ABSTRACT
The flattening effect of long focal lengths can produce a stylized look with just as strong a visual impact as wide-angle barrel distortion, especially when featured in settings where telephotos are not commonly used, for instance while shooting a medium long or long shot in a cramped indoor location. Like other techniques that use radical shifts in focal length between shots, the impact of using a telephoto lens’ ability to compress distances along the z-axis is enhanced when preceded and/or followed by shots taken with normal or wide-angle lenses, because their juxtaposition exaggerates the sudden change in spatial perspective. A powerful example of this technique is used to visualize a strong emotional reaction in Andrey Zvyagintsev’s first feature film, The Return, during a pivotal scene when two teenage brothers, Andrey and Ivan see their father for the first time after an unexplained 12–year absence.
