farther apart than they actually are, and
because this lens elongates depth, charac-
ters or objects moving at a normal speed
from background to foreground through
this stretched depth might appear to be
moving faster than they actually are.- The long-focal-length lens(also known as
the telephoto lens; focal lengths ranging
from 85mm to as high as 500mm) brings
distant objects close, makes subjects look
closer together than they do in real life, and
flattens space and depth in the process.
Thus, it alters the subject’s movement, so
that a subject moving from the background
toward the camera might appear to be
barely moving at all. - Although the short and long extremes are
used occasionally to achieve certain visual
effects, most shots in feature films are
made with a middle-focal-length lens—
from 35mm to 50mm—often called the
normal lens. Lenses in this range create
images that correspond to our day-to-day
experience of depth and perspective. - The zoom lens—also called the variable-
focal-length lens—permits the cinematogra-
pher to shrink or increase the focal length
Short-focal-length lensThis shot from Stanley Kubrick’s
Dr. Strangelove(1964; cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor)
comically reinforces our sense of the powerlessness of Group
Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers, facing the camera) as
he meets with his superior officer, Brigadier General Jack D.
Ripper (Sterling Hayden). The resulting wide-angle
composition makes Mandrake look almost like a toy doll
standing on the powerful general’s desk.
Long-focal-length lensThis image from Stanley Kubrick’s
Barry Lyndon(1975; cinematographer: John Alcott) shows
the flattening effect of a long-focal-length lens. The marching
soldiers’ forward progress seems more gradual as a result.
Middle-focal-length lensThis shot from Billy Wilder’s
Sunset Boulevard(1950; cinematographer: John F. Seitz)
includes the movie’s three principal characters (from left to
right): Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim), with his back
to us in the near left foreground; Norma Desmond (Gloria
Swanson); and Joe Gillis (William Holden), in the middle
ground facing us. A small orchestra is in the background.
The middle-focal-length lens used to make this shot keeps
the three principal subjects in normal focus, and the overall
image corresponds to our day-to-day experience of depth
and perspective.CINEMATOGRAPHIC PROPERTIES OF THE SHOT 245