Experimenting with Tracking Shots

As mentioned in a previous blog, there was discussion toward whether or not we wanted to use a tracking shot in our film, similar to a tracking shot we'd executed perfectly in our previous Chess Film. We eventually decided to use the shot at the beginning of the film, depicting one of our main characters walking into the store. The camera would be following behind her, giving the similar effect to that of a dolly shot.

We filmed the shot only using one take, and this is how it turned out.

Genuinely, I had a different plan for this shot, but we settled with this result, as at this point it was very late in the day and we were all ready to leave. My original plan was to follow in behind her, but my director liked the shot we got and we broke for the day.

We also used another tracking shot, but instead of tracking a character moving, we tracked our character's hand tracing over books. This was meant to be the moment in the beginning of our film where our two characters met, as the other character's hand also appears in this shot. This is how the shot turned out after 6 takes.

I liked this take, but the shot was a little lengthy. A lot of the shots we got on this day of filming were way too long and slow, and I fear we'll have too many extended clips that will confuse our audience. With this shot in particular, we had to take care to shorten the amount of time spent on these books.

I enjoy the freehand look that my freehand tracking shot gives to this shot, and the lighting is perfect, but other than that there's not much to say about this particular shot.