ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

9 years, 2 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Can you post a link to some instances of the effect?

9 years, 2 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Is it one of those shots where the camera is perhaps on a pole which is strapped to the actor, pointing at him, and as he spins, perhaps on a turntable, the camera also spins, but as it has the same turn rate as him, he remains un-blurred as the world spins behind him?

You could try it yourself by pointing your smartphone at yourself at arm's length and shoot video while turning on the spot in circles.

That's if I'm thinking of the right effect you're describing.

I think I first saw it used in some pop video where the hero had a camera attached to the end of a sword that he held out while spinning around. Or was that scene in a film? I forget.

9 years, 2 months ago - Paulina Brahm

Hi Paddy, Hi Alwyne!

Dear Paddy, I can't post links as of yet as I see these spots and they are so fleeting. Trailers on tv or for films are so quick I often wonder 'why such a quick montage'?

Dear Alwyne -- yes that is the effect. What is it called? I just want to answer my friend's question, and I also found it interesting that she knew this was a widely-used camera techinque.

Paulina Brahm

9 years, 2 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Sorry, I've no idea what the effect is called. It may not even have a recognised name.

9 years, 2 months ago - Dan Selakovich

It's called a 360 degree tracking shot. I suspect your friend wants to know the name because they are putting it in a script? If so, you should leave camera direction out of a script.

9 years, 2 months ago - Dan Selakovich

P.S. I absolutely can't stand that shot!! Especially if it circles more than once.

9 years, 2 months ago - Paulina Brahm

Thanks Dan. No, my friend is not connected with the film industry in any way, she just likes to watch movies and thought I would know what this effect is.

I found it very interesting that she was so taken by this effect it took her out of the story and the acting, and all she remembered was the effect.

I don't like it either. I remember when it first came out a lot of my friends (in the industry) would parody it to hilarious effect.

Best,
Paulina

9 years, 2 months ago - Paulina Brahm

Now that Dan has identified the term, I can present Paddy with a link to some examples:

http://www.listology.com/list/360-degree-pans

And Alwyne, you are exactly right! A turntable can be involved. Curious, I researched a bit and the actor can rotate, or the camera can rotate around the actor.

Thank you everyone!
Paulina

9 years, 2 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

There are distinct fashions in film - someone creates an effect, pundits like it, Hollywood movies use it to saturation, amateur filmmakers take it way past saturation, wedding videos hammer it to death, and it looks cheap and overused.

A decade ago it was rack focus, currently it's drone/aerial shots. I remember another forum (no overlap AFAIK) where kids with big ideas were clambering to shoot progressive, then desperate for 24fps, then would scream for wide format, then sacrifice siblings for rack focus... All in the name of the fabled 'film look' (without nailing the basics like composition, lighting, clear audio, grade, etc., naturally)

9 years, 2 months ago - Susi Arnott

1973 'Mean Streets' had marvellous sequence of Harvey Keitel dancing in a bar, off his face - with camera ON HIS FACE all the time because it had been strapped out in front of his chest! So the bar and other dancers are all moving around behind him - even when he falls... Marvellous and disturbing ('specially when you think of the weight of a 35mm BL)

9 years, 2 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Exactly, Paulina! Very rarely do I see it used well. It's hard to do this shot without it taking the viewer out of the film. That's exactly why I hate it.

9 years, 2 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I can't believe I found this Fassbinder clip. The internet truly does have everything. This one, I like:

http://www.deptfordfilmclub.org/360/

9 years, 2 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Shit, sorry. I really need to organize my thoughts before posting. Paulina, a 360 degree PAN is different. In a 360 pan, the camera stays in the same place while panning in a complete circle. A 360 degree TRACKING shot means the camera is moving around the subject (via dolly or steadicam, etc). So don't get the 2 confused.

This is a 360 degree PAN:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77C-dpdYqek

The Fassbinder clip in my above post is a 360 degree tracking shot. Your friend is talking about tracking.

9 years, 2 months ago - Alève Mine

I acted in a shot like that in France once. The cameraman was running around me in high grass in the woods with a really heavy camera on his shoulders. To play around with the speed of the background vs the character, I had to turn at different speeds in the same and opposite directions. The fun was to see the filmmaker out of breath at the end of the shot.

9 years, 2 months ago - simon battensby

If you just google " ""snorri cam" you'll see the rig used and it's self explanatory. Cheers simon.

9 years, 2 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Simon, a Snorricam is different than a 360 tracking. Snorricams attach to the actors, and can be used for any type of shot, 360 or otherwise.

9 years, 2 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc

Then there's a whip pan. Very effective for a cut to another scene OR if the reversed in the Avid the audience will marvel as to how a fast moving pan just happened to stop dead on target :/) but as said above, no camera directions are to be mentioned in a script, huge sign of amateur...

9 years, 2 months ago - alexander forsey

It sounds like you are talking about the Snorri cam by your description

9 years, 2 months ago - Mark Wiggins

The Fastbender clip looks like a steadicam shot to me. Done this a few times. Sometimes if you get the actor to rotate in a contrary motion to the camera, the effect is magnified.

9 years, 2 months ago - Ben Rider

It's beautifully done in Waitress (2007, Adrienne Shelly).