Why is it a common trend to pan the camera past an object then back to it?
The title might have been vague so let me clarify. I have see this in many movies and television series over the years, *even cartoons*. Let me create a scenario since I can't visually remember one to link to it.**Say Tom is looking through a telescope for Pam. He is looking and gradually moving vertically to the left.. he passes Pam.. *'he realizes'* and sharply jerks back to Pam bringing her into view.***Not to answer my own question*, but I get that this is trying to show that the person is actually looking for someone and might be in such a hurry that they pass them quickly or overlook them etc, but after possibly decades of its usage hasn't it become extremely obvious to viewers? Why is it still such a common trend?
It's common for the same reason that any trend or cliche is common. The filmmakers know that the audience knows what the trend means and they are relying on its familiarity to draw the audience into the desired emotion or revelation. In short, it's usually lazy (though not always).
