# Infinite Zooming (from the movie Limitless) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866 "2018-05-09T16:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/1 "2018-05-09T16:09:19Z")
Several times during the movie and during the opening credits (see link) the camera zooms and zooms and zooms and zooms without a break. What sort of trickery did they do to do this? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uy_NJjRT3zk/maxresdefault.jpg "Limitless Intro [HD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy_NJjRT3zk) ---
**Author:** ![BillGates](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@BillGates](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BillGates)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/2 "2018-05-09T16:27:40Z")
My first post here at SD forums! I’m not the author of the article, but here’s your answer: \*\*Infinite Zoom Lens: How the Opening Scene of ‘Limitless’ Was Created \*\*MAR 28, 2011 [https://www.techhive.com/article/223108/limitless\_infinite\_zoom.html](https://www.techhive.com/article/223108/limitless_infinite_zoom.html) ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/3 "2018-05-09T17:17:57Z")
> [@BillGates](#): > > My first post here at SD forums! I’m not the author of the article, but here’s your answer: > > \*\*Infinite Zoom Lens: How the Opening Scene of ‘Limitless’ Was Created > \*\*MAR 28, 2011 > > [https://www.techhive.com/article/223108/limitless\_infinite\_zoom.html](https://www.techhive.com/article/223108/limitless_infinite_zoom.html) Nice! Thanks!! Edit: I just read the article. That’s amazing! Wow! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/4 "2018-05-09T18:01:58Z")
Read article. The patience, the dedication, the idea… WOW I always love those kinds of shots and I don’t really look for ways to see how they did it, I just enjoy the view. Great info by your posting of that. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/5 "2018-05-09T18:26:05Z")
See [http://htwins.net/scale/](http://htwins.net/scale/) for an interactive zooming scale. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/6 "2018-05-10T16:40:10Z")
I notice that the building that it zooms onto the roof of at the end doesn’t actually exist in that area of Manhattan (Madison Street, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges). If you compare the zoom-in to the Google Maps view, you can see that it doesn’t match what is on screen,. The film puts a six-lane street roughly where Market Street should be, and none of the buildings in the central area it zooms into match (but the wider surrounding area does have the right buildings). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/7 "2018-05-10T17:48:05Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I notice that the building that it zooms onto the roof of at the end doesn’t actually exist in that area of Manhattan (Madison Street, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges). If you compare the zoom-in to the Google Maps view, you can see that it doesn’t match what is on screen,. The film puts a six-lane street roughly where Market Street should be, and none of the buildings in the central area it zooms into match (but the wider surrounding area does have the right buildings). Yeah, the article linked by the billionaire mentions that they took liberty with the arrangement of Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/8 "2018-05-11T02:36:10Z")
Zoomquilts [https://www.google.com/search?q=zoomquilt&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-ab](https://www.google.com/search?q=zoomquilt&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-ab) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infinite-zooming-from-the-movie-limitless/813866/9 "2018-05-11T10:59:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yeah, the article linked by the billionaire mentions that they took liberty with the arrangement of Manhattan. Yes, it also repeats some bits during the street zoom sequence (there’s a store called “Million Nails” on the right that appears twice in succession, for instance).