Chess Film: Day One Tracking Shot

Expectation vs Reality

To prepare for day one of filming, I watched a video on tracking shots the night before. A tracking shot is any shot that includes a moving camera that follows or tracks moving characters or subjects. My group wanted to include a tracking shot in our film to enhance the suspense of the plot. The video I watched gave me knowledge about tracking shots, but I quickly realized that learning about them and actually filming them are two very different things. 

Luckily, on day one, we had a film assistant helping us throughout the process. Once my group mentioned that one of our shots was a tracking shot, our assistant immediately expressed concern, saying that it's one of the hardest to pull off "correctly." However, they didn't want to change our vision and luckily, they had used a tracking shot in their film last year. Tracking shots can be difficult because of how hard it is to keep the camera steady. Our film assistant suggested a few options my group could choose from to reduce the amount of shake in our shot. Some suggestions included specific ways to set up or hold the tripod. The suggestion that stuck was tying a heavy bag to our tripod. My group used the bag for our film equipment and added anything heavy we could find—our phones, chess pieces, and folders. 

Using the bag method for our tracking shot

Outcome

Using the bag method improved the stability of our shot. We attempted the shot a total of four times and were happy with the outcome. Even with the bag method, the shot isn't perfect, but we agreed that once we add music, the shot will make sense, even if there are still some slight shakes. Some of our group members even mentioned that the shakes could add to the suspense and tense atmosphere.