What is a tracking shot, and what are the best examples?

We’ll cover:

• What is a tracking shot?
• What’s the purpose of a tracking shot?
• Who invented tracking shots?
• What are the different types of tracking shots?
• What’s the difference between a pan shot and a tracking shot?
• What are the best tracking shot examples in movies and TV?

What is a tracking shot?

A tracking shot is a camera shot that moves to follow the subject forward, backward, or sideways without cutting. This is in stark contrast with most static shots, which cut across the scene to “follow” the subject instead of tracking in one unbroken shot.

Modern tracking shots are usually composed with a camera dolly and tracks, but can also be achieved with a gimbal or Steadicam rig. Viewers are used to tracking shots following actors, but there’s nothing stopping tracking shots from tailing animals, vehicles, and more.

Tracking shots may move in a circle around the subject. They might also be digitally “stitched” together from different shots, to give the illusion of a continuous take. One of the more notable examples here is Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, which assembles its footage to make the entire film feel like one shot.

What’s the purpose of a tracking shot?

A film director or DOP may use tracking shots to immerse viewers, emphasize a scene’s energy, hammer home emotion, or establish new scenes and locations.

Immersing viewers

Tracking shots often feel more “real” than static shots, as their one-shot movements more accurately depict how we see the world. Whether the shot’s racing across a battlefield or following a shopper through a mall, it puts viewers in the subject’s shoes.

Emphasizing a scene’s energy

Let’s take the battlefield example — that’s not going to be calm. That’s going to be hell on earth. A chaotic, rugged, long tracking shot can give the scene the extra bleakness and tension it needs.

Sam Mendes’ 1917 is famous for appearing as two long, continuous takes. The below scene centers on a terrifying sprint across the battlefield, which undoubtedly feels more terrifying when expressed with a tracking shot.

Hammering home emotions

A character finds out some incredible news. Some bad news. Some confusing, life-changing news. A tracking shot follows them as they process their feelings in real time.

Establishing new scenes or locations

Establishing shots are great for setting the scene, but tracking shots can take viewers through key locations in a more grounded fashion. This way, viewers understand that the places they’re seeing are tied to the subject and story.

Who invented tracking shots?

The earliest mainstream example of tracking shots can be found in Giovanni Pastrone’s 1914 film, Cabiria. The movie is recognized as the first in popular media to use a camera dolly, making tracking shots sleek and easy to set up.

What are the different types of tracking shots?

“Tracking shot” can be a broad term, and people have different names for different movements. Popular variants include the dolly, lateral, circular, drone, and reverse tracking shot. These terms usually combine the tracking shot with other filmmaking techniques.

Dolly tracking shot

A dolly tracking shot is a tracking shot performed on a dolly rig. This means that the camera follows the subject while rolling on a set of dolly tracks, capturing the footage in a smooth, even movement. A dolly tracking shot can be applied to most of the below variants.

Lateral tracking shot

A lateral tracking shot follows the subject sideways. These are great for establishing the landscape of a scene, or for shots where characters are walk-and-talking. Lateral tracking shots are also called truck shots. David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence opens with a painfully slow lateral tracking shot, which establishes the location, characters, and style.

Circular tracking shot

Circular tracking shots, which are also called 360-degree dolly shots, circle the subject with a dolly. While this is great for action, it can also make low-stakes or visually plain scenes feel a little spicier.

Drone tracking shot

A drone or aerial tracking shot follows the subject from a bird’s-eye view, offering a perspective viewers wouldn’t usually see. These kinds of shots were traditionally reserved for projects with sizable budgets, as a helicopter or crane would’ve been needed. Nowadays, though? You can use drones for tracking shots.

Reverse tracking shot

A reverse tracking shot pulls away from the subject as they move forward, often creating unease. Stanley Kubrick used this technique in a ton of his movies — here’s an example from The Shining.

Need a cheat sheet? Here’s a table covering the different tracking shots we just mentioned.

Different types of tracking shots

What’s the difference between a pan shot and a tracking shot?

A pan shot rotates horizontally, usually to reveal information or quickly follow the action. The camera stays in a fixed location, which means it doesn’t “follow” subjects like tracking shots do.

Pan and tracking shots are sometimes referred to interchangeably, as they both involve movement, and can be combined. Check out the below pan shots from Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited.

What are the best tracking shot examples in movies and TV?

Now that we’ve discussed what tracking shots are, why they’re important, and how they can differ, let’s finish with some best-in-class examples from film and TV.

Touch of Evil (1958)

The stakes are established within the first 30 seconds of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, as we see a man plant a bomb in the trunk of a car. A couple gets into the vehicle and the camera follows with an aerial tracking shot, before dropping into the street to shoot the scene at eye level. 

But then, in the same tracking shot, the camera moves away from the car. Now it’s tracking two other characters, Mike and Susie Vargas, as they walk down the street. The car moves out of the shot, leaving viewers with the sound of the ticking bomb, wondering where it is and when it will explode. The car weaves in and out of Mike and Susie’s path, creating nerve-shredding suspense.

GoodFellas (1990)

Nobody does gangster movies quite like Martin Scorsese. Aside from its elite-tier cast, script, and production design, Scorsese’s GoodFellas is notable for its director’s eye for detail.

Let’s take the scene where Henry Hill takes his girlfriend, Karen Friedman, to the Copacabana Club. As it’s their first date, the audience sees it all as Karen does: for the first time. The tracking shot makes us feel like Karen, evoking a mixture of awe and downright confusion. 

Oldboy (2003)

Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy still shocks audiences to this day, not only through its subject matter but its technical prowess. The corridor fight scene, which took fifteen takes across two days, lasts nearly three minutes. It’s one unbroken, lateral tracking shot, following the protagonist, Oh Dae-su, through a corridor.

We feel every hit, every miss, every time Dae-su nearly falls victim to the wave of enemies rushing him. It’s overwhelming. The scene’s kinetic simplicity is what’s so complicated, and it’s since been homaged in multiple movies and TV shows, including Marvel-owned properties.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

There Will Be Blood is often remembered for Daniel Day-Lewis’ role of a lifetime as Daniel Plainview, chewing scenery all the way from the oil fields to the Oscars. His performance works because everything in Paul Thomas Anderson’s period drama is so well realized and authentic. 

The below scene features several tracking shots. One shows Plainview rushing his son to safety after a gas blowout. The shot’s around 45 seconds long, Jonny Greenwood’s sinister score ratcheting up the tension.

Then, Plainview leaves his son to deal with the oil payload. There’s a similar tracking shot here, backed again by Greenwood’s percussive score and a sky swallowed by flames.

Both tracking shots convey Plainview’s urgency, but the second gives us more context about the first. Was he only really getting his son away quickly so he could return to the oil?

True Detective (2014)

This tracking shot from True Detective’s first season is an absolute nightmare, taking viewers into a close-quarters raid on a housing project. We’d suggest a long, relaxing walk after watching.

Wrapping up on tracking shots

Tracking shots are cinematic shorthand for a journey, whether that be physical or emotional. While they’re most often used to emphasize more extreme genres like action and horror, they’re great for establishing locations and livening up more static scenes.

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