Pan
A pan rotates the camera horizontally from a fixed position, typically mounted on a tripod, moving left to right or right to left. This movement mimics the natural motion of turning your head to look around a space. Pans can be slow and contemplative or fast and dynamic, and they're essential for revealing information, following action, or connecting different elements within a scene.
When to Use
- To reveal new information or characters entering the frame
- When following a character or object moving horizontally across the scene
- To establish spatial relationships between elements in a location
- For creating suspense by slowly revealing what's off-screen
Famous Examples
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
The symmetrical pan across the hotel lobby during the opening sequence
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The slow pan across the desert landscape in the opening sequence
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The methodical pans across the oil fields and derricks
Related Techniques
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