In film, there are many types of shots that a cinematographer uses to capture the personality of each scene. Using these shots is important, and using different shots can make a scene turn from bland to symbolic. Today, I will be talking about the pan shot, perhaps one of the most well known types of shot.
Here's a pan, and it's going to get shot! Haha, right guys? No? Anyway...
Pan is short for "panoramic", and it refers to horizontal movement of the camera either left or right. This effect can be easily achieved with a tripod or dolly that allows for left, right, up, down, and tilting motion. The book "Cinematography: Theory and Practice" goes on to state this rule of thumb, "... With a shutter opening of 180 degrees and a frame rate of 24 or 25 fps, it should take at least 3 to 5 seconds for an object to move from one side of the frame to the other. Any faster and there is a danger of strobing". What is strobing? Strobing is when the camera skips a few frames due to things moving too fast on screen. Unless intentional, this effect is very disturbing and can ruin any film, so therefore, don't ever do it. Pan shots are probably one of the most commonly used shots in film, and I would consider panning to be a part of the trunk of film from which all other technique spreads out into branches. It might seem easy, but don't undersell the power of the pan. As with any other shot, it's possible to create a crappy pan, so don't assume that because all you're doing is going from left to right that it's okay to give a little mental slack. I've seen bad pans. I've done bad pans. Bad pans are embarrassing. Don't do bad pans. Okay? Good.
Well, that pretty much ends this week's post. On the next blog post I will go into more shots or will describe some camera equipment, as I realized just now that not everyone knows what a dolly is from my statement up above. What? Dolly? Is that like, a doll that carries the camera? Hm, kind of, if you really don't think about it.
But I'll get to that later.
