Staging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2vEAMN7UJg

Here's a video on understanding the concept of staging, a video on the principles of animation in 3D.
It talks through camera angles and how to set these up so the audience gets the best experience from the animation as possible. For instance in this case we have a sceen where a creature is walking, then turns suddenly and smacks his face into a brick. Instead of looking at this scene as a whole, the animator has set the camera to follow the creature as it is walking; only to reveal the brick just before it walks into it using as panning shot, thus creating suspense and suspense for the audience. As the animator says "using the principle of staging to come up with something more clear and entertaining to watch".

There are a series of these videos on the different principles if you would find it useful!