Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Camera Movement
Sandrine Bonnaire (left) as Mona, on the move in Agnes Varda’s Vagabond (1985). Ó GRANGE/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION.
REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.
Sherman’s March (1986), Ross McElwee (b. 1947) frequently
records his daily life with his camera mounted on
his shoulder. As he walks through the woods or interacts
with his family and various girlfriends, the moving camera
captures images from his optical perspective—the
viewer literally sees the world through his eyes. Camera
movement at the end of Detour (1945) provides more
indirect access to a character’s subjectivity. A voice-over
of the protagonist reflecting on the consequences of his
companion’s accidental death is accompanied by a closeup
that begins on his face, then tracks, pans, and tilts
around the room, going in and out of focus to reveal
potentially incriminating evidence, and eventually circles
back to his face. Although the camera movement does
not imitate the protagonist’s optical perspective, it nevertheless
illustrates what he is thinking. The moving camera
can also suggest what a character is feeling, as in
GoodFellas (1990), when a combination zoom in and
track out marks Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) realization that
his best friend is going to betray him. During the shot,
Henry and his friend remain sitting in a diner booth in
the same place within the frame, yet the zoom in and
track out distort the spatial relationship between them
and the background; the world around them literally
shifts while they talk, visually expressing Henry’s disorientation
and fear.
Through its ability to locate the actions of a character
within a given environment, camera movement may
directly advance the plot. For example, at the end of an
evening of costumed skits in La Règle du jeu (The Rules of
the Game, 1939), a series of quick pans and tracks follow
and reveal characters as their secret romantic pairings are
hidden from, searched for, and discovered by other characters.
At times the camera will be guided by a character’s
movement; at other times it will move independently,
always uncovering the betrayals at the heart of the film’s
romantic game of hide-and-seek.
Alternatively, camera movement can function to
develop narrative themes. In Gone with the Wind
(1939), a dramatic crane shot situates the private anxiety
of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) against the misery
suffered by the Confederacy as a whole. When Scarlett
arrives at the train depot searching for Ashley Wilkes
(Leslie Howard), the camera tracks back from her and
194 SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM