**📅 Date:** ➤ ⌈[[2025-05-10-Sat〚 Dolly Zoom (Vertigo Effect)〛]] ⌋ **💭 Note:** ➤ It **visualizes internal emotional states** through external distortion of space. ➤ ⇩ 🅻🅸🅽🅺🆂 ⇩ **🏷️ Tags**: **🗂 Menu**: ⌈[[✢ M O C ➣ 05 ⌈M A Y - 2 0 2 5⌉ ✢|2025 - M A Y- MOC]]⌋ ⌈[[✢ L O G ➢ 05 ⌈M A Y - 2 0 2 5⌉ ✢|2025 - M A Y - LOG]]⌋ #👾/Private ➤ ⌈[[Severance-60 ·30·10 Color Ratio in Visual Storytelling]]⌋ ➤ ⌈[[Mid-Century Modernism (中世纪现代主义)]]⌋ ➤ ⌈[[Retro-Futurism（复古未来主义）]]⌋ ➤ ⌈[[Visual Hierarchy in Cinematography]]⌋ ➤ ⌈[[Camera Techniques in Psychological Storytelling]]⌋ **📑 PDF**： **🌐 Link**: **🌐 Link**: [Dolly Zoom Effect (Vertigo 1958)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7YJkBcRWB8&t=1s) --- ## I. 📌 What is a Dolly Zoom? - Also known as the **Vertigo Effect** or **Hitchcock Zoom**. - A cinematographic technique where the **camera dollies (moves) forward or backward** while **simultaneously zooming the lens** in the opposite direction. - Creates a **distortion of perspective** while keeping the subject the same size in the frame. - Named after its iconic use in Alfred Hitchcock's *Vertigo* (1958). --- ## 🧠 II. Psychological Impact - Produces a feeling of **disorientation**, **unreality**, or **emotional shock**. - Mimics experiences of: - Sudden realization - Intense fear - Dissociation - Anxiety or existential dread - It **visualizes internal emotional states** through external distortion of space. --- ## 🎬 How Dolly Zoom Works (Mechanically) - **Camera physically moves** (either toward or away from the subject). - **Lens simultaneously zooms** (opposite to the direction of movement). - Result: - Subject stays the same size. - Background appears to stretch, compress, or distort unnaturally. | Camera Moves | Lens Action | Visual Effect | |:---|:---|:---| | Dolly in (move closer) | Zoom out (widen) | Background expands outward | | Dolly out (move away) | Zoom in (tighten) | Background collapses inward | --- ## 🎥 Famous Uses of Dolly Zoom - **Vertigo (1958)** – Alfred Hitchcock - Original and most iconic use to represent acrophobia (fear of heights). - **Jaws (1975)** – Steven Spielberg - Police Chief Brody realizes a shark attack has happened. - ![[Pasted image 20250606203142.png]] - **Goodfellas (1990)** – Martin Scorsese - Shows paranoia as Henry Hill feels the FBI closing in. - **The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)** – Peter Jackson - Frodo senses the presence of the Nazgûl. - **Severance (Apple TV)** – - Used to represent psychological shifts between Outie and Innie consciousness. --- ## 🎯 When to Use a Dolly Zoom - To depict **shock, trauma, revelation**, or **emotional vertigo**. - To transition between **realities or mental states**. - To create an unsettling, dreamlike, or nightmarish visual mood. --- ## 🛠️ Practical Challenges - Requires **precise synchronization** between dolly movement and zoom action. - Needs **good focus pulling** to maintain sharpness during motion. - Works best with **foreground-background contrast** (but *Severance* shows it can be creatively adapted even with minimal backgrounds). --- ## 🔥 Key Takeaways - Dolly Zoom is not just a "cool trick" — it's a **visual metaphor** for ==psychological disruption==. - Best used **sparingly and meaningfully** to maximise emotional impact. - Mastering the technique requires coordination between the camera operator, the focus puller, and --- ## 📚 Extra Insights from Far Out Magazine (2024) - **Hitchcock’s *Vertigo* popularized the dolly zoom**, making it synonymous with psychological disorientation. - ![[Pasted image 20250606203105.png|#left|300]] - In *Vertigo*, Hitchcock used the dolly zoom to **simulate Scottie's acrophobia** by positioning the camera from his perspective as he looked down a staircase. - The technique was praised for **altering the audience’s perception** to reflect the character’s **mental state**, reinforcing the film’s themes of **obsession and madness**. - **Careful technical precision** was needed: perfect synchronization of camera movement and lens zoom. - Hitchcock’s inventive use demonstrated how **visual techniques could serve as deep narrative metaphors**, influencing generations of filmmakers afterward. [Source: Far Out Magazine - "How Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ popularised the dolly zoom"](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/alfred-hitchcock-vertigo-dolly-zoom/)