Crane Shot Set-up for the climactic shoot-out of Django Unchained (Tarantino, 2012)
Written by Mark Trinkle
A crane shot is named so after the cantilevered arm device on which the camera sits. The camera is on a platform attached to the mechanical arm which allows the camera to move around in any direction as well as up and down to various heights. Cranes have been used in films since Intolerance (Griffith, 1916), but their full potential wasn’t explored until Busby Berkeley began to use them in his musicals in the 1930’s. Berkeley was known for directing elaborate musical numbers with choreography that used geometric shapes and patterns highlighted by the almost unlimited movements of the crane ("Film Reference").
Musical number from "Gold Diggers from 1933" (Berkeley, 1933)
There are many reasons why a director would choose to use a crane shot. A crane's fluidity of movement and range of height can give an unusual omniscient perspective that is especially powerful if the audience knows something the character does not. A good example of this is the opening shot of Touch of Evil (Griffith, 1958). We can see that there is a bomb planted in the car that the couple gets into, and as the scene progresses the crane watches them from above as they move down the street. Even though the camera moves around within the space and the car isn't always the main subject of the shot, the audience is always aware of the presence of the bomb threat, but from a distant perspective that makes the inevitable explosion seem even more unavoidable ("Opening Crane Shot.").
Another famous crane shot is the opening scene of The Player (Altman, 1992). Inspired by Touch of Evil and arguably now more famous, Robert Altman’s film also opened on a long take of a crane shot that introduced the world of the film with a surreal omniscient perspective, but instead of suspense, it used the shot to develop a sense of the chaotic world of Hollywood "players."
Another common reason a film might use a crane shot is to make a scene larger-than-life or to give it a sense of grandeur. Busby Berkley’s crane shots created a unique sense of splendor by allowing the camera to capture his impressive choreographed numbers without having a lot of limitation on its mobility. Gone With the Wind (Fleming, 1939) has a famous crane shot that dramatically pulls out from Scarlett O’Hara to reveal the sheer amount of the wounded soldiers hurt from the battle.
Both the omniscient and dramatic purposes of using a crane shot play off of the fact that a moving camera shot is more visually engaging than a still camera. When your eyes look at a moving camera shot there is a visual phenomena known as parallaxing which occurs when foreground objects seem to be moving faster than objects in the background ("Film Reference"). Parallaxing gives the scene complexity and depth and draws the viewer in. The fluidity and range of motion afforded when using a crane make it better for parallaxing than a Steadicam or a dolly.
Most cranes require the use of two separate people, one camera operator and one crane operator . Although very common on Hollywood sets, most of the heavy duty cranes can be very dangerous if used incorrectly. “ After helicopters and car cameras, cranes around high voltage are a leading cause of death in the motion picture industry.” ("Crane Camera Movement.") Although most cranes can usually only be afforded by and should always only be operated by professionals, there are some small cranes available on the consumer level such as the Cobra Crane II (for camcorders under 25 lbs) and operated by a single person that cost somewhere between $300 and $800. ("Free Online Film School in 12 Filmmaking Tips.")
Cranes are relatively simple machines, but the effect they can add to a film or a shot can make the world of the film seem that much larger-than-life and really draw in an audience in a way that no other shot can.
"Crane Camera Movement." CineWiki -. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
"Film Reference." Types of Camera Movement. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
"Free Online Film School in 12 Filmmaking Tips." Free Online Film School: Learn Filmmaking. N.p., 30 Apr. 2010. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
"Opening Crane Shot." IGN. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
Prunes, Mariano, Michael Raine, and Mary Litch. "Part 3: Cinematography." Part 3: Cinematography. Yale Film Studies Program, 27 Aug. 2002. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
Most cranes require the use of two separate people, one camera operator and one crane operator . Although very common on Hollywood sets, most of the heavy duty cranes can be very dangerous if used incorrectly. “ After helicopters and car cameras, cranes around high voltage are a leading cause of death in the motion picture industry.” ("Crane Camera Movement.") Although most cranes can usually only be afforded by and should always only be operated by professionals, there are some small cranes available on the consumer level such as the Cobra Crane II (for camcorders under 25 lbs) and operated by a single person that cost somewhere between $300 and $800. ("Free Online Film School in 12 Filmmaking Tips.")
Cranes are relatively simple machines, but the effect they can add to a film or a shot can make the world of the film seem that much larger-than-life and really draw in an audience in a way that no other shot can.
"Crane Camera Movement." CineWiki -. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
"Film Reference." Types of Camera Movement. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
"Free Online Film School in 12 Filmmaking Tips." Free Online Film School: Learn Filmmaking. N.p., 30 Apr. 2010. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
"Opening Crane Shot." IGN. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
Prunes, Mariano, Michael Raine, and Mary Litch. "Part 3: Cinematography." Part 3: Cinematography. Yale Film Studies Program, 27 Aug. 2002. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
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