Newbie Question: What is a Lens Morph/Nested Zoom?

KrillianRed · May 12, 2007

Just wanted to know; did a search on Google and found very little.

David Mullen ASC · May 12, 2007

I haven't heard that term.

Nick Mulder · May 12, 2007

Maybe its yet another term for the vertgo/dolly zoom ?

Chris Keth · May 12, 2007

It's a film-scholar term for hiding a zoom in a camera move. I learned it while trying to correct a professor who confused "changing focal length" and "focusing".

Nick Mulder · May 12, 2007

I learned it while trying to correct a professor who confused "changing focal length" and "focusing".

Ah ok - 'nested zoom' I sorta get that but 'lens morph' ?

A professor confused a zoom with a focus ? eh ! ??

I've been away from uni for a while - dropped out of both Engineering (mechanical+electrical for 2.25 years) and Architecture (3.5 years) due to various illnesses and work opportunities - or is it various work and illness opportunities .. not so sure anymore.

But I'm thinking of going back to Architecture as the engineering to a certain extent can be learned by oneself - and a BArch would help in many ways with a career in production design (with an integrated technical aspect in mind)

But honestly sometimes I think university can stick it up its ass with its trumped up terminology and film speak ...

Its just plain old marketing - make it arcane enough to maintain an aura of the elite - self important ^&%#

Mind you "lens morph" is pretty tame compared to most of the stuff I'm confronted with...

sheesh - cant wait to go back! yeehaw!

Chris Keth · May 13, 2007

Ah ok - 'nested zoom' I sorta get that but 'lens morph' ?

I have no clue about lens morph. I guess I could see that for a vertigo move since it does make the space "morph" in a way.

Luke Prendergast · May 13, 2007

I've always understood a nested zoom to be multiple zoom shots in a seamless cut, to make a longer range zoom shot than the lens is capable of, ie., zoom wide to narrow, move camera closer, zoom wide to narrow, cut together as one long zoom in.

Chris Keth · May 13, 2007

I've always understood a nested zoom to be multiple zoom shots in a seamless cut, to make a longer range zoom shot than the lens is capable of, ie., zoom wide to narrow, move camera closer, zoom wide to narrow, cut together as one long zoom in.

That doesn't work, though. Every one of those cuts would have a wierd angle of view and perspective shift.

Alexander Joyce · May 13, 2007

That doesn't work, though. Every one of those cuts would have a wierd angle of view and perspective shift.

Perhaps that's why they threw in the word morph. Because someone thought it looked like some weird morph was going on in there :P

Chris Keth · May 13, 2007

Perhaps that's why they threw in the word morph. Because someone thought it looked like some weird morph was going on in there :P

Who knows. I've never understood why film scholars can't use the same terms as filmmakers. Surely if we can describe something well enough to do it, it's good enough to use when you talk about it.

Paul Vincent · August 15, 2007

Those who can, DO

Those who can't, TEACH

:blink:

David Regan · August 19, 2007

Makes me think of the artificial zooms in 300, where they used several cameras of multiple focal lengths, taken from the same angle on a shot, and then combined these in post to achieve a zoom. I think in the article they actually used the word morph. Who knows perhaps its related.