The Dolly Zoom, also known as the Vertigo Effect, is a cinematographic technique that involves simultaneously zooming the camera lens while physically moving the camera toward or away from the subject. This results in a visually striking effect where the subject remains a relatively constant size within the frame, but the background either expands or contracts, creating a distorted and surreal sense of perspective.
The Dolly Zoom is renowned for its dramatic impact on storytelling and emotional intensity. It has been widely used in filmmaking to evoke a sense of disorientation, tension, or revelation. This technique famously appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Vertigo,” hence its alternative name. The Dolly Zoom is a testament to the creative fusion of camera movement and focal length manipulation, demonstrating the powerful narrative potential of cinematographic techniques.