Crane Shot

The crane shot has been used since the era of silent films; they are often utilised to emphasise the scale of a setting at the beginning or end of a film, but can also be used to add energy to a sequence.

However, with the advent of drones, crane shots are becoming increasingly obsolete, as drones are often cheaper and more versatile. This short video, made by N-Joy Media, demonstrates drones' usefulness, and ability to film serene establishing shots.

There are two types of crane shot: the rise up, and the fall down. These are commonly used at the start and end of films, respectively; the camera rises up, as if entering a new world, then falls down, as if reflecting on the audience's departure from the world. When analysing the differences between the two shot types, there is a strong sense of establishing versus diminishing.

This gif shows the crane shot from Citizen Kane (1941), which introduces a new setting as significant, whilst adding a sombre aura:

This is another iconic crane shot, this time from The Western High Noon (1952), which also adds a element of sombre, but with a sense of the character's realisation of his position of isolation, rather than establishing a new physical location:

A rise up, centred on a character, could represent the character's vulnerability, especially if going from a low-angle to a high-angle, a technique which often makes use of tilting simultaneously. This is a concept that we plan to utilise in our sequence, although we do not have a conventional camera crane, or even a drone. Put bluntly, we are going to use a GoPro on a stick. This means that the shot is likely to be unsteady, but Connor will be able to fix this in post-production.