Hitchcock (in Vertigo) and Spielberg (in Jaws) both use the same technique,
namely: dolly-in, zoom-out, since in both films there is a dramatic
deepening of space effect (James Stewart's literal vertigo, Roy Scheider's
shock perception of the shark attack) caused by the fast reduction of focal
length. It is not the other way around, although both procedures have by now
become standard filmmaking techniques.
We had a discussion of exactly this question some years ago (in the 90s) on
H-Film, and you might want to check out the logs.
On this point however, another query. We also some time ago discussed that
famous effect that John Frankenheimer achieves in SECONDS (1966), a "camera
body-mount" which has the actors appear stiff and lifeless while they're
moving. It is an effect that is also used in Aronofsky's PI.
3 questions: is it identical with the "Spike Lee" effect? How exactly is it
achieved? And did we at the time come up with a satisfactory term for this
procedure? Perhaps there is a term for it used by filmmakers.
Henry
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