CS194-26

Image Manipulation and Computational Photography

Final Project 3: The Vertigo Shot

Morad Shefa

Parsa Fereydouni



Overview

For this project we recreate the famous dolly zoom in-camera effect, also known as the "Vertigo shot". Getting its name from Hitchcock's 'Vertigo', this effect is achieved by moving away or towards from the target while changing the FOV.

Process

The process for achieving this effect is quite simple. The camera mounted on top of a stabilizing dolly (hence the name) is positioned close to the subject with the lens zoomed out all the way. The back ground appears relatively small. Then the camera is moved away from the subject at the same speed as the lens zooms in on the subject. The subject still apears the same size as before, but the background now appears larger and larger due to the zoom. For our purpose, we were not recording a video but taking multiple images. Thus a simple tripod was used instead of an expensive dolly. We started by placing the tripod close and with the camera at the same height as the subject. We captured the image and then moved the camera a certain distance away, zoomed in until the subject appeared the same size and in the same region as before and captured the image again. We repeated this step multiple times. The camera used for this project was the Sony alpha 6300.

Result 1:

Oscilloscope:

1. Closest to the subject. No zoom.
2
3
4
5
6. Fartherst from the subject. Max zoom.

Result 2:

VertiMo: (lol, get it? His name is Mo(rad))

1. Closest to the subject. No zoom.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9. Fartherst from the subject. Max zoom.

Bells and Whistles:

1) The sequences assembeled into animated gifs:
Oscilloscope gif
VertiMo gif

A faster version of the gif:

Fast VertiMo gif
2) Different combinations of moving the subject and camera:

In the previous part we made sure to move away from the subject the same amount as we zoom in, to give the illusion that the distance from the subject has not been changed. After multiple experiments, we found out that if we move the camera more than we zoom in, we can convey a different illusion. By doing that, and also starting the tripod at a slightly lower height from the obstacle and having the camera at an angel, looking up to the subject, we can make it feel like the subject is getting closer in an intimidating and towering manner. To further emphasize this, we assembled the gif in reverse:

Intimidating gif