ENG 2100 ON-LINE
CHAPTER 3: MOVEMENT

Assignments  ·  Important Concepts  ·  Instructor Insights

This chapter deals with the theory of movement in film. When to move the camera and when not to.

Assignments

Assignment #4 (worth 5% of final grade)
Due Date: February 14

Assignment Length

Textbook Reading

Instructions

At least 500 words

Chapter 3

Examine, in general terms, how the director moves the camera in one of the films on the list below. Generally speaking, to what purpose were tracks, dollies, pans, tilts, and zooms used; and to what purpose? Did the camera movement help with our sense of inquiry and to help us get a feel for the surrondings? How did camera movement help tell the story?

 

Analyze Kinetics: The movement of human figures (Is the movement lyrical, realistic, or formally abstract? Stasis v. motion? Is the movement a means of expressing personality or emotion?) Choose from one of the ten films below:

  • The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen
  • Citizen Kane
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • Enter the Dragon
  • The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Paths of Glory
  • Raising Arizona
  • The Seven Samurai
  • Singin' In the Rain

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Important Concepts

 

  • What are kinetics?
  • Understand the reasons to move a camera, and why not to move the camera.
  • Learn the functions of the following: tracking, dolly, steadicam, zoom, crane.
  • Gain insight into the equipment used to make film mobile.
  • Learn about directors who love to move the camera: Murnau, Kubrick, Spielberg, etc.

 

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Instructor Insights

billdraw

 

 

dolly

The first known dolly was executed by cinematographer Karl Freund for the film The Last Laugh (1925, directed by F. W. Murnau). Freund accomplished this by sitting on a bicycle while holding a camera. Assistants moved the bicycle while Freund made the shot.

Today, filmmakers have modern equipment far better that the bicycle to move the camera. To see some of this equipment click on the dolly, which will take you to the Chapman-Leonard website. Chapman-Leonard is the largest provider of equipment for cinematic mobility in the country.

steadicam

The Steadicam is another means to move a camera without having to lay tracks or use a wheeled device. The Steadicam was used in Rocky for the shot where Stallone runs up the stairs. Another film which demonstrates the use of the Steadicam is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. If you are interested in seeing descriptions of the Steadicam, click on the Steadicam operator to the left.

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Quotes on Camera Movement:
I feel that camera movement must have a purpose. I don't say that we do away with camera movement, but it must be done in a way that helps tell the story.

howe---James Wong Howe, cinematographer, from Film Makers on Film Making, edited by Joseph McBride

 

Those films opened up a type of thinking...I know it had an influence on a lot of people here. I remember the talk about it from a lot of directors.

vidor---King Vidor, silent era director, discussing the influence of German director F. W. Murnau and his moving camera techniques on American film making in the mid to late 1920s.

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Interesting Websites on Filmmakers Noted for Their Moving Camera Work (click on the photos):

 

kubrick

Stanley Kubrick

spielberg

Steven Spielberg

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