The word “motion” is the first word in “motion picture industry”, and camera movement is an essential part of its visual language. I can feel how some of you roll your eyes in exasperation: “Should we really talk about pans and zooms yet again?” Well, why not? The central idea here is not how you move your camera, but why, and what effect it creates on the audience. Revisiting the basics is a perfect opportunity to unleash your storytelling and visual superpowers by looking at camera motion in a thoughtful way. Although it’s my huge passion to deconstruct film scenes and analyze how and why they work, I won’t play the expert here. Instead, we’re going to learn from the “Vincent Laforet’s Directing Motion” course on MZed.com. Vincent Laforet is a commercial director and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who has a remarkable understanding of camera language. His expertise, based on professional experience and classical film theory knowledge, is a great source for learning the basic rules and how to break them. So, hop on and get ready for take-off. When I watch the film for the second time, I use the rewind button and look at particularly powerful sequences. If I get sucked in once, I curse the director. Twice – I really curse the director. And if it happens three times, then you know they’re doing a pretty masterful job. Vincent Laforet, a quote from his MZed course Vincent Laforet in “Directing Motion”. Image source: MZed A brief look at...
Published By: CineD - Thursday, 12 October, 2023