Tracking shot

In motion picture terminology, the term tracking shot may refer to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken; in this case the shot is also known as a dolly shot or trucking shot. One may dolly in on a stationary subject for emphasis, or dolly out, or dolly beside a moving subject (an action known as "dolly with").

The term may also refer to any shot in which the camera follows a subject within the frame, such as a moving actor or a moving vehicle. When using the term tracking shot in this sense, the camera may be moved in ways not involving a camera dolly, such as via a Steadicam, via handheld camera operator, or by being panned on a tripod.

The Italian feature film Cabiria (1914), directed by Giovanni Pastrone, was the first popular film to use dolly shots, which in fact were originally called "Cabiria movements" by contemporary filmmakers influenced by the film; however, some smaller American and English films had used the technique prior to Cabiria, as well as Yevgeni Bauer's The Child of the Big City, released a month prior to Cabiria. Earlier in 1912, Oscar Apfel used 4 tracking shots in his short film The Passer-By. A popular film using tracking shots was Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men. Another example of a Steadicam tracking shot can be seen in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining when Danny is moving through the hotel hallways on his three-wheeled bike.