Camera Movements and Transitions- Research

Hi everyone!

I know I said that I was almost done with research, but I guess that "almost" is leaving room for more than I thought :)

Camera movements, especially when my music video is narrative in style and does not use a huge variety of locations is crucial, which is why I want to make sure that I know how to make smooth and interesting transitions!

Hope you like this post!

xx Natalia

---

Handheld Camera Tips:

I have been thinking about renting a gimbal for a long time, but it is as expensive as it is hard to use and I am already renting some lighting equipment which I feel is more important... Therefore, I have watched some tips for handheld camera shots:

1. Push-In & Pull-Out

For these shots, the camera string has to be taught around your neck and you need to shift your weight from one foot to another. It helps if the stabiliser mode is on (if the camera has one).

2. Track and Panning Track

These are similar to the previous one, but the feet are parallel one to another and the weight goes from one to the other whilst tracking the camera or panning sideways.

3. The Dutch Spin

This is a very nice and interesting shot where the camera string is also important. It needs to be maintained taught whilst the camera twists in a circle, going from a dutch angle to another through the centre. At the same time, the weight of your feet can go from one to another, forwards or backwards to add more movement to the shot.

4. Push-In / Pull-Out to focus

Lock your focus on your subject and push your camera into the subject so that it is initially out of focus and then comes into focus. Alternatively, you can do the same thing but pull out and then your image comes to focus.

5. Handheld Tracking Shot

Turning off the stabilisation mode, but holding your camera effectively, with one hand underneath, your elbows stuck to your shoulders, bending your knees, etc. Track the person walking forwards or backwards.

---

#1: Know your shot

This is a very basic but very important tip, knowing your shot will help you focus your camera movement strategically and not have overly shaky footage.

#2: Watch your Footsteps and body

Bend your knees, walk on your toes and lock your elbows. You can try to add foreground elements to have a slight movement and make it look like you are moving across a bigger distance. That way, you can move by shifting the weight from one foot to another and have steadier footage.

---

Cool Transitions:

Transitions are crucial for music videos in order to have interesting shots, especially when adding cool effects to the music.

1. Movement in the transitions:

The principle of transition is joining two shots via something that they have in common. One of the ways to do this is having your subject perform the same movement in two different locations, and cutting in the middle of that movement to join the two shots.

2. Movement that makes sense:

It should be following an action or having a consistent flow within the frame, such as its colour. For example, if you are following an action from left to right, make sure that you don't whip from right to left; and if you are going to whip up to the blue sky don't start the next shot from a black background.

3. Colour-Coding:

Many of his interesting transitions have their key in the colour alignment, especially a shot where he makes a transition from a beige wall and the next shot starts with him whipping a beige coat in front of the camera. That is very interesting as I will be using a similar transition to start the second chorus in my music video.

4. Lock your focus:

When you already know your shot, focus your camera on it, disable the auto-focus and then whip to that shot so that your subject is not blurred for a start. The same thing happens with the exposure, make sure to lock that as well so that the transition is not too bright or dark at first before establishing itself.

5. Watch your speed!

Don't whip so fast that your composition is not quite there when you get to your shot, make sure to control your speed and the position of the camera and if the motion blur is too slow, you can always speed it up in post-production.

When following an action, make sure that the transitions make sense, that you cut when a movement starts/finishes or when you use that movement as a transition, in the middle of it.

Also, in post-production, you can fix the colour-grading in order to make the two shots more similar, speed up/slow down the footage, etc.

---