Glossary

Zoom

Enlarging the picture, with the lens or later in the edit, to bring the eye closer to a face or a detail.

On a shoot, zooming changes the focal length of the lens. In the edit, it is usually a digital zoom: the existing picture is enlarged. The “punch-in”, a sharp zoom on the face at a strong line, has become a classic of talking-to-camera videos.

It stresses and it hides: a slight zoom between two jump cuts makes the cut less abrupt. But a digital zoom loses detail; filming at a higher resolution leaves you room.

As a coach says “and this is where everything changes”, the picture snaps in tight on her face.