If Shadow of a Doubt contains a great example of a zoom that doesn't call attention to itself, Tremors contains a great example of a zoom that works because it calls attention to itself.
As I noted in my analysis of Shadow of a Doubt, "Zooms can be tricky to pull off because compared other to other techniques; they draw more attention to themselves, and that can distance the audience and take them out of the moment."
Not so in Tremors. The zoom doesn't distract; it serves a purpose.
The scene. The town of Perfection is under siege by giant, man-eating worms that hunt by sound. Our heroes, led by handymen Val and Earl (Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward), have found temporary refuge on rooftops, but that won't last. The monsters are starting to knock the buildings down.
The humans need to escape, but the all the cars capable of getting through the rocky mountains that surround their valley have been knocked out of commission. The bit I'm covering is in the first 90 seconds of the below clip.
Again, we start off with some fairly basic shot-reverse shot back and forth between Val and Earl. These are closeups on their faces. At the start, as they argue, we cut back and forth, from one to the other.
Val and Earl are friends, but they fight a lot, and now, they're debating what to do. Val and Earl come up with a plan, and we see anger and frustration on their faces, but we're still aware of their environment and their situation.
There are other elements we see because the exchange is captured with a wide lens. Even though it's not in focus, we can see the background. We see how far away the mountains are and how much space is between our characters and safety.
Also, we see Miguel, the kindly rancher. Earl and Val are the main characters, but other people are counting on them. Miguel raises a good point: not everyone can ride the bulldozer. Val and Earl have had some heated arguments, and while this one isn't as intense as some others, Miguel plays peacemaker and helps keep the idea rolling.
Now, Val and Earl are on the same page. The camera tracks them as they walk side-by-side in frame. They're no longer boxed in by closeups; they're moving, and the camera moves with them. The tension of their back-and-forth argument dissipates as we see hope and optimism return.
And reality hits them.
This shot begins with a view of the men's target: the bulldozer. Then, the camera zooms out quickly until we're overlooking Val and Early, and we realize how far the bulldozer is.
It's a sudden, jarring zoom out, a smack to the face to these guys, and it does two things. It illustrates the danger of their plan, but it's so quick and visual, it's funny. The characters we're rooting for are still in peril, but the way this information is conveyed makes it hysterical.
A slow zoom out, similar to the one in Shadow of a Doubt, wouldn't work. Hitchcock hid his zoom with a monologue. A slow zoom here would bring the plot to a halt for no reason. Tremors, throughout the movie, works by continually complicating the heroes' situation. It's just one damn thing after another. As soon as they figure out one thing, something else adds to their dilemma.
The humans need to escape, but the all the cars capable of getting through the rocky mountains that surround their valley have been knocked out of commission. The bit I'm covering is in the first 90 seconds of the below clip.
Again, we start off with some fairly basic shot-reverse shot back and forth between Val and Earl. These are closeups on their faces. At the start, as they argue, we cut back and forth, from one to the other.
There are other elements we see because the exchange is captured with a wide lens. Even though it's not in focus, we can see the background. We see how far away the mountains are and how much space is between our characters and safety.
Also, we see Miguel, the kindly rancher. Earl and Val are the main characters, but other people are counting on them. Miguel raises a good point: not everyone can ride the bulldozer. Val and Earl have had some heated arguments, and while this one isn't as intense as some others, Miguel plays peacemaker and helps keep the idea rolling.
This shot begins with a view of the men's target: the bulldozer. Then, the camera zooms out quickly until we're overlooking Val and Early, and we realize how far the bulldozer is.
It's a sudden, jarring zoom out, a smack to the face to these guys, and it does two things. It illustrates the danger of their plan, but it's so quick and visual, it's funny. The characters we're rooting for are still in peril, but the way this information is conveyed makes it hysterical.
A slow zoom out, similar to the one in Shadow of a Doubt, wouldn't work. Hitchcock hid his zoom with a monologue. A slow zoom here would bring the plot to a halt for no reason. Tremors, throughout the movie, works by continually complicating the heroes' situation. It's just one damn thing after another. As soon as they figure out one thing, something else adds to their dilemma.
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