Different Types of Tracking Shots and What Emotions They Evoke

MZed Education

by Mascha DeikovaToday

To move the camera or not? A question every filmmaker faces now and then: A well-considered camera movement can deepen a story’s impact; a random one risks distracting or even disconnecting the audience. Yet some shots crave motion, namely tracking shots. You’ve seen them in countless movies, across every genre. But what makes them so popular, powerful, and immersive? And how can they be used to evoke emotion? Let’s take a look at some film examples and find out.

Push, pull, slide (dolly) to the left or right – tracking shots belong to the area of so-called 3D camera movements. We’ll discuss in a second what that means. In case you want to get an overview of different types of motion in film, first, head over here to our elaborate guide.

What is a tracking shot, and why use it?

As the name suggests, a tracking shot involves the camera tracking a subject, usually a character or an object, within the frame from one point to another, whereas the camera is also moving independently. A simple pan or tilt won’t do. In the course “Directing Motion” on MZed.com, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer and filmmaker Vincent Laforet distinguishes between:

• 2D movements: the camera rotated on a fixed axis (such as pans or tilts)
• 3D movements: the camera physically moves through the scene.

Tracking shots fall into the 3D category. They guide our attention, hold our focus, and often play out in longer takes. That uninterrupted duration allows filmmakers to build tension, immersive the viewer, and elevate the emotional stakes.

Tracking shots come in many forms and directions, each serving a different storytelling function, and we’ll look at the most common types below. What they do have in common, though, is that they usually play out for an extended time in the edit. That’s not a rule, but there is power in holding a subject in your frame longer, and it would be a pity to waste it. Just like in the example with Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in “Full Metal Jacket” above. The camera constantly backs up from him, and we—the viewers—feel the tension and pressure, yet can’t look away or escape. Which is exactly Kubrick’s intention.

As Vincent Laforet explains, that’s a physical matter. When we see a static shot, where the camera is locked in a certain framing, our eyes start to scatter, digesting every bit of visual information. By moving the camera, filmmakers can direct the audience’s focus. Tracking shots are the ultimate way to do so, because our gaze always has something to follow.

Direction of tracking shots

As already mentioned, there are multiple ways and directions to track a subject within your shot. We could do it sideways – from left to right (or the other way around). For instance, Wes Anderson famously loves this movement, and you’ll see it in a lot of his movies. It’s quite common in scenes where characters run. Here’s a bunch of such shots from Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza:”

Another way is to follow someone or something from behind. A great example is Danny’s ride through the hallways in “The Shining.” It becomes particularly intense because we don’t know what awaits around each corner he turns. Combined with somber tunes, this tracking shot definitely builds the overall feeling of horror:

The camera can also go backward, facing the actor(s) and tracking them. This type of movement gives the characters a certain power. It can be the power of knowledge: they see something before we, the audience, do, and react to it (a great way to build suspense). Or it might be an oppressive power, like in the “Full Metal Jacket” scene mentioned earlier. Or just showing off with a “look at me” attitude. You’ll often see it in perfume ads, or in this example from “Kill Bill: Vol. 1” (with a full variety of tracking shots starting from 00:20):

Quite an entrance for the main antagonist, isn’t it?

Steady or shaky

Naturally, a tracking shot can also change directions, following the characters. Let’s rewatch the battle scene from “Saving Private Ryan” and try to find all the tracking shots and the effects they create:

Messy, chaotic, all over the place—just like the battle is. We follow someone, and then suddenly lose them. Sometimes, the camera can’t even keep pace. It’s stressful to watch, and it gives us a feeling of being in the middle of the action. What else helps achieve this impact? The shaky camera.

That’s another property of a camera movement that can make tracking shots feel drastically different. For instance, watch this steady sequence from “Pulp Fiction”, where the camera follows Bruce Willis’s character (from 00:25):

Now compare it to the intensely shaky tracking shot from “Requiem for a Dream” (from 00:49):

How did the two make you feel? I bet differently. Long, steady movements often add to the intensity and suspense of the scene, whereas shaky motion evokes a stress reaction—it makes us move our eyes quicker, breathe faster, and feel uneasy.

Holding the suspense in a tracking shot

Earlier, I mentioned that tracking shots allow us to show the character’s reaction to something the viewers don’t see yet, which increases the suspense. It works the other way around as well: we can give the audience crucial information that the characters don’t know yet and let them track it. You probably already guessed the perfect scene for this: the legendary opening sequence from “Touch of Evil”.

That’s the classic “bomb under the table” technique. We know the clock is ticking. We know something inevitable is going to happen. Instead of cutting around, director Orson Welles makes us watch the car—with the bomb in the truck—in a long, unbroken tracking shot. The sult? Sky-high tension. (By the way, if you want to learn how to create a suspenseful long take like this, head over here.)

Various technical possibilities for the tracking shots

Some people still call all tracking shots “dolly shots” because of the equipment used in the early cinema. However, nowadays, we have many other tools to achieve similar results: Steadicam, handheld, drones, or even cranes. For instance, here is a clever example from the popular show “Euphoria:”

It’s interesting because it transitions from a fake “mirror” reflection into a tracking shot that follows the character from behind, inside the bedroom. To pull it off, the crew mounted the camera on a crane and built a fake “mirror” set with a hole in place for the reflection. Tracking shots open up a world of creative possibilities.

And further tips for tracking shots

Like other camera movements, tracking shots are a great visual tool—but it’s important to use them with intention, knowing what effect you want to achieve in your audience.

If you want to learn more about tracking shots, motivated and unmotivated camera movements, and tricks to execute different types of motion, watch the full course “Vincent Laforet’s Directing Motion” on MZed.com.

What do you think about tracking shots? Do you use them often in your video projects? When and why? Share your experience with us in the comments below.

Feature image: film stills from “Licorice Pizza” by Paul Thomas Anderson, 2021; “Pulp Fiction” by Quentin Tarantino, 1994; “Saving Private Ryan” by Steven Spielberg, 1998; and “Kill Bill: Vol. 1” by Quentin Tarantino, 2003.

Full disclosure: MZed is owned by CineD