On the surface, camera movement appears to just be a technique to make a shot more interesting and keep the audience engaged. When the movement is done well, it can increase the audience’s opinion of your production value. Sometimes, camera movement is necessary to keep up the film\u2019s pace. If suddenly there\u2019s a bunch of action taking place and people running around but the camera is locked down, it tends to slow everything down.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s an important factor to keep in mind when planning your shots, blocking, and camera movement: the camera is the film\u2019s silent narrator. You can use movement to guide the audience through the scene, slowly revealing certain people or objects in order to create suspense \u2014 or simply control the pacing of the scene.<\/p>\n
Broadly speaking, camera movement, like the narration of a book, can fall into three categories:<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s dive a bit deeper into motivated camera movement<\/em>. This is movement that the actions on screen dictate. We are literally following the action, whereas unmotivated camera movement<\/em> means the camera essentially moves freely, detached from any specific action. Keep in mind that motivated camera movement can be as simple as tilting or panning to follow a character walking across the room \u2014 or lowering his hand under a table during a shady deal \u2014 but you can use it for more than that.<\/p>\n The lens is the storyteller. Think about why the camera is moving in the first place. Spielberg<\/a> is known for a lot of oners, and using motivated camera movement is a reminder that just because we\u2019re following movement doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019re limited as storytellers. In Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em><\/a>, we get an excellent example of this during Marion’s introduction.<\/p>\n