You may be familiar with the visual effect in Apple TV+‘sSeverancethat happens when Lumon employees take the severed floor elevator. As the actor in the scene shifts gears betweentheir character’s severed and unsevered modes, their head gets either wider or narrower and the elevator seems to change in size behind them. Thiscinematography technique,called a dolly zoom or “zolly,”is actually pretty common, and you’ve seen it more than you think — ever heard ofthe “Vertigo effect”?
How Does a Dolly Zoom Shot Work?
No, it’s not by magic. The way a dolly zoom works is that the physical body of the camera moves away from the subject of the shot, while the camera operator simultaneously zooms in on the subject via the in-camera function, and vice versa.This keeps the subject in clear focus while expanding the depth of the shotin real-time.
The technique originates from the 1958Alfred HitchcockfilmVertigoand was created by cinematographerIrmin Roberts. It’s been used in movies and TV shows since then to emphasize a sense of disorientation, imbalance, dramatic realization, and other sorts of real-timeloss of mental or emotional defenses. You might recognize it from that “Get out of the water” scene inSteven Spielberg’sJaws(1975). Or maybe you remember the effect fromGi-hun’s reaction to his umbrella dalgonainHwang Dong-hyuk’s hit seriesSquid Game.Rian Johnsonand cinematographerSteve Yedlinhave used the effect inbothKnives Outfilmsto date.
It’s no different in animation; the dolly zoom effect is created when Simba faces an impending stampede inRob Minkoff’sThe Lion King(1994), and for a whiplash effect duringAnton Ego’s pivotal flashbackinBrad Bird’sRatatouille(2007). The wonderful dolly zoom is all around us, but forSeverance, the Vertigo effect is key to the series.
‘Severance’ Uses the Classic Dolly Zoom for Its Famous Elevator Transitions
SeverancecinematographerJessica Lee Gagnéexplained that the dolly zoom is used in the series to make aclear distinction between the outside and inside worldsof the show.Lee Gagné told Varietythat the elevator sequence is the bridge between the more studio-based, long-lens feel of the outie realm, and the highly surveilled and uncanny interior of Lumon Industries. According toLee Gagné on an episode of the Go Creative Showpodcast, the production team went through an arsenal of different dollies, including a programmable camera crane called a Technodolly. But in order to achieve the elevator sequence,the team typically uses Kuper controls, developed by motion control specialistAnthony Jacques,which utilize computer softwarethat adaptively calculates in-camera zooming while the dolly portion is manually operated.
To ensure that the dolly zoom effect would be, well, effective, Lee Gagné used a 19-90mm Panavision zoom lens and kept within the 19-30mm range when shooting theSeveranceelevator scenes.With anaspect ratioof 2.35:1– which is much wider than your average TV aspect ratio of 16:9, and which is what sandwiches your video between those two black bars –the zoom effect of the elevator sequence offers a subtle but detectable shiftin shooting style. Definitely check outStudioBinder’s explanation of the dolly zoomfor a deeper dive into the technique.
‘Severance’ Season 2 Lands Stellar Rotten Tomatoes Score Ahead of Premiere
The new season debuts on January 17.
‘Severance’ Creators Call Their Iconic Transition the “Fritz Cut”
On top of the classic dolly zoom,Severancecreator-directorBen StillerandeditorGeoffrey Richmanalso explained to Varietythat the familiar glitchy visual component that comes with scene transitions throughout the series is made up of “random intervals of one- and two-frame editsthat go back and forth between the outgoing scene and the incoming scene.” The visual effect was inspired by an equally glitchyauditory effectthat emerged within the musical composition of the show. As Richman clarifies, “It’s actually not a sound effect. It’s a piece of the score.” In reference to thefinal shot of the opening credits, he continues, “That is both visual and also an element that’s in the score that [Theodore Shapiro, composer forSeverance] wrote into the individual stems of a lot of the cues that he wrote.”
The not-sound-effect was merged with the strobing visual component to create the iconicSeverancetransition, and waseffectively deemed the “fritz cut”(i.e., your TV being “on the fritz”). According to Stiller,the fritz cut became a means of connecting the innies’ distinct stories with each other, especially when it came tothe intense Season 1 finale. Out of serendipity, the technique created a seamless transition between characters and between realms within the overallSeverancestory.
Season 2 ofSeverancepremieres January 17 on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
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