Equipment used to create shots

In this post I will be talking about track and dolly shots. I think that this piece of equipment when used create some really good shots that look amazing when put into a final film. Although I think that when it is used it should only be used when necessary as it can be quite obvious that it has been used for the wrong reasons.

I recently watched Saving Private Ryan which I thought was such an amazing film and was a great example to use to talk about what an effective track and dolly shot looks like within an action film such as Saving Private Ryan. Within the first 15 minutes of the film you see a variation of shots, some being the track and dolly shots. Cutting to and from the tracking shots with a mixture of quick cuts in between   makes this first opening scene really effective as you are not bored by just one massive long tracking shot (Although in some cases long lasting tracking shots can be effective). Here I have edited together an example of the track and dolly shots in the opening sequence to Saving Private Ryan.

Here is a link to the full opening Scene if you are interested in watching it and seeing how effective it is with cuts in between the track and dolly shots.

After wanting to research more on these track and dolly shots and how to use the equipment I had a lecture on how to use it and got the chance to have a play around with the equipment and practice different types of shots such as the vertigo effect and tracking shots. Here are some videos and pictures to show you what me and my lecture group got up to.

This video is a mixture of the vertigo shots and the tracking shots we did.

From doing this lecture and learning how to use the track and dolly it has given me more of an understand of various way to capture different motion shots. It has also given me the chance to use this equipment in future projects that I may be involved in.