How to learn camerawork
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Learn about different focal lengths and the look they produce
Having equipped yourself with a camera, you can start experimenting. There is virtually no limit to what you can do, but try this exercise, which will be very useful to those who have just started on the path to making films or videos: take your camera and zoom back completely. You are now using the shortest focal length available on your camera. Walk around with the camera. Move towards objects, past them, and away from them.
Now zoom in all the way and repeat the exercise (you are now using the longest focal length on your camera). You will notice that the image is a lot more stable and smooth when using the wide setting; conversely, it is jerky when using a long focal length. This is why wide lenses are generally used in handheld work, or when the camera is mounted on a Steadicam or similar stabilizing rig. When the camera is mounted on a dolly, lenses at either end of the spectrum can be used. Very cool shots can be achieved by moving the camera fitted with a long lens. Michael Bay and James Cameron frequently employ such shots, particularly to confer some movement to otherwise static dialogue scenes. For an example, check out the scene in James Cameron's “True Lies” where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Arnold are talking on the street, right after Arnie visits his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) at her workplace.
Aside from that, long lenses produce a fundamentally different look to wide lenses and experienced film and video makers instinctively know which focal length suits the particular subject being filmed.