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Zoom

Changing focal length mid-shot magnifies or widens perspective without moving the camera.


Optical versus Prime Aesthetics

Zooms rose in 1960s new-wave cinema as lighter zoom lenses became ubiquitous. Critics like Pauline Kael lambasted overuse, yet directors such as Sergio Leone wielded crash-zooms for operatic tension.

Narrative Uses

A slow zoom-in isolates a character’s internal crisis; a snap zoom can punctuate punchlines (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). Modern digital “zoom” via sensor crop risks reducing resolution, but optical zooms maintain fidelity.

The Zoom Backlash

Steadicam and dolly tech made camera movement more kinetic, relegating zooms to stylistic accent. Today, selective revival in horror—Ari Aster’s Hereditary—proves the tool still unnerves when deployed sparingly.


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