Panning shot
Also known as: pan, panning
Rotating the camera horizontally from a fixed position to follow a subject, the most basic camera move and the easiest one to do badly.
Updated
What it means
A pan rotates rather than travels. The camera stays where it is and turns, which is why the background slides past at one rate and nothing in the frame gains any parallax.
Its job is following rather than revealing. A rider crossing in front of a fixed position stays in frame because the camera turns with them, which is the simplest way to cover a pass.
It pairs with a Tilt shot as the two axes of a fixed camera. One sweeps horizontally and the other vertically, and most hand-held moves are some combination of the two.
How it works in practice
Speed has to match the subject and stay constant. A pan that accelerates or stalls draws attention to the camera, and one that holds the rider in the same part of frame disappears.
Leading the subject is what makes it readable. Keeping slightly more space ahead of the rider than behind them gives the shot a direction, which is the same instinct Rule of thirds describes.
Shutter discipline matters here more than most places. A fast shutter on a pan produces the stepped look, so the 180-degree shutter rule and an ND filter are what keep the background smooth.
What to watch out for
Fast pans strobe. The background moves far enough between frames that the eye cannot connect them, which is why a whip has to be fast enough to blur rather than merely quick.
A rolling shutter sensor skews during one. Vertical lines lean as the camera turns, and Rolling shutter on a fast pan produces a frame that looks like it is falling over.
It is the move people use instead of choosing a position. A pan that follows a rider across an uninteresting background is a shot that nobody needed, where moving the camera first would have found one.
How RawClip handles it
A smooth pan that holds its subject scores well, since the motion is continuous and the action stays readable throughout. Clips where the camera stalls or overshoots are trimmed to the part that tracks properly rather than used whole.