Should Camera Panning movements be Seen?

[greenidge]

I was discussing some camera techniques with a veteran camera operator and he was pretty adamant about us making sure that any sideways movement of the camera(panning) should not be seen on the broadcast as it is typical of amateur video. Before he told us about it we panned a lot as we currently only have one camera (#2 broken) to cover a wide platform with a full band and up to 10 choir members spread across it. Is it possible to do the panning in this situation in a way that would be acceptable for the viewer? (Maybe really slow pans)? We currently zoom out and in to get different shots but I thought the slow camera pans weren't bad as we always made sure there was a couple people in the shot.

[waynehoskins]

As always, it depends. I understand what your veteran op is saying, at least I think so. There are a couple of ways to take it:

- no live pans of any kind
- no live just-pans

The second I definitely agree with. Just panning across, with no other motion, looks terrible in most situations. Pans look best when combined with push or pull moves. Similarly, pushes and pulls (such as going to or from a two-shot) look more fluid when combined with a pan. I think, in fact, all single-direction movements look bad; they generally require correction in at least one other direction.

Single-cam is the hardest to shoot. You have to know where you're going several steps down the road and "stack" (so to speak) your moves and shots so you can get from A to E. In this case, yes, you don't want a straight pan. It looks ugly. Best to pull wide for it. What I'd do, to move from far R to far L, is start a pull, probably with a little bit of tilt down, while starting the pan, slow the pull about halfway there, and then push in and tilt up finish it. Fluid, intentional.

Yet another reason I don't like motorized PTZ systems, but that's neither here nor there.

[JoshGuerette]

I think it's highly influenced by your room and where your camera(s) are situated. For example, if you have a camera in the back corner of a wide room, a pan across might look great if your shot/lens is wide enough. However, if your camera is centered on the stage, then it'll probably look cheap.

When I do stuff and when I've worked with others, it's more about how you place it together. Don't start or end any movement live if you don't have to. If you're running single-camera, well there's not much you can do about that except be cautious of how someone watching your live feed out would see movements. But if you can start a movement (ie. a pan with a zoom) and then cut or fade to it, that's where it looks good and feels more natural.

A lot of this depends on the skill and smoothness of the operator, but you can kind of "plan out" moves that look good in your room with your equipment.

I'm with wayne on PTZ too, I would never recommend it unless someone had no other choice.

[sempei13]

I disagree (10-year veteran). Pans have their place. I'd use them rarely, but sometimes you just need to move from one subject to another. In fact, I did a pan on cam this past weekend. I rarely run a cam now days, but when you've got limited shots (like we did at this retreat center), you need variety and you can only push or pull (or push and pan, etc.) on the two unobstructed subjects so many times before you need to mix it up.

Paul

[Gracetech]

This is an easy one. Just ask yourself "does it help tell the story"? You will see it used sparingly in movies and only when you need to convey locational relationship or transition attention. The only other time pan is used is when the camera is 3rd person and then all bets are off because the camera will be going every which way.

I have to admit that churches pan way to much on the most part and i feel that some church directors need to sit at home and watch their production to see just how much they are moving around. I can only imagine some people taking Dramamine pills before watching their local Church service.

I don't believe there is a way to keep up with most pastors than to pan with them so if you can shift the background out of focus that will help some.

crt

[Esoteric]

It all depends. I used to do some sports camera work and we did pans with and without push/pulls all the time.

Also keep in mind the final result you are looking for. Some things are acceptable for iMAG that are not necessarily for broadcast.

Back in the hay day of corporate events for me, we would actually do two separate mixes, sometimes with two full video setups. One for iMAG and one for broadcast. I know most churches don't have that kind of scratch, so you have to decide what is most important to you.

So it all depends.

[Paris MkVI]

Another thought to keep in mind is - are we talking about tracking or panning?

Panning generally moves me from one composition/subject to a new comp/subject. Tracking simply keeps me with the existing subject.

I have no issues with a motivated, gentle pan. What is the purpose of the camera motion? With the coverage available, is a pan the best way to accomplish the task?

I too, also like a little z-axis combined with the pan motion if possible. Especially if I am using a fair amount of telephoto, I want to back out some in the pan.

[SamG269]

Im confused. Tracking to me is when you follow the pastor as he walks across the platform.. Is there something wrong with this?

Panning for me is lets see the whole scene left to right. Not really focusing on anything in general just the scene.

[Gracetech]

Semantics...what i refer to as tracking is the actual movement of the camera from left to right or forwards and backwards. If it is the pivoting of the camera then it's called panning or tilting. Tracking is from the use of track to provide that nice smooth glide of the camera. If you do it without track and just use dolly wheels we call it trucking.

crt