The "unchained camera technique" ("Entfesselte Kamera" in German) was an innovation by filmmaker F.W. Murnau that allowed for filmmakers to get shots from cameras in motion enabling them to use pan shots, tracking shots, tilts, crane shots etc.
The technique was introduced by Murnau in his 1924 silent film, The Last Laugh, and is arguably the most important stylistic innovation of the 20th century, setting the stage for some of the most commonly used cinematic techniques of modern contemporary cinema.
Famous quotes containing the words camera and/or technique:
“In what camera do you taste
Poison, in what darkness set
Glittering scales and point
The tipping tongue?”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The moment a man begins to talk about technique that’s proof that he is fresh out of ideas.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)