Filming & Production

Tracking shot

Also called: dolly shot, follow shot

Whether the camera rides a dolly, a slider, a gimbal or somebody walking carefully, what defines a tracking shot is that it moves with the subject and does not pan to follow from a fixed spot. Walk-and-talks, someone entering a room, a product carried across a workshop: the subject stays steady in frame while the background slides past, and that is what reads as motion.

The names overlap in everyday use. Dolly shot describes the rig, and dolly in or out means travelling towards or away from the subject. On a phone or a small camera the hard part is footsteps, so bend the knees and keep your arms loose.

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