# A video camera trick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487 "2007-04-02T22:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/1 "2007-04-02T22:29:08Z")
How do they pull off the shot where the foreground seems to come closer and the background moves further away? I have no camera knowledge so the effect is quite effective to me and always boggles my mind. – IG ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/2 "2007-04-02T22:36:53Z")
I believe you zoom in and track out (or vice versa). The movie camera is on a track – like a narrow railroad track. The camera is moved back away from the actors on the track, while the lense is zoomed in. If done correctly, foreground objects remain the same size, but the background changes. Alfred Hitchcock’s use of it in **Vertigo** popularized the effect. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/3 "2007-04-02T22:36:57Z")
[QUOTE=Improv Geek] How do they pull off the shot where the foreground seems to come closer and the background moves further away? I have no camera knowledge so the effect is quite effective to me and always boggles my mind. – IG [/QUOTE] I recall that being done with two dolleys, the camera on one, the foreground/actor on the other. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/4 "2007-04-02T22:37:24Z")
Two ways I can think of. First, a composite shot, using greenscreen. That is, two images (foreground, background) combined in a computer. Second, if the camera simultaneously moves closer to the foreground while zooming out – going from telephoto to wide-angle. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/5 "2007-04-02T22:40:01Z")
[Dolly zoom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_zoom). ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/6 "2007-04-03T13:04:55Z")
Ah ha! Thanks guys. – IG ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/7 "2007-04-03T14:28:52Z")
Also called a “trombone” shot. ---
**Author:** ![olmrfu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e68b1a/32.png) [@olmrfu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/olmrfu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/8 "2007-04-03T14:54:12Z")
It’s funny, but in the famous movies where it’s been done, like Vertigo, it didn’t seem like much. I guess it impressed camera men most because they had to figure out how to corordinate it. But to the bumpkin audience, it was just another zoom. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/9 "2007-04-03T15:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=olmrfu] It’s funny, but in the famous movies where it’s been done, like Vertigo, it didn’t seem like much. I guess it impressed camera men most because they had to figure out how to corordinate it. But to the bumpkin audience, it was just another zoom. [/QUOTE] The best effects don’t seem like an effect and you may not even realise something is happening, but they evoke an emotional response in the audience. The dolly zoom is quite powerful when used tastefully and I think the bumpkin audience is affected by it even if unconsciously. ---
**Author:** ![WonJohnSoup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f17d59/32.png) [@WonJohnSoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WonJohnSoup)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/10 "2007-04-03T16:40:09Z")
Yeah, it would be the other way around. Being far from the subject with a long telezoom causes a “compression” effect where the background seems closer to the foreground. An old time movie trick is to use this technique with a car chasing the hero or a fireball explosion behind him or whatever. The compression effect makes the car/fireball look much closer to the person than it actually it. Being close to the subject with a wide angle lens causes the opposite effect where the foreground dominates and the background seems far away. The key is to keep the relative size of the foreground subject the same in the frame. Perspective will change however, with the effect of being close with a wide angle lens looking very strange on human features. Usually being far but zooming in close isn’t too noticable, though the faces actually do become a little flat. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-video-camera-trick/398487/11 "2007-04-04T13:34:04Z")
[QUOTE=WonJohnSoup] Yeah, it would be the other way around. Being far from the subject with a long telezoom causes a “compression” effect where the background seems closer to the foreground. An old time movie trick is to use this technique with a car chasing the hero or a fireball explosion behind him or whatever. The compression effect makes the car/fireball look much closer to the person than it actually it. Being close to the subject with a wide angle lens causes the opposite effect where the foreground dominates and the background seems far away. The key is to keep the relative size of the foreground subject the same in the frame. Perspective will change however, with the effect of being close with a wide angle lens looking very strange on human features. Usually being far but zooming in close isn’t too noticable, though the faces actually do become a little flat. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen it done both ways. The animated GIF example from _Goodfellas_ on the Wiki link is done by tracking the camera back while zooming the lens in, which brings the background “closer” to the action. The opposite technique, tracking in while zooming out, makes the background appear to recede from the foreground character. I can’t think of a movie example, but it’s usually done to give a sense of isolation or disorientation.