Example of Reverse Tracking or "Hitchcock-Zoom" in a final scene of Goodfellas. Notice how the characters remain the same size while the background changes perspective.
@Mxsmanic it shows the feeling, mood. The main character Henry Hill felt there was something very odd about Jimmy Conway's behaviour and intentions. "He was jumpy, he hadn't touched a thing." Jimmy was also nervous and stressed out. He planned to get rid of Henry Hill, the possible rat. Henry was suspicious and probably got a bit scared when he realized Jimmy was trying to set him up for an assassination. The zoom basically strengthens the message or understanding viewers get from this scene.
@silentassassin125 I would say that Kubrick did not have a signature shot method. If anything, it was his major use of wide angle lensing that was a signature along with a slow zoom. This type of veritgo shot wasn't used nearly as much by him as it has been by others.
@Mxsmanic Watch the scene again! LISTEN what LIOTTA characters is saying. the tecnique is use for one as a viewer to fell the....paranoia or suspense of being watch from the outside. Scorsese really knows how and WHY use tecniques, many direcotrs just usit to look cool. FOr ex. the copacabana shot(steady cam) really has a purpose in this film, not just to show off like many directors do in other movies!
People please stop saying it's called something else. It's called so many things it's insane. Dolly in, reverse dolly, reverse tracking, reverse zoom, dolly out, zolly, zoom dolly, Virtigo effect, Jaws effect, Hitchcock effect, Spielberg effect, trombone effect,, uhh. I can't remember the rest. But it was first used in Virtigo by Hitchcock. And it was invented/discoveret a camera guy (of Hitchcock's) named Irmin Roberts
I think I noticed this technique in Scarface just after Pacino and Michelle Pfieffer leave the car shop and get into the Cadillac (before he tries to kiss her and she rejects him). The background seems to be moving, but the foreground doesn't. The effect surprised me the first time i saw it. I guess it must have been this reverse tracking technique. Any thoughts?
@Gaston088able In that case, maybe it had its desired effect. When I saw the scene, I looked for something in the background because it was getting larger, as if the guy getting out of the car might be an FBI agent or something. So it did kind of imply paranoia. If that's what Scorsese wanted, mission accomplished! (At least for me when I watched it.)
Hey Alex, are you an expert in videography? I watched the Goodfellas scene and compared it to others and it seems like it could be Chroma Key. But thats not my point. Have you analyzed any of the Sandy Hook videos that are in question? Many people are making accusations that Chroma Key technology is being used in some of the Sandy Hook videos. Have you looked into this at all?
I don't know whether you have seen it, but E.T has a dolly zoom. Its when you see the whole suburban neighbourhood and it seems to pull back as the camera tracks toward the edge of the cliff.
To be fair this isn't the best use of this type of shot. It's overused quite a lot, and there are only a few scenes in history that really warrant this effect. There's one scene where i think it worked quite well in Event Horizon where Sam Neil's character is in duct/vent type thing on a spacecraft and the ship starts malfunctioning. It kinda looks over dramatic but if your really focusing on a psychological meltdown of a charter then you can pull it off without it looking like a gimmick.
Its called push/pull, as a bunch of people have said. Obviously, its a very effective way of making the audience squirm. Most people won't evan notice it inless they are paying close attention. I think Hitchcock was the first one to use it. Great technique.
@meNtor890 Hmm, okay. The actors don't get any larger in the shot, so it puzzled me. I noticed the background outside the window getting bigger and bigger, so I looked for some sort of significant action there but saw none. It was a neat optical effect, though.
@KillBrownFictionDogs Dear Mr. Troll. The mistake is not the same, dude. Mine was a spelling mistake, their's was a knowledgable mistake, which woulda been ok if they didn't continually argue about which one it's actually called.
@therealdjcammONUTUBE Oh yeah I loved that shot! But in here I think is used perfectly too. Its slow as HELL and it made me kinda confused/disoriented/nauseus when I first saw Goodfellas. What Scorsese is trying to Achieve here is for the Audience to feel what Henry is feeling. Remember Henry is strung out on Cocaine and has no money left, he knows he´s about to get killed by one of his best friends(Jimmy),etc. The shot tries to visually portray all of that.
If you watch the whole film, that scene is uncomfortable, henry arrives early for the meeting only to find jimmy is there before him and also his chances of getting whacked are very high, theres also the scene after it where jimmy is calling him into the warehouse
The dolly zoom is an awesome shot, just done a blog on it (check out my profile if you want to read more about it). Most people think it is overused, but if it's done slowly it can be really effective as in Goodfellas!
@annehely well you can try either doing what i told you, or zooming out while moving forward with the camera at the same speed. and see which you like more
"he was jumpy, he hadn't touched a thing" "on the surface of course everything was supposed to be fine" It's a subtle way of showing that something's not quite right.
![Three Billboards - Window scene [tracking shot]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pTf9T-yoDaM/mqdefault.jpg)
Subtle but effective use of the dolly zoom
Lmao, love reading these old comments
@Mxsmanic it shows the feeling, mood. The main character Henry Hill felt there was something very odd about Jimmy Conway's behaviour and intentions. "He was jumpy, he hadn't touched a thing." Jimmy was also nervous and stressed out. He planned to get rid of Henry Hill, the possible rat. Henry was suspicious and probably got a bit scared when he realized Jimmy was trying to set him up for an assassination. The zoom basically strengthens the message or understanding viewers get from this scene.
@silentassassin125 I would say that Kubrick did not have a signature shot method. If anything, it was his major use of wide angle lensing that was a signature along with a slow zoom. This type of veritgo shot wasn't used nearly as much by him as it has been by others.
That's not reverse tracking. That's dolly zoom
You mean in Jaws? It's a shot of Officer Brody, right after the shark attack in the tourist-infested sea. AWESOME SHOT
It's actually neither. Set was mounted on wheels and pushed towards the background. Camera doesn't zoom, and it stays still relative to the actors.
It does indeed and is the same effect.
Best use of vertigo ever.. Makes me fucking dizzy
Changing perspective in the depth of field
@drummerjoe2610 Camera zooms-pans slightly. Set (with camera) is pushed towards background. I saw Scorcese or someone explaining it on TV years ago.
Yeah, La Haine has a very extreme example of this. search for la haine dolly here.
@Mxsmanic Watch the scene again! LISTEN what LIOTTA characters is saying. the tecnique is use for one as a viewer to fell the....paranoia or suspense of being watch from the outside. Scorsese really knows how and WHY use tecniques, many direcotrs just usit to look cool. FOr ex. the copacabana shot(steady cam) really has a purpose in this film, not just to show off like many directors do in other movies!
People please stop saying it's called something else. It's called so many things it's insane. Dolly in, reverse dolly, reverse tracking, reverse zoom, dolly out, zolly, zoom dolly, Virtigo effect, Jaws effect, Hitchcock effect, Spielberg effect, trombone effect,, uhh. I can't remember the rest. But it was first used in Virtigo by Hitchcock. And it was invented/discoveret a camera guy (of Hitchcock's) named Irmin Roberts
It's called a "pull push", where you dolly back and then zoom in.
In jaws that is called "push/pull".
@alphabetla6 and technically it is a reverse tracking shot, accompanied by a zoom-in
18 YEARS AGO OMG
in fact the cinematographical term for this is a trombone shot
jewpiles and popou are right. Hitchcock created it, and it's called the Hitchcock zoom but it's also called a dolly zoom
I think I noticed this technique in Scarface just after Pacino and Michelle Pfieffer leave the car shop and get into the Cadillac (before he tries to kiss her and she rejects him). The background seems to be moving, but the foreground doesn't. The effect surprised me the first time i saw it. I guess it must have been this reverse tracking technique.
Any thoughts?
Hitchcock was the one to come up with this trick in teh first place. Used it first tiem in "Vertigo" i think.
It's a keen effect. And low-tech.
This kind of shot is actually known among professionals as the "Georgian Spread".
@DreHectik Thats becuase the effect of the background moving was MAGNIFIED by how SLOW the effect was executed.... Scorsese= Master
@oldiesfan91 Hitchcock didn't actually create or invent it, but he did use it. The actual effect was made by one of his cameramen.
Came here after reading about Kubrick.
@Gaston088able In that case, maybe it had its desired effect. When I saw the scene, I looked for something in the background because it was getting larger, as if the guy getting out of the car might be an FBI agent or something. So it did kind of imply paranoia. If that's what Scorsese wanted, mission accomplished! (At least for me when I watched it.)
Thank you @TheKirkYates, but in this shot, do you focus on the background or actors, it seems the background is only moving? Thanks for your advice.
This shot is orgasmicly good
I don't understand what was the point of a contrazoom in this part.
no, its a dolly zoom
yeah he never used it.
@oldiesfan91 I thought Kubrick inovated the tracking shot first?
@FrankSlade1983 LOL, ...will do
144p? Really? 😑
I discover this effect with my Sony Ericsson k800i camera before I ever seen something like this.
Anyone know how it's done?
Hey Alex, are you an expert in videography? I watched the Goodfellas scene and compared it to others and it seems like it could be Chroma Key. But thats not my point. Have you analyzed any of the Sandy Hook videos that are in question? Many people are making accusations that Chroma Key technology is being used in some of the Sandy Hook videos. Have you looked into this at all?
Beautifully executed. watch?v=iv41W6iyyGs for the best one ever....
I don't know whether you have seen it, but E.T has a dolly zoom.
Its when you see the whole suburban neighbourhood and it seems to pull back as the camera tracks toward the edge of the cliff.
What was the director's purpose with this zoom and camera movement? Was there something important about what was happening outside the restaurant?
To be fair this isn't the best use of this type of shot. It's overused quite a lot, and there are only a few scenes in history that really warrant this effect. There's one scene where i think it worked quite well in Event Horizon where Sam Neil's character is in duct/vent type thing on a spacecraft and the ship starts malfunctioning. It kinda looks over dramatic but if your really focusing on a psychological meltdown of a charter then you can pull it off without it looking like a gimmick.
Its called push/pull, as a bunch of people have said. Obviously, its a very effective way of making the audience squirm. Most people won't evan notice it inless they are paying close attention. I think Hitchcock was the first one to use it. Great technique.
@jmh90 Quoting: "(...) in a final scene of Goodfellas.(..)" See anything different?
This is the first time I've noticed this in reverse. Very cool.
@alphabetla6 in jaws, they dollied in and zoomed out
I never even noticed this before because I'm so absorbed in the film by this point.
@FrankSlade1983 there's no way that's correct
144p? Seriously?
@lemexican never heard that term before
@meNtor890 Hmm, okay. The actors don't get any larger in the shot, so it puzzled me. I noticed the background outside the window getting bigger and bigger, so I looked for some sort of significant action there but saw none. It was a neat optical effect, though.
this effect is called vertigo.
@KillBrownFictionDogs Dear Mr. Troll. The mistake is not the same, dude. Mine was a spelling mistake, their's was a knowledgable mistake, which woulda been ok if they didn't continually argue about which one it's actually called.
@therealdjcammONUTUBE Oh yeah I loved that shot! But in here I think is used perfectly too. Its slow as HELL and it made me kinda confused/disoriented/nauseus when I first saw Goodfellas. What Scorsese is trying to Achieve here is for the Audience to feel what Henry is feeling. Remember Henry is strung out on Cocaine and has no money left, he knows he´s about to get killed by one of his best friends(Jimmy),etc. The shot tries to visually portray all of that.
If you watch the whole film, that scene is uncomfortable, henry arrives early for the meeting only to find jimmy is there before him and also his chances of getting whacked are very high, theres also the scene after it where jimmy is calling him into the warehouse
Woa thats pretty weird :P Almost looks as if the backround is a green screen effect :P
The dolly zoom is an awesome shot, just done a blog on it (check out my profile if you want to read more about it). Most people think it is overused, but if it's done slowly it can be really effective as in Goodfellas!
@KillBrownFictionDogs aww, did i misspell a word? Did that hurt your feelings, mr. troll?
@annehely well you can try either doing what i told you, or zooming out while moving forward with the camera at the same speed. and see which you like more
@eyeqew ur joking right? it's obviously a dolly zoom, do u have some kind of source for ur claim
Does doing the opposite, dollying in while zooming out, create that effect in Jaws?
"he was jumpy, he hadn't touched a thing"
"on the surface of course everything was supposed to be fine"
It's a subtle way of showing that something's not quite right.
In the mean time, you stop calling Vertigo "Virtigo".
@annehely zoom in whilst moving the camera back at the same speed
How about Push in - Zoom out?
I like it
yeah, thats sort of hard to do actually lol
This is fucking beautiful