Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 11.4. (top) An ordinary trackwith move. Camera move matchesthe direction of the subject.Figure 11.5. (middle) Countermove.Figure 11.6. (bottom) Dolly acrossthe line of movement. This one hasto be used with caution. If the entireshot is not used, the screen directionwill be flipped without explanation.See the chapter Cinematic Continuityfor further discussion of this issue.of move at the same time so that the zoom is not noticeable. Thisis the biggest problem with a zoom: it draws attention to itself andmakes the audience aware they are watching a movie.A very dramatic effect can be produced with a combination ofzoom and a dolly. In this technique you zoom out as you dolly in.This keeps the image size relatively the same, but there is a dramaticchange of perspective and background. This was used very effectivelyin Jaws, when Roy Scheider as the sheriff is sitting on the beachand first hears someone call “shark.” It was also used effectively inGoodfellas in the scene where Ray Liotta is having lunch with RobertDe Niro in the diner. At the moment Liotta realizes he is being setup for killing by his old friend, the combination move effectivelyunderscores the feeling of disorientation.Punch-inDifferent from a push in, which involves actually moving the camera,a punch-in means that the camera stays where it is, but a longer focallength prime is put on or the lens is zoomed in for a tighter shot. Themost common use of a punch-in is for coverage on a dialog scene,usually when going from an over-the-shoulder to a clean single.Since moving the camera forward from an over-the-shoulder mayinvolve repositioning the off-camera actor and other logistics, it isoften easier to just go to a longer lens. There is some slight change inperspective, but for this type of close-up it is often not noticeable aslong as the head size remains constant.MOVING SHOTSTrackingThe simplest and most clearly motivated of camera moves is totrack along with a character or vehicle in the same direction (Figure11.4). For the most part, the movement is alongside and parallel. Itis certainly possible to stay ahead of and look back at the subject orto follow along behind, but these kinds of shots are not nearly asdynamic as tracking alongside, which gives greater emphasis to themoving background and the sweep of the motion.CountermoveIf the camera always moves only with the subject, matching its directionand speed, it can get a little boring. In this case, the camera is“tied to” the subject and completely dependent on it. If the camerasometimes moves independently of the subject, it can add a counterpointand an additional element to the scene. Certainly it can bedynamic and energetic; it adds a counterpoint of movement thatdeepens the scene (Figure 11.5). Whenever the camera moves in theopposite direction, the background appears to move at twice the rateit would move if the camera was tracking along in the same directionas the subject. A variation is to move across the line of travel, asin Figure 11.6. A variation of the countermove is where the dollymoves in the opposite direction and the subjects cross the axis ofmotion as in Figure 11.10.RevealA simple dolly or crane move can be used for an effective reveal.A subject fills the frame, and then with a move, something else isrevealed. This type of shot is most effective where the second framereveals new content that amplifies the meaning of the first shot orironically comments on it.cinematography214