A pan is a horizontal camera movement in which the camera rotates on its vertical axis, sweeping left or right while remaining fixed in place. Unlike a tracking shot where the camera physically moves through space, a pan pivots from a stationary position, producing a sweeping reveal of the scene across the width of the frame.

Pans serve several distinct purposes in filmmaking. A follow pan tracks a moving subject horizontally, keeping them in frame as they move across the scene. A reveal pan sweeps across a landscape, environment, or lineup of subjects to progressively show the viewer something new. A whip pan moves so rapidly that the image blurs into indistinct horizontal streaks, used as a stylistic transition between shots or to convey sudden, energetic movement. Slower, deliberate pans establish geography by showing the spatial relationship between elements across a wide area. The speed of a pan communicates tone: slow pans feel contemplative or majestic, faster pans feel urgent or dynamic, and whip pans feel kinetic and abrupt.

When prompting AI video generation, directional pan language is generally well understood. Phrases like "slow pan left across the skyline," "pan right to reveal the crowd," or "whip pan transition" communicate the type and character of the movement clearly. Specifying both the direction and the speed helps the model generate camera motion that matches the intended pacing and emotional quality of the scene.