Camera Movement: Zoe Bieler

1. Pan or tilt shot (camera is on a tripod)

Director: Gavin O’Connor 

DP: Dan Stoloff 

Year: 2004 

Content: This is a montage of training scenes from the movie Miracle, where a group of young college-aged men are training to become Olympic athletes. 

Explain Form:  There are a lot of little pan shots that are sprinkled into this montage.  The use of pan shots are so impactful in this situation because they are shot at fast paces and used to emphasizes the repetition and work that the skaters are putting in.  When the camera goes back and forth with them as they skate we feel the sense that we are doing suicides back and forth with the skaters.  The director wanted to allow the viewer to feel apart of the training experience that the boys were doing and he used pan shots to do that.  The repetition of the similar, intense pan shots were very effective not only because of how they helped stress repetition in the training montage but also because of the feeling it evoked in the viewer. 

2. Jib/camera crane shot

Director: Jeff Calhoun 

DP: Clayton Jacobsen 

Year: 2017 

Content: This is a scene from the Broadway Musical Newsies which was filmed for Netflix.  

Explain Form: The way they film this part of the musical is one of my absolute favorite parts because the way it is shot evokes so much emotion.  Leading up to the crescendo of the song the camera focuses on more close up shots of small scenes or people but then as the tension builds in the song the camera pulls out to a crane shot and shows the entire stage and creates a really impactful moment in the play. 

3. Handheld camera or Steadicam shot

Director:  Martin Scorsese 

DP: Rodrigo Prieto 

Year: 2013 

Content: This a scene from the movie Wolf of Wall Street. It is showing the main character, Jordan Belford, walking through his office and directly addressing the viewer about what he is doing. 

Explain Form: This is a very effective technique because it makes it seem like the viewer is walking hand in hand with the main character, almost as if they are walking together and having a conversation.  It is also a very effective trick for the scene because it takes the viewer through the busy office and the view that it is filmed in allows us to feel as if we are actually there and really experiencing the hectic office environment. 

4. Drone / Bird's eye (flying camera shot)

Director: Woodkid

DP: (Could not find)

Year: 2017 

Content: Music Video for Harry Styles Sign of the Times 

Explain Form: The most striking aspect of this video is Harry Styles flying through the air above a Scotland Landscape.  To get those incredible shots of him above the water and surrounded by the land the director utilized flying camera shots.  The way in which he shot this video is incredible and gives the viewer such an incredible feeling of the landscape and the feeling of soaring through the air.  

5. Wild Card

Director: Nick Lieberman

DP: Alexander Hufschmid 

Year: 2017 

Content: This video was made to signify a passing of the torch as the actor who played the original lead in the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen left, and the other two actors were about to take over. 

Explain Form: I chose this video for a number of reasons, and not just because Dear Evan Hansen I love the musical Dear Evan Hansen and its cast members. I chose it because it has a number of very interesting video shots.  It has zooming out, zooming in, pan shots and ton of other kinds of camera movement types.  Not only did I enjoy the different types of camera movements, but I also really liked how they all played together.  Some were used to tell the individual story of each character, while some were used to incorporate the three characters altogether.  I think the combination of all the different kind of innovative camera movement shots also really added to the fun playfulness of the video and the story telling aspect of it.  I love this video not only for the content but also because of the way it uses the camera movement to tell a story and evoke different feelings in different scenes