# What is called in a movie when...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592 "2005-06-02T18:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/1 "2005-06-02T18:56:25Z")
What is called in a movie when the camera goes close up on something and then pulls back and it’s something else? For Example; A kid in a bath tub, the camera will go close up on the water and in the next scene it’s pulling away from a raging ocean. Does anyone at least know what I mean? All I got today was blank stares. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/2 "2005-06-02T19:00:16Z")
A transition? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/3 "2005-06-02T19:04:16Z")
Transition sounds like what **START** ’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/4 "2005-06-02T19:11:18Z")
I think that it may be a transition. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/5 "2005-06-02T19:11:49Z")
It is a transition, but I think there’s a name for the specific type of transition **START** is talking about. Can’t think what it is, though… ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/6 "2005-06-02T19:25:09Z")
It sounds kind of like a jump cut mixed with a transition. ---
**Author:** ![Arhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arhat)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/7 "2005-06-02T19:51:53Z")
Match cut? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/8 "2005-06-02T21:19:38Z")
I’m sure I’ve heard this called a segue… a lot, but I’m not at all sure that’s the correct term. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/9 "2005-06-02T21:31:44Z")
> [@Arhat](#): > > Match cut? That’s what I’d call it, too. [Definition](http://www.sla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/theory/narratology/terms/match.html). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/10 "2005-06-02T22:27:10Z")
Personally, I’d like to know the name of a scene where a character looks in a bathroom mirror, bends down to get a toothbrush, straightens up _and sees the reflection of the axe-wielding maniac standing behind him!_ Well, aside from “ridiculously over-used cliché”, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/11 "2005-06-02T23:52:05Z")
I’d say match cut too, given that the images are linked: probably the most famous example is in **2001** , where the slowly rotating bone tossed by the ape cuts to the revolving space station, neatly summarising two million odd years of progress. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/12 "2005-06-03T01:08:17Z")
**Arhat** got it right. Except I also learned it as “graphic match cut”. Either way, it’s when the transition is a cut matching linked graphic images. A famous example is the shot in David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” when O’Toole is holding a match and lets it burn down to his fingers, when he blows it out. CUT from an extreme close-up of the match going out to the fiery Arabian sun… ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/13 "2005-06-03T01:16:54Z")
An alternative is to a graphic match were one expected sound is abruptly cut away to a similar sounding noise in another scene. A terrified woman poised top scream, and the cult cuts away toa a factory whistle blowing, a tea kettle whisting or a police siren blaring There were a series of these graphic and sound cuts, mostly overlapping dialogue, in one of the Austin powers movies. ---
**Author:** ![Arhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arhat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/14 "2005-06-03T01:44:08Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > **Arhat** got it right. Yay me! The graphic match cut vs. sound match cut is an interesting distinction. I suppose if the bone to space station from _2001_ is the quintessential graphic match cut, the scream to train whistle from Hitchcock’s _The 39 Steps_ would be the quintessential sound match cut. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/15 "2005-06-03T01:49:50Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > **Arhat** A famous example is the shot in David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” when O’Toole is holding a match and lets it burn down to his fingers, when he blows it out. CUT from an extreme close-up of the match going out to the fiery Arabian sun… That one is doubly clever because of the inherent pun: it really _is_ a match cut. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/16 "2005-06-03T01:58:49Z")
Ooh! I have another one! What’s it called in a movie when the camera appears steady, focused on a character mid-frame, and suddenly all the background stuff appears to be moving further away or (sometimes) moving closer to the camera? It’s generally used in “sudden realization” sequences, but of course I can’t think of an example right now. Furthermore, how do they do it? I assume all the trees and whatnot in the background aren’t actually moving… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/17 "2005-06-03T02:04:28Z")
My all-time favorite match cut, though, is a combination sound-graphic one. David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet”: Kyle MacLachlan (yes, I had to look it up) has brought a severed ear he found to the police. The detective says, [paraphrasing] “Yes, it’s a human ear, all right. And it looks like it was cut with _scissors_.” CUT – to a giant pair of shears cutting through the yellow “CRIME SCENE” tape around the site of the grisly discovery… ---
**Author:** ![Arhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arhat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/18 "2005-06-03T02:06:48Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Ooh! I have another one! > > What’s it called in a movie when the camera appears steady, focused on a character mid-frame, and suddenly all the background stuff appears to be moving further away or (sometimes) moving closer to the camera? It’s generally used in “sudden realization” sequences, but of course I can’t think of an example right now. > > Furthermore, how do they do it? I assume all the trees and whatnot in the background aren’t actually moving… From [here](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/trivia): “Uncredited second-unit cameraman Irmin Roberts invented the famous ‘forward zoom and reverse tracking’ shot (now sometimes called ‘contra-zoom’ or ‘trombone shot’) to convey the sense of vertigo to the audience.” First seen in Hitchcock’s _Vertigo_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/19 "2005-06-03T02:08:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Ooh! I have another one! > > What’s it called in a movie when the camera appears steady, focused on a character mid-frame, and suddenly all the background stuff appears to be moving further away or (sometimes) moving closer to the camera? It’s generally used in “sudden realization” sequences, but of course I can’t think of an example right now. > > Furthermore, how do they do it? I assume all the trees and whatnot in the background aren’t actually moving… Ooh, I know this too! It’s a combination forwards zoom/backwards tracking shot. You set up the tracks, affix camera and operator, and have crew pull him backwards as he zooms in with the lens. It produces an odd, vertiginous, disorienting effect allright, as the backround kind of falls away. It’s become quite the trendy director’s trick of late. And right now I can’t think of a single bleeping example of it. Aaargh! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592/20 "2005-06-03T02:12:28Z")
…although “/reverse tracking” sounds so much more, oh, professional. Do I at least get partial credit for using the word _vertiginous_, albeit without nailing the **Vertigo** reference? :wally [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-called-in-a-movie-when/306592.md?page=2)