From the course: Creating a Short Film: 05 Directing

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Moving the camera: Tracking shots

Moving the camera: Tracking shots

- Well there is a huge variety of camera shots. The final type we're going to look at in this series is the tracking shot, sometimes also called a trucking shot. It's typically where the dolly or slider is placed parallel to the action so the camera can move with the action. This is not to be confused with panning shots where the camera is stationary and just rotated. In a tracking shot, the camera actually moves to follow the action. Pretty soon in this chapter, we'll look at how Lawrence of Arabia using a panning shot to show the epic desert landscape. Well prior to this shot, they also used a tracking shot, that followed characters as they were riding camels. Notice how the camera's actually moving on a lateral axis. This is what makes it a tracking shot. Of course, both tracking and panning are effective ways to show things to an audience. But note the difference in how they feel. The panning shot feels like rotating your head, the tracking shot feels like we're going on a journey…

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