Biggest surprise for me was how rare the stereotypical flyby is. The camera, in most shots, barely rotates, if at all. Even in the prequels with far better motion control rigs and pure CGI that kind of shot was rare. In the OT, I think the only panning flybys are in ROTJ.
My experience with cinematics in Waves of Steel was that it was best to EITHER move the camera quickly OR have the subject do complex/fast motions. Combining the two just makes for a confusing shot. And especially for establishing shots (which most flybys are), you want things to be easy to read.
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I didn't think about it that way, but yeah, that is kind of the purpose of these shots.