JP: Hi. This is J.P. Morgan, and today on the Slanted Lens, we're going to take a look
at camera movement, the emotion that different camera movements can create for the viewer.
I've got Will Rubio here with me today. He's a great gangster. He's got a great look. So
we're going to see if we can shoot up the town just a little bit.
Will: Yeah. You'll never catch me copper! Ahh! Was that good?
JP: Let's get started and see what we can do. Yeah, that's good, Will. That's good.
Don't forget to enter so that you can win the Tamron 24 to 70 mm SP lens. We're still
accepting entries. Go to the end of the lesson, and it will show you how to sign up.
Moving the camera helps create different emotions in a scene. We see it all the time in films
that we watch. An action scene where the camera moves around the subject smoothly is much
different than "Bourne Identity," where the camera was shaky and unstable.
Camera movement can add or detract from the emotion the director wants to communicate.
Camera movement should emphasize emotion that we want to see in the scene. When the camera
moves, it needs to move in relationship to someone or something and create the emotion
that supports the story.
Let's look at some different camera moves and the emotion that they create. Obviously,
the actor's performance, the dress, and the lighting can contribute or create emotion
as well, but movement is simply one of the ways to strengthen or create that emotion.
A crane shot moving down moves you into the story or the scene. There's a feeling of falling
into the character's world or being dropped into the scene.
When the camera moves from a shot of our actor into a wide vista shot on a crane, it gives
us a feeling of how small the character is or how large this obstacle is that he or she
has to overcome.
When the camera moves from a very high shot to a very low shot, this makes the character
look strong and imposing and creates a lot of fear. It gives us a feeling of authority.
Handheld camera movement can create a feeling of uneasiness or danger. It needs to be a
bit shaky and unsettling, but it makes it feel very strange and dangerous.
A quick pan can change the emotional direction of the scene almost at once. We reveal something
dangerous or something that the character is going to have to overcome, and it's sends
the audience in a totally different emotional direction.
A quick push in with the camera creates a feeling of surprise or shock.
A slow camera dolly in can create tension and helps us become a little bit more intimate
with the character. This could be intimate in a way that it makes us feel uncomfortable
for them, or intimate in a way that helps us share the emotions that they're facing
at that moment.
Slowly dollying away from a character can leave them looking emotionally lost and abandoned.
In the viewer it creates an emotion of empathy. A relationship has developed there. You feel
lost with them. You want them to overcome.
A dolly across reveals action or change of the emotional direction of a scene. If the
man in this scene was pointing his gun at a gopher, it's a much different emotional
change than pointing the gun at a gangster. So it reveals something that changes the emotion.
A smooth glide cam shot between two men holding guns creates more of a ballet or a dance feeling.
It's going to feel epic. It's going to feel kind of dreamlike. It creates an emotion that's
much different than if you go after something with more of an edgy, kind of handheld camera.
So here's that same scene with a handheld camera. This does feel edgy. It feels stressful.
It has a much different sense than when we had that kind of smooth glide cam. This is
more like "Bourne Identity" where they are pushing the emotion right into your face.
This glide cam, as it comes in and sweeps around the actor in a full 360, gives you
a very interesting, kind of calm before the storm feeling, like there's a survey of the
situation. Something is coming. Something is about to happen. Unfortunately, our equipment
was in the way so we didn't get a clean 360, but that's a sense of that emotion.
This is a really cool move I think. A zolly is just interesting looking. It's a zoom with
a dolly shot at the same time. So it's called a zolly. The background gets larger or smaller,
but the person remains about the same size. A zolly creates an overwhelming emotional
feeling. It's almost an out of body experience, like it's blowing their mind what's about
to happen or what is happening.
This is just a few of the many ways that you can move the camera and create emotion. I
hope these examples will be a help to you as you plan your next shoot. Remember, camera
movement can create emotion or help to establish and emphasize the emotion that you want in
a shot.
Keep those cameras rolling. Keep on clicking.
Will: Smells like fresh horse poo.
JP: Hi. This is J.P. Morgan, and today on the Slanted Lens, we're going to review a
new piece of equipment that was sent to me that I thought would be very interesting to
you. It's called a Feather Touch Zoom. This zoom sets up on your two rail system. I've
got it here on my Redrock Micro System. It gives us the ability to hook it up either
on the right or the left side. You choose the rail you want to put it on. I've got my
follow focus on my left side, so I set my zoom up on the right side.
It really is a great piece of equipment because it makes it so you can zoom in or out. It
has a great little control box. This control box gives us a power on and off. It works
off of the same system as our focusing ring. So I've got the focusing rings. I can hook
it up on my zoom as well as my focusing setup. It really makes it so it works right in with
all the equipment that I already have.
It's called a Feather Touch Zoom. It's made by Camera Turret. So you can go to CameraTurret.com
to get more information about it. They sent me one, and we used it on this video that
we just shot. It was great when we did a zolly, because we could dolly in and zoom at the
same time, which is really a cool look.
We'll always be looking for interesting things that are maybe new on the market that you
haven't heard about. So I thought this is something you might be interested in. It is
power supplied, but comes with a little pig tail, so you can hook it into the battery
system. If you're doing an Anton Bauer battery or those kinds of battery systems, you can
hook it up to that as well. So a great little, interesting piece of equipment. So keep those
cameras rolling, and keep on clicking.
Make sure you subscribe to the Slanted Lens. Don't miss out on any of our episodes. We
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