5 Camera Movements Every Filmmaker Needs

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]I used to think that having a great shot meant having the most expensive camera, the best lens, or the fanciest gimbal.

[00:00:06]And then I watched a film that stopped me cold. It was a single still locked off shot with no movement. And it was one of the most powerful things I had seen on a screen in a long time. And that is when I realized it. It's not about how much your camera moves, but it's about why it moves. Today, we're breaking down five camera moves that I use on literally every project. And if you understand the intention behind each one, your footage is going to feel completely different. Let's get into it.

[00:00:36]If you're new here, my name's Eli. I document life and I'm a photographer and videographer. There are really only a handful of camera movements that you need. And rather than throwing a ton of technical terms at you, I want to talk about what each one does to your viewer because that's the part that nobody really explains. We're going to be talking about five different shots today, and each one has its own unique purpose. Let's start with one that you probably already know, but maybe not as well as you think. The pan. The camera stays in one place on a tripod, monopod, or handheld, and it pans from left to right, or vice versa. But here's the thing. The pan is doing one of two jobs, and you need to know what job you're hiring it for before you hit record. Job one is to follow something. a person walking, a car driving through frame, or a bird flying through the sky. The pan is tracking. Your viewer's eye stays on the subject while the world moves behind them. This creates a sense of momentum.

[00:01:35]The viewer feels like they're going somewhere with your subject. Job two is to reveal something. You start on one thing, a tree, a building, a face, and you pan the shot to reveal something else. Maybe it's revealing a massive crowd. Maybe it reveals your subject standing at the end of a hallway. The point of the pan is to build anticipation. It's saying, "What are you going to show me next?" The mistake I see a lot of people doing is panning just to move the camera. And you can feel it. It feels purposeless. An easy way to avoid this is to ask yourself before you set up for a pan, am I trying to reveal something or am I tracking something? If your answer is neither, then maybe you shouldn't move your camera at all, which spoiler alert, we'll get to that later. A quick tip is pan speed matters a lot. A quick pan or a whipped pan happens super fast and it's made to feel jarring or cut to something new. A slow, deliberate pan creates tension and wonder. So, the speed of the pan matters. Do it on purpose. Okay. Number two is moving in or out. physically pushing the camera towards or away from your subject.

[00:02:44]Whether you're walking, using a gimbal, or on a dolly, when you move in, you're closing the distance between the subject and the viewer. You're saying, "Pay attention to this person. Feel what they feel." It's used all the time in drama.

[00:02:58]They say, "Wow, this person's about to say something really important or emotional." So, the camera slowly creeps in, and by the time they say it, you're right there with them. you almost can't look away. Now, when you move out, you're doing the opposite. You're pulling the camera and the viewer back sometimes to literally show them the bigger picture. A character stands in a vast empty field. You pull back and now they feel very small and insignificant in the grand scheme of the world. That's a purposeful movement because it makes your viewer feel something. The important thing to remember is that moving in creates intimacy and intensity. Moving out helps you create isolation, context, and scope. Once you internalize that, you'll know exactly which one is right for each situation.

[00:03:45]All right, number three, and honestly probably one of my favorite ones to execute, is the orbit. Sometimes it's called the arc shot, but it's where the camera moves in a circle around the subject. Think of those iconic superhero movies where the camera moves around a subject and reveals them looking out at the city. or a product video where the camera gracefully circles a watch or car. That is the orbit. But you might ask yourself, what does it do? And the answer to that is a few things. First, it shows dimension. You're quite literally showing the viewer all sides of the subject. For a product or location, that's really valuable because it sets the scene. Second, it creates a sense of significance. When a camera orbits something, it creates the feeling that this thing matters. this person or this moment or circling it to show every side because it matters from every angle. And third, especially in a dramatic moment, it can create unease or intensity. Think of a tense conversation between two people, the camera slowly circling them. It traps them in the frame. There's nowhere to go. That discomfort becomes part of the scene.

[00:04:55]The problem with orbits is that they're pretty hard to execute without a gimbal and a lot of practice. If you're handheld, you'll want to be really deliberate about your footwork, and honestly, it might still not work out.

[00:05:06]Another tip if you edit in Premiere Pro is to use warp stabilizer because it really smooths out jitters and keeps the viewers from getting distracted during the orbit. Movement number four is side to side. Also called a tracking movement, a lateral shot, or a truck. It depends on who you're talking to and how pretentious you want to sound. The camera moves left or right, parallel to the subject and not panning towards it.

[00:05:30]Now, this one's interesting because it's one of the most powerful feelings a movement can create, but it's also one of the most misunderstood. Here's what the lateral movement does. It places your subject within a world. When you move alongside your subject, you're showing the viewer that your character exists in a space beyond just what's in frame. There's a before and an after.

[00:05:52]life is happening on all sides of the character. It's dynamic in a way that a pan isn't because it makes you feel like you're with the subject as opposed to watching them from across the street.

[00:06:03]That side to side movement and tracking the subject makes you feel like you're really in the moment with the character as opposed to just observing it. But it's important to note that side to side also works well on slower, more controlled shots. A subtle lateral move across a still life scene. a slow reveal left to right to show a landscape.

[00:06:23]Sometimes a small bit of movement really goes a long way. The key thing to remember is that lateral moves with a subject often show you that we're in this together. You're not just observing the subject, you're actively with them.

[00:06:36]Use it when you want your audience to feel like a companion and not just a bystander. Okay, my favorite movement number five is no motion. The locked off shot, the static frame, the camera that doesn't move at all. I know what you're thinking, Eli. That's not a camera movement. The camera's not moving. It doesn't do anything. Yeah, that's that's kind of the point. Stillness is a choice, and it's one of the most powerful choices you can make. When everything else is in motion around the camera, maybe it's a busy street or winds through the trees, but the camera remains completely still, something interesting happens. The world becomes the movement, and your frame feels like a window. The viewer feels like they're watching, waiting, and observing. But when the scene is already still and the camera remains still, too, you get something entirely different. Presence.

[00:07:27]The silence is saying, "Just be here.

[00:07:29]Don't look away from this. Just be in this moment." Some of the most emotionally devastating shots in cinema are completely locked off. A face still and reacting to something offcreen. A wide shot of an empty room after someone has left it, a door that doesn't open.

[00:07:48]Stillness gives the performance room to breathe. It gives the environment room to speak, and it gives your audience a moment to feel something as opposed to just tracking movement. My honest advice, if you're someone that adds movement to every shot just because it feels more professional, try the opposite. Shoot a whole scene locked off. You might be surprised by how much more powerful it becomes. And here's the thing. When you've built a momentum and rhythm of movement shots in a film, a static shot adds contrast. It's like silence after a loud noise. The stillness becomes an event. So, there it is. Five movements. Pan, move in or out, side to side, no motion, and orbit.

[00:08:31]Here's the challenge that I want to leave with you, though. Next time you're setting up to film something, ask yourself, is there a reason for the movement in this shot? If you can answer that question clearly, you're trying to make a better shot. If you can't, maybe don't move the camera at all. That's the real skill, not executing a smooth orbit or a pan perfectly. It's knowing when each tool serves the story, and that comes from practicing intention. If that was helpful, I'd really appreciate a like and comment. It really helps the channel. Drop a comment down below which movement was your favorite or which move you're working on. I literally read all of the comments. I'll see you in the next one.