Okuzeka
Film & Television vocabulary · Shots and Camera Movements

Zoom

Meaning in film & television, with examples

/zuːm/verbCore term

In film & television, zoom means: To make the subject look closer or further away by changing the focal length of the lens, without moving the camera.

In Turkish: zum yapmak, yakınlaştırmak, uzaklaştırmak

How it is used

Zoom in brings the subject closer; zoom out shows more of the scene. A crash zoom is very fast and dramatic. Many cinematographers prefer moving the camera (a dolly in) because a zoom looks flatter and less natural.

Example sentences

  1. Zoom in slowly on the photograph on the wall.

  2. Seventies cinema used the zoom much more than films do today.

Common collocations

  • zoom in
  • zoom out
  • zoom lens
  • crash zoom
  • slow zoom
  • panTo turn the camera horizontally from left to right or right to left while it stays in the same place. The movement itself is called a pan.
  • tiltTo move the camera up or down on a fixed point, like nodding your head. The movement itself is called a tilt.
  • tracking shotA shot in which the camera itself moves through space, for example on rails, a dolly, a vehicle or a stabiliser, usually following a character.
  • close-upA shot taken very near the subject, usually showing a person's face or a small object so that the audience can see emotion or detail.

More terms: Shots and Camera Movements

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