt down, hand-held shot (with or without Steadicam), aerial shot, crane shot.
Camera movement vocabulary and concepts
Basic types of camera movements :
Pan : swivels L/R on a horizontal plane from a fixed point; follows limited movement; zip-swish pan: out of focus fast pan stops on the dominant; slow pan follows slow movement, or slowly looks across the scene
Zoom : complex of lenses zoom in and out: dominant seems to grow bigger or smaller in the frame; we seem closer or more distant
Dolly : the camera moves sideways, keeping parallel with a moving dominant going L/R; can be on a track, a truck, a bike, etc.; dolly in : camera moves closer; pull-back dolly : camera moves away, frame seems to widen; reverse dolly : the camera moves backward away from the dominants to keep them at a constant distance (ex. showing actors full front walking forward, always ten feet away from the retreating camera)
Tilt : The camera looks up or down from a fixed point
Crane : The camera changes angle quickly within a single shot by riding on the hydraulic arm of the crane, which move up/down, in/out/ and back and forth quickly and smoothly
Handheld shots : Camera is carried by an operator, either with a conspicuous wobble to show its handheld (ex POV shot) or with a Stedicam to stabilize (cant tell its handheld) to let the camera move smoothly through small spaces, crowds, stairs etc. where a regular camera, about the size of a riding lawnmower, cant fit
Aerial : The camera flies overhead from a helicopter or other flying vehicle to show an overview of whats below
Artificial movement: Movement which is changed through CGI or other means: slow motion, extreme slow motion (ex. The Matrix movies,) motion which is speeded up, freeze frames
For each shot, freeze the shot at the beginning of the shot, note the time, then unfreeze it and watch the camera movement until the end of the shot, then freeze it and note the time.
Shot starts at what time and ends at what time on the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen? Describe what is happening in the shot. Explain the type of camera movement. Why do you think its that type of movement? Why is it used here?
Example : (Ex. 1.02.38- 1.02.44) (Two men are fighting in a bar.) The camera pans right to follow the men as they fight and move toward the door. The movement is small enough that a pan keeps them about in the middle of the frame as they move slowly from left to right while fighting.
Shot One:
Shot Two:
Shot Three:
Shot Four:
Shot Five:
