Final Project: The Vertigo Shot

Overview

In this project we study the vertigo shot, or dolly zoom, thats used as a film effect in cinema today. In films like Jaws and Vertigo, this effect is achieved by limiting the field of view in the camera settings. Since we see less of the background, it's apparent that the subject in the shot is feeling limited with literally less space to move around. However, this will also change the focal length and magnitude of objects in the scene. If we want the audience to feel the effect while not zooming in on the subject's face, we also move the camera steadily away from the subject while zooming out. This becomes a struggle of finding a balance of speeds with moving the camera and zooming in or out. We explore this with our very own zoom lens and "steady-handed" techniques.

Camera used

For this project, I used a Sony a6000 with a 16 to 50 millimeter zoom lens, with 1/100 shutter speed, F10 aperature, and adaptive ISO. The only adjustments I made for the dolly zoom was changing the zoom magnifier and moving the entire camera back. For smoother shot effects, I rolled around on a longboard to avoid a jittery walk.

Locations chosen

When I took my footage shots, it was windy and cold outside. Not to mention, the days are getting shorter, and with a night owl sleep schedule, I get about 3 hours of sunlight each day. As a result, I lurked around MLK and the OCF, knowing that lighting won't be re-adjusted as drastically there. I focused my shots on my personal belongings, like my backpack and my boot. And for the bells and whistles, I wanted to do something with a moving subject, so I filmed myself walking towards and away from the camera. A big shout out to Ryan for helping me with the filming process! It was so much help and so much fun!

Difficulties I encountered

There were a slew of difficulties that kept me from living my dream as a Hollywood cameraman expert. One was keeping the hands steady as I filmed the vertigo shot. When changing the zoom, we adjust not only our field of view but also our depth, and since we see less of things from far away, a slight movement to the camera will translate to a lot of movement in the shot. And since we change our zoom as we film, some parts of the footage are drastically more shaky than other parts.

To fix this problem, I not only had to steady my nerves, but limit my degrees of movement as much as possible. Using a longboard to sit on was very helpful, as well as keeping my hands closer to my body so I don't move my arms. In the end, I think I took some satisfying shots. Below are some examples of the shots, broken up into 4 major groups.

Deliverables!

Bells and Whistles!