Hi, this is a small post that I just want to share because it’s kinda interesting. The original post was from Tadashi Hiramatsu’s blog, which focused on camerawork definition, especially PAN and FOLLOW. Those are terms that often used by fans and people anime or live action film industries. You must’ve found those terms in anime storyboards too, such as this one (Source: Ohayou’s storyboard by Satoshi Kon).

このカットもわずかにPAN.←を加えます。TL: Add a slight PAN for this cut [004] too.

This is only a translation of what Hiramatsu has written on his blog, as I didn’t do any research for this post aside from few examples that I might give.

There’s also few parts that I omitted from the original blog post, such as the talk about economy. It’s simply because I lack the understanding of many complicated economic terms, and it’s not that relevant with the technical points of this post.

Anyway, you can read the original blog post here:

https://ameblo.jp/tadashi-hiramatz/entry-12380474324.html

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Tadashi Hiramatsu blog starts from here:

Finally, ‘Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku Hana wo Kazarou: Inoue Toshiyuki’s genga book’ has been released this month. For those who purchased the limited edition, there’s a bonus video, a three-man talk between Inoue-san, Horikawa-san, and me. I heard the sample can be accessed on YouTube too.

Please look forward to our discussion and buy the book….but before that, let me write a supplementary lesson about the meaning of ‘camerawork technique’ which often came out in our discussion.

It’s about PAN.

What is the difference between PAN, Follow PAN, つけPAN? Such a question is frequently asked on twitter right? Actually the confusion lies when you’re thinking camerawork on paper.

First, let’s check the meaning of the word itself.

PAN is an abbreviation of Panorama.

Follow means “to follow [an object]”.

PAN is a camerawork technique where you place a camera on fixed position, and you try to chase a moving [photographic] subject to keep it in camera’s frame, by moving the camera left and right. Such a technique to show a landscape, or large objects such as a ship, an airplane, or even a kaijuu can be called PAN too.



In Japanese animation, even fixed camera moved up and down called as PAN UP /DOWN, but the original term is TILT UP/DOWN. As you can guess, term came from the word “tilt”. Well, it’s okay to use term PAN UP/DOWN too.

And as I’d highlighted in previous paragraph , the important part about PAN is the camera is placed in fixed position, and it is moved right and left to follow moving object.

Follow is a camerawork technique where you move a camera accordingly to a moving [photographic] subject that you want to capture within camera’s frame.

However, you need to be careful here. Since Follow means to move a camera according to a moving subject, it does not include the meaning of whether the camera is fixed or not. So, PAN is also falling under this definition. Hence appears a term ‘Follow PAN’, which becomes the source of confusion.

To clarify the meaning, I think it’s better to use the term Dolly.

As you can guess, the term came from word “dolly”, a platform on a roller or on wheels or casters for moving heavy objects.

In short, it is a shooting technique where you put a camera on a dolly, and then move it while chasing a moving photographic subject.

Note:

A famous example of Dolly/Follow camerawork is Makoto’s running scene in Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, which directed by Mamoru Hosoda and the scene was animated by Ryo Timo (Ryosuke Sawa). You can see Hosoda’s storyboard here, where he gave ‘Follow’ instruction. As you can see, the Dolly/Follow camerawork is easy to understand here. It gives the impression that the audience was following Makoto while holding a camera to film her running figure. She was struggling to follow camera’s pace at first, but then she gradually put more strength and finally was able to outrun the camera.

There is also another method like using a crane, you can put a camera on a crane and move it up and down, left and right. You can also combine it with PAN to make a complex footage, I like this and there are several shots created using this method in SayoAsa.

So, what important is the definition whether the camera is fixed, or moved. I think the distinction between ‘PAN’ and ‘Dolly’ or ‘move’ makes it easier to imagine the difference between ‘fixed camera’ and ‘moving camera’.

Then, do you understand what I mean by confusion when you’re thinking on paper?

Since camerawork in anime is applied from live-action shooting techniques, it would be confusing if we haven’t fully grasped the relation between the subject and camera in real space.

I often study old movies such as Hitchcock’s works because there is no technology such as CG, and because at the time the camera is still large and inconvenient it makes me easier to understand the mechanism of live action’s camerawork techniques.

Recent live action movies are not much different from anime in the aspect of filming techniques, so I think they are not suitable examples to learn about filming fundamentals.

Basically, you need to be aware that the camera is “cutting off” the real space.

If it’s hard to understand through words, let me show it through images. I’m sorry it’s a bit rough since they’re only impromptu sketches that I made.

First is ‘PAN’.

In the case of PAN, the angle of view (the angle between camera and photographic subject) changes because the camera is in fixed position. I draw the image with a bit of exaggeration but the point is, when you film a moving photographic subject (from a fixed position) that comes from left, as you rotate the camera to follow the subject that moves to the right side, the image of subject and the background are changing because you took it from varying angles.

And here is the case for ‘Dolly’.

The direction of the background’s streamlines are reversed ^_^; ….well, putting that aside, do you understand my point?

The angle of the moving photographic subject and the background are not changing because you film it on a dolly as you follow the subject.

When I use ‘Follow’ in my storyboards, I write it ‘Follow (moving)’. ‘Dolly’ is not a general term so it’s not widely used yet, but I think it may be good if we could switch to it in the future.

To fully understand the two, you must not glued to your desk. Go outside and observe it with your own eyes.

Walk outside, and try to stop at the sidewalk and observe a moving car. That is ‘PAN’.

Take a train or bus, then observe the moving cars and vehicles from side window, that is ‘Dolly’. (Don’t try it while driving car or bicycle since it’s dangerous!)

When I’m animating or directing, rather than watching film (live action or animation), my first priority is to observe real people, things, and landscapes.

It is unexpectedly difficult to read the author’s intentions from their work. This is because it’s easier to be aware of what you have seen with your own eyes rather than what other people have intended you to see.

If you look at the work after observing it with your own eyes, I think you can grasp the author’s intentions more adequately.

First you need to make a clear picture of what you want to create, and choose the method that you wish to clear what you’ve aimed at.

…Choose the right method to clear what you have aimed at.

Well, now. What is ‘つけPAN’? (read: tsuke-PAN)

This is not a general term in camerawork techniques, but a technical term exclusive to anime. ‘つけPAN’ can be used in the case of ‘PAN’ or ‘Dolly’ in anime.

In Japanese animation, a cell of subject or object moves at 2s or 3s, but filming (撮影) moves at 1s.

When you chase a photographic subject with PAN, but the subject/object moves in 2s or 3s while the background moves in 1s, a gap will appears and you’ll find the images on screen rattling or vibrating.

Let me give you an easy to understand example. In the second half of ‘Lupin III: the Castle of Cagliostro’, the scene where the autogyro was hovering over the north castle looked a bit rattled on screen.

(Note: It seems the referred cut is this one, starts from 0:23 onward?)

It’s also the case when you see the characters walking on the ground, there appears a gap between the characters and ground which resulted in such a rattling effect.

(Note: I’m not sure about this one, but to give another example it may be best to observe this cut, the scene where Lupin and Zenigata were trying to escape from people who were chasing them. From 0:22 ~ 0:23, there’s a slight PAN that has been used in that shot, and the way they run looked out of sync when the camera is doing PAN.)

To prevent this, we use a tap (camera’s shooting axis) that secures the cell (such as characters) and film it separately from the background. This is an analog method, but the principle is same even for digital era.

With this, the camera’s filming at the same pace as the cell, even if the animation moves in 3s, there will be no rattling effects appear on screen.

However, when it is combined with background, it still does appear to be rattling.

Hence you can’t use つけPAN when there’s a combination of characters movement and moving background (in the case that the characters’ movement is in 2s or 3s).

The solution is, characters should move in 1s too.

I’ll use ‘Lupin III: the Fuma Conspiracy’ as an example. In the second half, the cut where the camera follows Lupin and co. who entered the cave from left to right, was made in 1s.

I could tell it because the animation suddenly moves in full animation (1s).

That’s it.

‘PAN’, and ‘Dolly’ or ‘Follow (move)’ are camerawork’s terms.

It’s alright to comprehend ‘つけPAN’ as an anime technique’s term.

So, it’s kind of wrong to give instruction such as “use ‘つけPAN'”, it’s more correct if it’s written like this: “In this PAN, use ‘つけPAN'”. In other words, it’s like saying “In this camerawork, use this technique.”, which is more thorough.

I think the usage of camerawork in digital animation & filming has changed, but the basic stays the same.

I often say this in ‘sakuga uchiawase‘ : “Try it (moving) yourself to grasp how it should move”. But it’s also applicable when you’re thinking about camerawork, don’t think on paper, test it yourself by holding a camera and observe how the footage looked like when you moved the camera. I recommend this way to fully grasp camerawork.

Such a way would surely enrich the image, wouldn’t it?

Although anime has its own uniqueness in animation and camerawork, but animation is originally a video expression so I think it’s better if you know the basic of live action filming and apply it in animation.

To sum it up, everything is from the basic first.

Inoue-san drawings have such a clear consciousness of that “real space between camera and subject” too.

Looking at Inoue-san’s genga book or going to see his genga exhibition at Sasayuri Cafe might’ve made you thinking: “Hmm…so it’s like that, I understand everything now.”