[Music] there are many ways to heighten a key moment in a film low profile get words profile but perhaps no technique is as dramatic as the dolly Zoom they're here this technique is used sparingly but when it is employed the results can be ening in this video we'll explain how to achieve the effect and examine some of the many ways to use it the countdown is not helping 4 3 2 1 this is The Ultimate Guide to the dolly [Music] Zoom before we begin be sure to subscribe and click the bell for more videos and tell us in the comments which camera movements or techniques you'd like us to cover [Music] next what exactly is a dolly Zoom that's son OFA in short a dolly Zoom is a shot that uses a combination of camera movement and shifting focal length to stretch or compress the background to create the effect you need two things a camera Dolly and a zoom lens there are two ways to execute the shot first the camera camera can be pushed toward the subject while the lens zooms out or the camera can be pulled away while the lens Zooms in the two opposite movements are what create the iconic [Music] effect and thanks to today's technology you can also create a similar result in post [Music] production a dolly Zoom can be employed for a variety of reasons but usually the technique indicates an emotional or tonal shift a Dotty Zoom often tells the audience something big has just happened For Better or For Worse but where did this technique come from the dolly Zoom is also called the Hitchcock shot or the vertigo effect because it was the master of suspense who first popularized it as his explains the idea came to him after an inebriated night out I always remember one night at the Chelsea Arts ball at Albert Hall in London when I got terribly drunk and I had the Sensation that everything was going far away from me in 1940 when he made Rebecca he wanted to visualize that sensation in this moment as Joan fonte character faints but they couldn't figure out how to achieve it the problem was keeping the subject fixed in position while the background stretches lengthwise this idea stuck with hitchock for years and it wasn't until vertigo nearly two decades later that a solution was found by his second unit DP man Roberts Hitchcock visualizes Scotty's fear of lights with disorienting POV shots they were created by using a miniature stairway laid on its side and photographed horizontally like many of the methods Hitchcock pioneered the dolly Zoom quickly was imitated by other filmmakers and continues to be used to this day now that we know the basic process of how the shot are achieved let's run through some considerations of how they can be tailored to fit the scene what are you staring at let's start with speed and focal length not all Dolly zooms are created equal take for example the speed of a dolly zoom in Goodfellas director Martin scores opts for a slow and subtle effect I got there 15 minutes early and I saw that Jimmy was already there he took the booth near the window so we could see everyone who drove up to the restaurant he wanted to make sure I wasn't tailed by pulling the camera back and zooming in the focal length gets longer and the background appears to get closer and closer the whole world is literally closing in on the two characters emphasizing Henry's growing paranoia don't talking phone right now you understand huh it's going to be okay I think you got a good chance of being the case meanwhile director Brad Bird uses the freedom Allowed by animation to achieve shots that would be essentially impossible otherwise in this example from Ratatouille Anton takes a bite that has an immediate effect this moment for Anton is meant to be sudden and cathartic as this memory rushes back to him appropriately then the dolly Zoom is extremely fast meant to give the audience a similar experience of whiplash besides speed the focal length of a lens can also change the look of these shots LAN shows just how dramatic the technique can be when the focal length changes significantly from wide to telephoto the massive change in focal length makes the effect extreme and [Music] dramatic in this scene from Pulp Fiction quent and Tarantino chooses a more subtle approach as m begins to feel the narcotics take hold I you count the this slight change means the depth of field remains relatively consistent but gives the moment an extra layer of emphasis but camera decisions aren't the only elements important to a dolly zoom's effect the background also play a r we lost we lost ad while the focus is almost always the character the elements around them can make the vertigo effect more or less pronounced let's compare these two examples from Scarface and severance because the background in Scarface is farther away the dolly Zoom is more noticeable the layers of cars give us a sense of depth so when the distance is crushed by the telephoto lens it is a dramatic change in Severance the background is much closer and simpler therefore the change in focal length is less noticeable without the vertical line shifting we might not notice the DOT at [Music] all compositional techniques can also be employed to enhance the effect [Music] Jesse for example leading lines to create one point perspective framing that accents the change in depth even further now let's look at some creative examples that pushes the dolly Zoom even farther it's nudy magazine day the traditional Dolly Zoom keeps the subject fixed in [Music] size to do this the change in camera position needs to match the change in photo length but playing with this ratio can yield interesting results give me the power I of you [Music] awake like in Squid game the camera pushes in more than the lens zooms out this is how we move from a medium shot to a closeup giving gun's reaction more dramatic weight adding a change in camera angle or rolling the ca camera can create even more kineticism to the [Music] shot most doly zooms occur once in a single [Music] shot but Spielberg shows us how both versions can work together in a shot in ET we start with a dolly in zoom out on a Sur and peaceful [Music] landscape then the authorities invade the [Music] frame and he reverses the move with a dolly out zoom in shrinking the space as they get closer and closer to their [Music] target a dolly Zoom can also be paired with a change in lighting to push the drama further and indicate a stark transition notice how the lighting on Simba darkens as we approach it's not a literal Shadow but an emotional one pure fear Sound and Music are also effective ways to enhance the power of a dolly Zoom open the door a great example of this is from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 as Peter learns the truth about his mother's death it broke my heart to put that tumor in her head what on the soundtrack a low hum descends while high strings rise in the mix both elements sonically match and intensify the dolly Zoom what no no all right I know that sounds [Music] bad so what happens when a dolly Zoom is augmented with a change in lighting camera angle and sound this shot from raging ball has it all it is a grand gradual shift inside Jake's subjective [Music] experience first the camera starts in a high angle and ends in a low angle to make Sugar Ray a more imposing figure then as the camera zooms out it adds depth separates Ray from the background and minimizes the crowd's presence which allows Jake's Focus to Center on Ray alone at the same time the sound drowns out to a muffled hum as we enter Jake's battered head space Ro Jake on finally the lighting Ray starts evenly lit but then the key light drops out turning him into a looming Spectre in near Sil wet this is an expert level use of the dolly Zoom the dolly Zoom is a specific technique with a wide variety of applications it can heighten the drama cue a transition add energy and much more all the variations on the dolly Zoom are a testament to experimentation you can evoke an entirely new feeling simply by manipulating your background complex shots like a dolly Zoom require a lot of planning and there's no better way to start planning on next shot than with studi binder storyboard software click the link in the description to get started that's all for now Zoom forth [Music]