Move That Camera!
The avid cineast will know that there is almost no enticing film scene, let alone an entire film, that is exclusively filmed with only static camera shots (if you do know one, feel free to post a comment and enlighten me!).
Dynamic shots are a major element of mise en scène. They tend to feel more cinematic because they add kinematic energy to the film and thus imitate how we perceive the world with our eyes. Realistically, when we perceive the world, we are rarely NOT moving. We either walk, turn around, move closer or further away, or at least tilt our head slightly. The movement, however big or slight, in turn shapes HOW we evaluate or feel towards a certain situation.
Naturally, if you want to create a film that is enticingly and convincingly presenting a world, you will want to implement camera movement. However, the dead giveaway for a student film is the amount of static shots. A natural habit to cultivate first, regarding the fact that you, as a film student, usually start out filming using monopods or tripods before moving on to dollies, cranes and the like. Which is not only a matter of increasing complexity in usage and knowledge, but also financial budget.
As you may already know if you know me, is the fact that I LOVE cinematic movement. But, being a beginning film student myself, I have not yet mentally unlocked myself from the static shots I still tend to employ. While my vision is usually extremely vivid, I still lack the competence to employ cinematic movement, be it big or small, on set.
So I decided to dedicate today's blog post to the research of camera movements to wrap my head around the idea of employing them, not just for the sake of visuality, but also to increase the meaning of what is, after all, considered CINEMATIC storytelling. I already briefly hinted at camera movements in earlier posts, but since it is still a struggle for me, I felt I needed to dig deeper into the matter.
For me, a helpful mindset to start off on was keeping in mind that the audience is actually, exclusively, looking at the film through the camera's lens. Their perception is shaped not only by framing or perspective or other elements of mise en scène, but most definitely also by movement.
For example, hand-held camera movements following a character can create tension, intensity, authenticity or even foreshadow violence or show internal struggles. Depending on the effect you want, you can put the audience into the perspective of a stalker, voyeur, murderer, and so on, especially if you put an unfocused object in the foreground.
The psychology of camera movement, as often referred to by the Youtuber FilmRiot, is entirely dependent on the context you sketch within your film. A dolly backwards can thus either reveal a location or a larger, not yet anticipated problem whereas a push in can drag you into a character's perspective or serve as a hint for important elements of the plot. Vertical shots moving up or down will inevitably change the power stature of a character and his dynamic with other characters. Combine it with other shots or show the crossing of the sight line in dialogue (180°-rule), you can even show change of things seemingly invisible as, e.g. power relations.
Because of that, camera movement should never EVER be executed without motivation to the plot! The audience will always, consciously or subconsciously, interpret the story by what and how you depict it. A movement that is not inspired to serve or improve upon the story in a visual manner, should thus not be considered a worthy choice, for it will be caught and interpreted by the audience. ALWAYS. So you better have a good reason behind your choice.
So far so good. So what is my issue? I realised that I was off for a good start, but that I was still lacking practicalities:
How do I achieve these shots physically, without having an extensive budget for relevant camera equipment but having a rather jittery hand?
So I looked around the internet to find someone who could provide me with a couple of tricks on how to improve my shots without being broke. This is where I found the Youtube channel Vil Vlogs:
As you might have already learned if you watched the video above, the Youtuber offered different strategies and camera movements, using only his camera and his body as a means to stabilise his images.
Beginning with the slider shot, he proposes to improvise, using your own body by shifting your body weight from one leg to another and afterwards extending your arms in the same fluidity to extend the movement. And while the first part was rightly easier to reproduce for me, the latter was more difficult, since I did not manage to keep the same velocity or stop shaking while keeping the filmed object in the centre and focussed. The next extension to this shot would be what he called the 'passing by shot'; with the only exception that you don't keep the object centered.
The next proposal he made was an elevating shot ('swipe up'), in which he chose so simple a solution that I paused the video to face palm myself for not having had the idea myself: He used a neck strap to keep the camera steadily aligned with his spine and moved the camera up and down, changing the angle to play with different outcomes.
He also offered a solution for zooms, in which he again used his body weight but shifted it forwards, extending his arms. This seemed to be the most fragile shot though, because the forward extension of the arms is not as stable as an extension sideways, which is aided and stabilised by a lot more muscles.
What should be noted though, is the fact that most of these shots really only work with close ups or in slow motion, as they are not having impressive effects in wide shots (it's only so much you can do without a proper crane). But it is worthwhile to see that there are actually strategies to cope without the proper equipment, even though it requires a lot of practice.
Having done my homework, I realise that I need to carve out more time to experiment with physical camera movements in the near future and watch inspiring films to find a blue print on what I could experiment on next.
References:
Vil Vlogs (2017) CINEMATIC CAMERA MOVEMENT HACKS Get Rid Off SHAKY FOOTAGE [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32fGQvIP31w [Accessed on 28 October 2017]
Film Riot (2014) Quick Tips: Motivating your Movement! [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjQuxiCpUpM [Accessed on 28 October 2017]
MissKMallon (2011) Cinematography: Camera Movement [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzjUQ-OsSU [Accessed on 28 October 2017]
Film Riot (2017) Meaning Behind Camera Movement [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDC8DiGfxrs [Accessed on 28 October 2017]
Film Riot (2012) The Meaning Behind Camera Movement! [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRJ0Ei4hLWI [Accessed on 28 October 2017]