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Camera moves & transitions · #08
Dolly zoom (Vertigo)
Subject stays, background warps. The camera pulls back while zooming in by the same ratio; the person keeps the same size and only the background closes in.
Camera Movementdolly zoomvertigozollypush pullbackground stretchuneasecamera move
Full motion specification
How the movement works
For a moment of realisation, or to show unease or shock visually.
- 01Camera: distance d to the person (8 m ahead) widens from 3.2 m → 8 m (a 4.8 m pull-back); height 1.3 m
- 02Focal length: f = 330 × d/8 px, i.e. 132 px → 330 px (shown as 10mm → 24mm), keeping distance ÷ focal length constant
- 03Timing: 0.5 s to 3.4 s (2.9 s), cubic ease-in-out (about cubic-bezier(0.65,0,0.35,1))
- 04Subject: the person does not move and keeps the same height in frame; blue dashed lines 160 px wide at head (1.8 m) and feet show the size is constant
- 05Background: buildings (48 m away) grow about 2.2× and mountains about 2.4×, closing in behind the person, while the ground in front of the person shrinks
- 06Return: hold 3.4–4.2 s, then cross-fade back to the start over the last 0.5 s (one pass = 4.7 s)
Prompt
Dolly zoom on his face at the moment he realizes: he stays the same size while the background stretches away.