This shot sees the camera track forward from the actor whilst simultaneously zooming out, or vice-versa. So the foreground generally stays the same while the background increases or decreases across the frame. First invented by Alfred Hitchcock in Vertigo to create a dizzying, vertiginous effect, it’s become quite the filming technique among the industry’s top filmmakers. However, as it’s a tough shot to get right, actors really need to be on their A-game when filming and a little patience goes a long way.
The dolly zoom, also referred to as the Vertigo effect or a Zolly shot, is a technique wherein the camera is dollied either forward or backward while the zoom on the lens is pulled in the opposite direction.
The visual appearance for the viewer is that either the background suddenly grows in size and detail and overwhelms the foreground, or the foreground becomes immense and dominates its previous setting, depending on which way the dolly zoom is executed. As the human visual system uses both size and perspective cues to judge the relative sizes of objects, seeing a perspective change without a size change is a highly unsettling effect, often with strong emotional impact.
ICONIC EXAMPLE: The moment Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) realizes his worst fears have come true when first seeing Jaws. Jaws (1975).
The dolly zoom, also referred to as the Vertigo effect or a Zolly shot, is a technique wherein the camera is dollied either forward or backward while the zoom on the lens is pulled in the opposite direction.
The visual appearance for the viewer is that either the background suddenly grows in size and detail and overwhelms the foreground, or the foreground becomes immense and dominates its previous setting, depending on which way the dolly zoom is executed. As the human visual system uses both size and perspective cues to judge the relative sizes of objects, seeing a perspective change without a size change is a highly unsettling effect, often with strong emotional impact.
ICONIC EXAMPLE: The moment Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) realizes his worst fears have come true when first seeing Jaws. Jaws (1975).
