2nd Outing: Camera Movements

During the time that we were filming on location for the second time, we decided to take some shots from an escalator to try and get some interesting camera movements, we had a subject go up and down on as set of escalators and had the camera placed either in front of or behind them, to capture the movement of the subject whilst remaining in focus, and to create a simple, interesting tracking shot.


escalator footage from Lewis Mercer on Vimeo.

This technique is considered a New Wave camera movement because it is using innovative use of the environment to create a tracking shot of the subject in an interesting way, and also because this technique requires no other special equipment and simply uses modes of transport already present in the environment to its advantage.

This footage is similar to a scene in Jean-Luc Godard's film "Breathless" where the camera is placed on an escalator facing a woman who is travelling up them which then turns to a tracking shot, so we were trying to recreate that in our footage by using a new wave technique.

OH&S: Occupational Health and Safety

     During the filming of this scene and  while practicing this technique there were a few health and safety concerns that needed to be addressed as both the subject and the person operating the camera would be on a moving platform, and there would be other people around them as they were in a public area. These hazards include:

• Both the subject and camera operator would be on a moving surface and could slip/fall and/or injure others nearby
• They would be holding expensive equipment and would be at risk of damaging it 
• Risk of falling on the escalator
• Risk of injuring themselves and/or others

These issues could be easily resolved by taking precautions before shooting, by ensuring that simple measures are taken to prevent any injury that might occur such as:

• Behaving appropriately whilst on the escalators
• Ensure that the subject and camera operator are standing firmly on the escalator
• Ensure that either the subject or camera operator has one hand on the railing for support to avoid loss of balance whilst either ascending or descending
• Ensure that no other people are in very close proximity to the subject/ camera operator whilst filming.
• Consider that other people will be around during filming and that crew members should stay a safe distance from them whilst on the escalators.

These precautions should be enough to prevent any unnecessary injuries that might occur whilst filming in this location, here safety measure will be followed to ensure that no accidental injury to crew members or damage to equipment occurs during filming and also any injury to passers by in the location.