A camera can tilt, pan, zoom, track, dolly, rack focus, or pedestal. Whatever movement the camera operator chooses to make, it must be motivated. Movements can be slight and subtle or big and blatant, but they must always be purposeful. You cannot move the camera just for the heck of it.
I love the movie Cool Runnings and this particular scene does a good job illustrating how camera movements affect the overall message of a shot. By starting from the feet of Yul and slowly tilting up to his face, Yul is standing tall in a position of power over the Russian bobsledder. They could have cut from the Russian to Yul, but my moving the camera up along his body it signifies power to the audience.I also think that tracking and zooming can make a scene more intense or increase an audience members anticipation of what is to come.
The camera movement in The Dark Night is executed beautifully and with precision! The aerial shots are amazing and every second of this movie has me wanting to see more. This movie has some of the best motivated camera movement I have seen!
