Paraplex

Camera language

camera-language · by Paraplex

What each camera move means (push, pull, pan, tilt, orbit, dolly zoom, rack focus), framing rules, moving on a cut versus holding, parallax by depth, arcs over straight lines. Load when the camera should move or a shot needs framing.

Camera language

The camera is a narrator. A move says something about what it is looking at; a move with nothing to say is a wobble. Most pieces need one camera idea per shot, and many shots need none — a still frame with the subject moving is a choice, not an omission.

The moves and what they mean

  • Push in (push-in): attention narrows; this is the thing. Slow (1.5–3 s) for gravity, fast (0.5 s) for a punch. End on the subject filling the frame it deserves, not the whole frame.
  • Pull back (pull-back): context; here is where it sits, or the reveal of what was around it. Often the last move of a piece.
  • Pan / tilt (pan, tilt): follow or connect — from one thing to the next along a line. Pans read left to right in Latin scripts; a right-to-left pan feels like going back.
  • Orbit (orbit): the object is three-dimensional and worth walking around. A third of a turn is plenty; a full turn is a turntable, which is a product shot, not a story.
  • Whip (whip): a cut disguised as a move. Use it to join two shots with energy; it needs a blur or it reads as a mistake.
  • Dolly zoom (dolly-zoom): unease, vertigo, a realization. Once per piece at most, and only when the subject deserves it.
  • Rack focus (rack-focus): attention passes from one thing to another without the camera moving. Needs depth between the two and a shallow aperture.

Framing

  • Thirds. Put the subject on a third line, not the center, unless symmetry is the point (a hero product, a logo).
  • Headroom and lead room. Leave space above a subject and in the direction it faces or moves. A card sliding right wants room on the right.
  • Scale. A subject that fills 30–50% of the frame reads as a hero; 10–20% reads as one of several; over 70% is a detail shot.
  • Depth. Put something in front and something behind. Three planes — foreground, subject, background — is the cheapest way to make a flat layout feel like a place.

Move on a cut or hold on a cut

Cutting into a moving camera is jarring unless both shots move the same way; cut on a hold, then start the move a few frames in. Ending a shot: let the move finish and hold 6–12 frames before the cut. Two consecutive shots should not both push in; alternate energy (push, hold, pull; or push, pan, hold).

Parallax by depth

Layers at different depths move at different rates under a pan or an orbit — that is the only depth cue a flat screen has. Spread the scene in z (foreground at +0.4, subject at 0, background at −1 or further) and even a small pan sells the space. If everything is at one depth the camera move looks like the image sliding.

The arc over the straight line

A camera that travels in a straight line is a rail; one that travels in a slight arc is a person. Paraplex's orbit is an arc by nature; for a push or a pan add a small lateral or vertical drift (5–10% of the main travel) so the path bows.

Lens

Longer focal lengths (50–85 mm) flatten and flatter — products, portraits, type; wider (24–35 mm) exaggerate depth and drama — environments, big reveals. Do not change the focal length inside a shot unless it is a dolly zoom. Depth of field is a spotlight: shallow for one subject, deep for a layout that must be read whole.

What to avoid

  • A move on every shot.
  • A move with nothing at the end of it (push in to nothing).
  • Ease-in-out on a camera that starts off screen: a camera that is already moving arrives with an ease-out.
  • Orbits that reveal the backs of flat panels.
  • Camera shake on a UI or product piece, unless it is about impact — and then once (set_camera_shake impactAt). A documentary or explainer is the exception: under the whole piece, the Documentary style (set_camera_shake style "documentary") is the handheld life that keeps it from looking like a slideshow.

Paraplex recipes

Hero push: add_camera_move move "push-in", layer "Hero card", durationSeconds 2.4, easing "ease" (a slow settle), startSeconds at the shot's start. Hold 1 s before the cut.

Walk around the product: add_camera_move move "orbit", layer "Product", durationSeconds 4, amount 0.6 (a bit under a third of a turn). Give the product depth with a rim light (add_light type "spot" behind it) so the turn shows an edge.

Reveal the layout: start close — add_camera_move move "pull-back", durationSeconds 1.6, easing "ease-out" — after the hero has been read.

Attention passes to the caption: add_camera_move move "rack-focus", layer "Caption", durationSeconds 0.8; the caption sits nearer the camera than the hero.

Three planes: set_property position.z of the background −1.2, the subject 0, a foreground detail +0.5; then any pan of 0.3 shows the space.