Injecting movement into a shot

[Greg Fiske]

How have you all learned how to move the camera? I'm worried that my footage might be a little boring as I probably don't get enough movement into my footage. Whats the best way to learn this?

[Asvaldur Kristjansson]

A few "rules" of movement:
Don't move the camera unless it adds to the story. Even a small sliding movement will add a drama feel to it and is also useful in reveiling shots. Introducing the church for ex. can be done by framing only the sky above and then tilt down on the church. I us zoom almost only to frame before each shot or zooming in extra slow for incresed drama. Before doing a pan you should start a least with 5 sec before doing the pan and end with a few sec still. It depends on the stuff one have what can be done. Steadicam rigs and sliders is great to have but for many years I had just a tripod. I manage to get good shots by using rack focus combined with slow pan. This is just quikly that came to my mind.

[John Knight]

Hi Greg, this DVD totally changed my style in shooting weddings... it's fantastic!

Training DVDs

[John Wiley]

I currently work with just a tripod, and early on espescially I felt there was nothing dramatic about my shots.

I tried using some pans and tilts but they often felt out of place. It wasn't until someone gave me the very wise tip that when shooting weddings documentary style, movement should only be used if it will reveal new information. Panning across a staged family shot doesn't make it look any less staged. However, starting the pan with nobody on screen suddenly adds tension to the shot. The viewer is waiting expectantly for some kind of information to be revealed to them and it creates a more dynamic shot.

I also agree with the comment about holding your shot for 5 seconds before any pan or movement. So You start filming, count to 5, pan, hold the shot, count to 5, then stop recording. That way if you decide the pan is no good you've still got 2 perfectly useful locked off shots.

[Stephen J. Williams]

Originally Posted by John Wiley

I tried using some pans and tilts but they often felt out of place. It wasn't until someone gave me the very wise tip that when shooting weddings documentary style, movement should only be used if it will reveal new information. Panning across a staged family shot doesn't make it look any less staged. However, starting the pan with nobody on screen suddenly adds tension to the shot. The viewer is waiting expectantly for some kind of information to be revealed to them and it creates a more dynamic shot.

I 100% agree with what John wrote. During the first dance I like to pan across the guests or bridal party onto a (focused) bride and groom. Simple, clean, and builds the drama IMO.

Steve

[Jeremy White]

I do two things to add movement. 1) I shoot mainly on a monopod. I LOVE using this to move in/out or side-to-side for small smooth movements. 2) I bought a small slider. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed using this. I feel it's elevated my films to a new level.

I couldn't agree more with what the other posters have said. Great stuff!