Planning the Motion

The motion starts with the script. Some motion clues are likely to be integral to some scenes. There may even be a few motion words present; this will be motion that happens outside of camera motion but will need to be incorporated in your motion structure. There will also be shots where no motion is mentioned in the story; however, you will likely have actors moving on set or moving pieces of the set. As you read the script, you can make notes of the motion that is happening within the story and the motion you want to include in blocking.

Some motion will be inherently necessary within the action. There will be movement that characters or objects must do in the story that you will have to incorporate into the shots. But the biggest part of the motion will be planning how you are going to move the camera to show the story. The narrative will reveal the action and establish an emotional flow through the motion of the camera. As you pick locations, think through the motion requirements, or if you are given locations, decide how to use them to fit your motion story.