Amelie

[stanley k]

I saw "Amelie," yesterday and the ingenious cinematography and creativity in that movie was so refreshing. In the end, the film may be a little too sweet for some, but I recommend those of you really interested in alternative ways of shooting a film to give it a chance and watch how zooms and angles are used to increas the tension and focus onto a character. I really enjoyed it.

Stanley K

------------------

[Matt Pacini]

I'm gonna see it, but I don't know about those zooms....
I hate zooms, unless it's really an exceptional circuimstance, so I'm warning you, I may give it two zoom lenses down! (har har)

------------------

[mattias]

> alternative ways of shooting a film

to be honest, it didn't strike me as very alternative, especially not considering how many different and creative shooting styles people use these days. what did you have in mind? it was a really good film though, and the camera work is indeed pretty cool.

(i like zooms)

/matt

[8th Man]

Maybe it's time for a thread on zoom VS. truck-in. I like zooms if they are used without drawing too much attention to themselves. Too obvious and they seem amateurish.
Truck in's tend to be a deep space technique while zooms tend to be a flat space way of moving in or away from a subject, Kubrik's Barry Lyndon for instance.
That Hitchcock zoom thing has go to go, though. I think that is the most over-used thing in student style filmaking and a little goes a loooong way.
There is something to be said for invisible filmmaking in these days of flashy style over substance.

------------------
PRM

[crimsonson]

I am excited to watch this film also. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "City of the Lost Children" was phenomenal. I would like to see what kind of visual tricks he got up his sleeve. I think he is comedian at heart.

------------------


[This message has been edited by crimsonson (edited November 13, 2001).]

[Matt Pacini]

I think a truck in is always preferrable over a zoom.
The problem with a zoom is, the focal length is changing, so the distance relationship between everything from the foreground to the backgrounds is changing throughout the shot.
I don't beleive it's possible to do this very much anyway, without calling attention to itself.
The exception of course is, if it's REALLY slow, or a short zoom, (also slow).
I almost gag when I see otherwise good films shot in the 60's, where there are freakin' zoom in's everywhere, really long one's too.
Totally annoying and unnatural.
Truck in's are awesome, especially if you're just creeping in, because the objects in the foreground are going past you & eventually moving out of frame to go behind you.
When you zoom, you don't have that feeling, you just have everything flattening out, then you get that "hey look kids, we're looking through binoculars" look at the end of the shot.
I did use a slight zoom a couple times in Lost Tribes, when I absolutely did not have any way to move the camera, but wanted to edge into a more intimate feeling with the character, like when Rockwell & Alex go to see the Indian guide. But it's really slight, & really slow, and lasts like 2.5 seconds. Just barely there, because like I said, I hate the obvious zoom look.

And the Hitchcock "zoom in, truck out" (or is it the other way around?) thing...
at least when he did it, it made some sense in relation to the story, not just for "wow, I'm cool, I figured out how to use a zoom" effect that has nothing to do with the story at all, like I see in so many student films.

Matt Pacini

------------------

[Jon P]

Track or Dolly shots whatever you want to call them are better. A zoom-in throws back and fore ground out of focus where as a tracking shot only changes the perspective. But mix the two together and whoa! Depth of field change or trombone shot as I have heard them referred to. Classic examples are Jaws and Vertigo. To achieve this track-in and zoom-out but don't over use it they are a little naff.

------------------

[mattias]

no, dolly shots are not "better," only different. there's certainly a difference in getting closer to a subject (dolly) and concentrating on a subject (zoom or cut). if you want to compare techniques, compare zooms with cutting, since they serve pretty much the same dramatic purpose. i think zooms should be either very fast, so that they act as a wipe more than as a zoom, or really slow, so that they change the dramatic focus of the scene without the audience noticing (they will notice a dolly). anything in-between just looks amateurish and low budget.

/matt

[Matt Pacini]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mattias:
[B]..anything in-between just looks amateurish and low budget."


(Matt Pacini resonds):
mattias, anything in between doesn't "look ameteurish and low budget", only different!

Just being ridiculous to make a point!
It's all about opinions, etc. and my opinion is that trucking in almost always DOES look better than a zoom, not JUST "different".

It's all a matter of style of course, but I think the problem is, lots of inexperienced filmmakers think they're seeing a zoom in movies, when they're really seeing a dolly in, and then when they make their film, they're overusing the zoom, in place of a truck-in shot.
The other part of it is that home-movies are always zooming in and out, so if you use a zoom in your film that isnt' REALLY there for a good reason (and there are few), then the viewer is unconciously associating your footage with ametuer video, whether they know it or not. It's at this point, sort of an anti-film-language device because of that.


Matt Pacini


------------------

[Scottness]

The only place I ever saw a zoom that I liked was in a video of Led Zeppelin playing Dazed and Cofused live - on some London tv show in the 60's [I didn't see it then!] anyway the band went off into that wild bit at the end and the camera operator went off too - he must have had RSI by the end of it - with all the zoom ins and out - but it was great - in films I always find it too obvious particularly when it's pointing out something to the audience ~ no subtlelty or credit for our intelligence -- great in rock clips though!

Scot M www.mango-a-gogo.com

------------------