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TRANSCRIPT
The moving image Ryan Bushell
The moving image is when the camera follows characters movements. This can
be to advance the plot line or create a sense of tension. The tracking shot has
been around since the first camera was invented, editing was very hard back
then and the less shots you had the easier it became, therefore following a
character around was simpler. The reason it was easier was because there were
less shots to edit from. Back then you would not see these big action scenes
where the camera is constantly cutting from one angle to another because this
would have took a very long time to edit together. In this day and age people use
it more of a luxury than a something that is ‘easier to do’; we use it for cinematic
purposes and something that pleases the audiences eyes.
There are different types of movement shots; there is the pan, which goes from
left to right, which could show someone walking into a building. You have the
boom shot which is moving the camera up and down and is usually used with an
apparatus that raises the camera high up. You also have the tilt shot which works
on a y axis and looks up and down, there is also the tracking shot which I am
going to be mainly speaking about.
The movement shot differs greatly from the static shot because we get immerged
in with the character and what they are doing, it can also create more suspense
because we expect something at the end of the line. Static shots are very still and
we as an audience feel very closed off from the environment, I believe static
shots are more effective with dialogue or a scene where the tension is high. The
tracking shot creates a better sense of freedom; we get to view the environment
a bit more than you would with a static shot where you are placed in one spot
looking outwards. We can also experience what the character is seeing using a
movement shot, it gives the effect that we are looking through their eyes and
experiencing what they are. Using a tracking shot can add more to an action
scene whereas you would have to use multiple shots with static.
Movement shots such as the tracking shot are harder and much more time
consuming than a static shot, this is because some tracking shots can literally last
up to 10 minutes if your name is Alfred Hitchcock or Quentin Tarantino. It is not
harder for the cameramen as all the camera needs to do is follow the character
from in front or behind, but if the actual actor themselves was to mess up then
they would have to go right back to the beginning of the shot because there is no
way of editing it out.
As I said before, tracking shots immerses the audience into the environment that
we are put up against. The film Elephant is widely known for its tracking shots
however, for the first hour of the film there is nothing at the end of each clip, we
except something to happen but nothing does and this creates the sense of
normality and adds to the horror of what happens at the end. I believe that the
director followed around these characters and cut it off halfway through because
he wanted to make it feel as real as he could, therefore the impact of watching a
normal life turn upside down into a massacre would be critical.
There are times throughout the film where we do feel like something is going to
happen, there are many clips where a student is on his own walking down an
empty corridor and their whole body is silhouetted out so that we just see their
shadow. It almost feels like something is going to jump out but it doesn’t and the
release of tension that we are meant to feel stays with us until the very end. The
lighting and sound behind the tracking shot can judge what kind of feel it has
behind it, if the lighting is dark and the soundtrack is eerie then we roughly
know that we are expecting something to jump out at the end.
The only time we know something is going to happen at the end of the tracking
shot is when Erik and Alex enter the school, the way they are dressed and the
bags they are carrying suggest that they are about to attack the school and
murder some people. We also know they are planning to do this because they
actually planned it before coming into the school and the viewers are the only
ones that know this. Every single character has led up to one bit before Erik and
Alex entered and now we see where it goes from where it left but from the
killer’s perspective and it is very disturbing how fast people start getting shot
because we just don’t expect it, it is all done in one shot as well and we are
following Erik around just mindlessly shooting people and I believe that the
tracking shot adds to the realism of what is happening.
Another film known for its tracking shots is the shining by Stanley Kubrick; it is
completely the opposite of Elephant because it is not normalized and an
everyday kind of thing. This is because at the end of every tracking shot we are
payed off with something happening at the end. An example of this is when
Danny the boy is riding down the hallway on his tricycle and he turns different
corners and we almost get the effect that we are behind him quickly peeking
round the corner to see if anything is there. At the end of the clip there is 2 girls
stood at the end of the hallway and we get our little jump of horror and the
tension is released, this is mainly what a tracking shot is used for.
Sometimes a tracking shot can do multiple things at once, for example the film
boogey night does this very well. At the start we are introduced to the club that
people are going to called boogey nights ‘Reseda’.
The camera then moves down to the street level and a car drives past and it is
apparent that we are concentrated on the car because it is placed in the middle
of the frame.
the camera then goes onto the other side of the car and a character is introduced,
so far the tracking shot has introduced 2 separate things, the location and a
character. The character is then introduced to 2 other characters who he walks
with.
The character then meets friends on a dance floor and begins to high 5 them, the
camera spins in a 360 and we have found a new target that we follow
temporarily which is a waiter delivering drinks. The camera almost works like a
lock on feature and chooses a different target every time the interest of another
target has gone. The waiter then delivers his drinks and the camera is just about
to follow him before a woman with roller-‐skates is introduced and we are now
following her, it is like we have a low attention spam and need to intake
everything at once.
We then follow the woman on roller-‐skates until we are introduced to one of the
main characters and then it finally cuts over to a man at a table. With shots to
this extreme, you have to have a lot of planning and choreography to do, not just
follow the character around. This is because certain things need to happen at
certain times to go to plans. This kind of shot can show multiple meanings and
introduce the audience to different understandings as to what is happening
around them.