VFX- Camera movements

 Pan/Whip pan

A Pan, is a horizontal movement of the camera on a tripod, left to right.

Used to follow a character moving from one side of a room to another.

A whip pan is the same concept but just done faster so that the picture blurs. 

Tilt

When a stationary camera moves vertically to alter its angle up and down, like a nodding head.

For example pointing the camera up towards the sky and tilting it down to reveal a city.

Pedestal (PED)

The camera operator physically moving the camera vertically up and down without tilting or moving it horizontally.

Often used for reveals.

Track/Dolly/Truck

Tracking shots are where the camera physically moves left and right generally parallel to the action. 

Dolly shots are when the camera is mounted on  a cart which travels along tracks for smooth movement .

Truck is a different term for Track or Dolly.

Crane/Jib/Boom Arm

Crane shots are when the camera is fixed to one end of a crane with controls at the other end.

It operates like a see saw allowing the camera to be moved vertically and horizontally, which means its great for high shots or shots that need to move great distances. Cranes are generally attached to moving vehicles.

A jib is very similar to a crane but is often mounted on a tripod or similar support (boom arm) with the camera at one end and a counterweight and controls at the other end. A jib can even be mounted on a dolly.

Handheld/ Stabilizer

A handheld shot is where the camera operator actually holds the camera rather than it being on  a tripod, this means that the camera will have a natural shake.

Camera stabilizers are generally used by the operators when they want the handheld look but allows the operator to move around and for the camera t move smoothly and not shake to violently.

Zoom (in and out)/ Crash Zoom

Zooming allows the camera operator to go from a wide shot to a close up with out having to physically move the camera.

Zooming creates the illusion that the camera is moving closer or further away from the subject.

A crash zoom is just a really fast zoom in, used for effect.

Slow motion & Speed

Slow motion is when time appears to have slowed down this can be done a number of ways.

Filming at a higher frame rate (125fps) then editing the footage on a timeline with a regular frame rate (25fps) the footage will appear in slow motion.

You can also use regular footage (filmed at 25fps) and during the editing process you can adjust the shutter speed to slow it down, however it won't look as good.

Speed refers to speeding up your footage making time pass more quickly this is done during the editing process a lot  like slowing it down.

This can work well for time-lapse.