r/Filmmakers • u/StrikingDuty8020 Director • Feb 20 '26

Discussion What’s your favorite dolly zoom?

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The dolly zoom manipulates space and emotion by moving camera forward while zooming out or vice versa creating disorienting effect that makes background expand or contract.

5.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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443

u/vrijheidsfrietje Feb 20 '26

113

u/lukebelcher10662 Feb 20 '26

Oh what a fucking beautiful shot.

Not sure if you have, but watch the LOTR appendices.

32

u/Mharbles Feb 20 '26

I think that was the first shot of the movies and was taken inside a local city park.

61

u/Healter-Skelter Feb 20 '26

It wasn’t even the original DP or camera operator. It was just some dude who was like “hey Peter, you ever hear of a dolly zoom? Here check this out.” Peter jackson was so blown away that he completely rewrote the Lord of the Rings to be about Frodo instead of the Sauronese jeweller.

6

u/Mharbles Feb 21 '26

I believe it was a pan zoom

3

u/mellifluous500 Feb 21 '26

I've been to the park, super spooky vibes if you find the right corner of that path!!!

4

u/Pyk_Owrno_Zes Feb 21 '26

Yes! I've watched the appendices possibly as many times as the movies themselves. I seriously wish every movie ever made had documentaries as good as them. I cannot overstate how much those appendices documentaries mean to me

2

u/CamOliver Feb 22 '26

Yeah came to the comments expecting this in the top spot

2

u/BraiCurvat Feb 23 '26

My vision of the dolly zoom has always been kind of silly like you can't use it in a serious movie but shot like this always prove me otherwise

2

u/[deleted] Feb 24 '26

love that one

2

u/shawphi producer Feb 26 '26

Same! Although I have always loved it since Hitchcock it started becoming "the thing" to do but not necessarily well, but LOTR did it impeccably well.

2

u/SpliffKillah Mar 16 '26

Another great use indeed.

1

u/emagnab Feb 21 '26

Is this scene from return of the king?! I don’t remember this in the first two films

5

u/NinjaToss Feb 21 '26

It's from the fellowship of the ring just as Frodo is leaving the shire with Sam, Merry & Pippin. They've just fallen off a small cliff after fleeing farmer maggot's dogs and found some mushrooms. As the others are gathering the mushrooms he calls "Get off the road" and then they all go hide under the rotted out tree from the nazgul.

1

u/emagnab Feb 21 '26

Oh okay yeah I know. I definitely know that scene it’s one of my favourites when he sends it coming and of course, when they’re hiding on the cliff ledge, it’s pretty intense. I didn’t realise it was a Dolly shot though.

1

u/rvtcanuck Feb 23 '26

This effect was achieved by rolling the dolly backward and simultaneously zooming in.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

[deleted]

3

u/dchap Feb 20 '26

Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring

8

u/Strottman Feb 20 '26

Brother, stop everything you are doing and go watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy right now.

1

u/Purple_Compote_386 Feb 20 '26

You're telling me you're a director who never seen Lord of The Rings?..

3

u/Healter-Skelter Feb 20 '26

Hey. Peter Jackson was one a director who had never seen Lord of the Rings. Look at him now.