Camera Movement - Ben Sundock

1. Pan Shot
Context: "Game of Thrones" Episode 4, season 9 directed by Neil Marshall, June 8, 2014

Content: This clip shows the Night's Watch defending the Wall from an attack from the Wildlings with lots of fighting and action going on all over.

Form: The shot begins showing John Snow fighting a Wildling and after he manages to kill the man he is fighting, he runs down the stairs and the camera zooms out and pans across the entire wall showing all the action going on.



2. Jib/Camera crane shot

Context: NBC's Thursday Night Football Skycam from November 16, 2017.

Content: In the Thursday Night primetime game between the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers, NBC used a skycam to show full plays for the first time ever. They use the skycam at every game which they broadcast, but this game was different because it gave the viewers a perspective from behind the quarterback.

Form: The skycam is a very different way to see a play in football and is often used to just show formations or penalties. The idea of having the remote-controlled camera flyover the field following the play is a drastic change from the norm and a good one.



3. Handheld camera shot

Context: "Nightcrawler" 2014, directed by Dan Gilroy

Content: Louis Bloom (played by Jake Gyllenhall) comes upon a house that has an active shooting going on. Hiding in the bushes outside the house, Bloom watching the shooters leave quickly. As soon as they leave, he runs in to try and get footage of the murder scene before the police show up.

Form: When Bloom runs from the bushes to the house, the camera is right there with him running and showing the frantic pace the character is moving at. It shows him quickly filming the entire house and running from the first floor to the second floor to cover everything. The thing I like most about this scene is how the handheld camera zooms in on the camera held by Bloom to show what he is shooting through the viewfinder.



4. Drone/Bird's eye view shot

Context: "Entourage" (Movie) 2015, directed by Doug Ellin

Content: The opening scene of the Entourage movie shows a speed boat flying across the ocean off the coast of Ibiza, Spain towards a yacht.

Form: This shot is really great in that it captures the beautiful blue water, the speedboat racing through the calm water toward the yacht, and zooms out showing the larger picture of what's going on.


5. Wild Card

Context: "GoPro: Tanner Hall Ski Diaries" 2014

Content: This video is filmed entirely from a GoPro attached to the helmet of skier, Tanner Hall, as he travels the world doing crazy ski stunts and runs.

Form: I always love watching these extreme sports video filmed with GoPros because it makes me as the viewer feel like I am doing the ski runs as I watch. The angle that the camera is positioned, it is like you are looking through the eyes of the skier. Not being a good skier myself, it gives people a sense of what it's like to actually be good at doing these crazy hard descents.