Planning To Film Motion Shots

 Planning To Film Motion Shots

    This is a low budget, student directed film as such I will not have the budget to perform stunts and use action techniques as some of the big production companies use for movies played in the theaters.  I also will be a one person crew and would like to show the story through cinematography versus just through the words spoken by the actors.  This will obviously be challenging as I will need to be sure the elements of cinematography are achieved to the best of my abilities.

YouTube Video: How To Add Camera Movement To Cinematography (All By Yourself)                        by Dylan Batista

    This video discusses low budget action techniques to optimize the effects particularly from a one-person crew.  The video helped ease some of the stress of creating the film sequence with cinematography as I have a vision and found the independent director enjoyable to learn from.  He simplified the techniques to keep them obtainable and easy to demonstrate.  

 A few of these techniques I will be incorporating into my film.  

• Manual Movements-this may best be achieved by using an object on wheels such as an office chair, skateboard, or a tripod on a dolly. This would ensure smooth tracking shots. Another option is a slightly angled unlocked slider as this can create automated motion.
• Hand-Held Shaky Cam- this technique is used to give the appeal of a lack of high end equipment to feel more realistic and to give a sense of urgency or excitement to fight scenes and action sequences.
• Tracking/Trucking Shot- this shot is obtained by moving along side the object to give the idea of movement along or "trucking" by often used to give the illusion of speed.
• Lens Choice- this technique is helpful especially by utilizing the wide angle lenses to exaggerate speed when close to the action and long angle lenses to compress space and make action feel tighter.  

    I plan to include the manual movement by utilizing the skateboard or tripod on the dolly to create my opening shot which captures a moving car.  Through the use of hand-held shaky cam, I will create the thriller effect as a shot of a slow door opening and the tilted view from the feet up.  I will implement the tracking/trucking shot to build the suspense while the characters are walking and I am filming behind them.   The lens choice on my iPhone 17 will help me maximize the capabilities and utilize different effects of cameras by using the zoom, panoramic and blurred/focus options.