The Dynamic Frame: Camera Movement in Classical Hollywood

Chapter Two: Purposes and Parallels

Although the transition to sound posed some obstacles for camera movement, Hollywood solved the relevant technological problems relatively quickly, incorporating several newly designed dollies and cranes. The bigger challenge was figuring out when to move the camera and why. Some filmmakers appealed to means-end thinking, proposing various functions that the moving camera might serve. Others appealed to analogical thinking, arguing that the camera's movements should be modeled on those a person might perform. Parallels served purposes. By arguing that the camera should (or should not) move like a person, the practitioner-theorist established assumptions about what the camera could (or could not) do. This page includes links for all of the chapter's illustrated clips. For clips that are mentioned in the chapter, but not illustrated, see the "Additional Clips" page. 

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