1. Operating the Camera

2. Basic Camera Movements
There are nine basic Camera movements
Pan
Tilt
Cant
Pedestal
Dolly
Truck or track

3. Basic Camera Movements
7. Arc
8. Crane or boom
9. Tongue

4. Basic Camera Movements
Pan: turning the camera horizontally, from left to right or right to left.
To pan right means to swivel or move the camera clockwise so that the lens points more to the right.
To pan left means to swivel or move the camera counter clockwise so that the lens points more to the left.

5. Basic Camera Movements
How would you improve this composition?

6. Basic Camera Movements
Tilt making the camera point up or down. A “tilt up” means to point the camera gradually up. A “Tilt down” means that you point the camera gradually down.

7. Basic Camera Movements
How would you fix this composition?

8. Basic Camera Movements
Cant: Tilting the camera sideways.
When you “cant left,” the horizon line will be slanted downhill its high point will be screen left and its low point screen right.

9. Basic Camera Movements
Is this image an example of a “cant left” ?

10. Basic Camera Movements
Pedestal: Elevating or lowering the camera on a center column of a tripod or a studio pedestal.
To “pedestal up” you crank or pull up the center column, thereby raising the camera.

11. Basic Camera Movements
Dolly: Moving the camera toward or away from an object in more or less a straight line (along the z-axis) by means of a mobile camera mount.
When you dolly in, you move the camera closer to the object.
When you dolly out, you move the camera farther away from the object.

12. Truck or Track: Moving the camera laterally by means of mobile camera mount.
When you truck right or truck left, you move the camera mount to the right or left with the camera pointing at a right angle to the direction of the travel.

13. Arc: Moving the camera in a slightly curved dolly or truck movement.
To arc left means that you dolly in or out in a camera-left curve, or truck left in a curve around the object.

14. Crane or Boom: Moving the camera up or down on a camera crane or jib arm.
The effect of a crane or boom movement is somewhat similar to pedestaling up or down, except that the camera swoops in a vertical arc over a much greater distance.

15. Tongue: Moving the whole camera from left to right, the camera usually points in the same general direction, with only the boom swing left or right.
Tonguing creates an effect similar to a truck, except that the horizontal arc of the boom with the camera is usually much wider and can be much faster than truck.

16. Zoom: Changing the focal length of a lens through the use of a zoom control while the camera remains stationary.
To zoom in means to change the lens gradually to a narrow-angle position, thereby making the scene appear to move closer to the viewer.