Reframing

A technical term for short panning or tilting movements used to adjust for movements of the subject(s) in order to keep them on screen or centered in the frame and maintain the balance of composition. Reframing is an important and generally unobtrusive technique that helps to keep the viewer’s eye fixed on the most important figures within the frame. The actions of the character(s) should absorb the viewer’s attention and take precedence over these slight camera movements in such a way that reframing mostly goes unnoticed. In contrast, a following shot entails significantly more camera movement.