What's the deal with the digital zoom thing everyone seems to use in video essays?

I see this technique everywhere, but I guess I haven't found the right terms to search for what it's called or why it's so ubiquitous in certain types of video.

If you follow people who produce video essay-type content that features them speaking directly to the camera, they will often cut in and out from "closer" views of themselves to add visual emphasis to lines. Some keep it subtle enough that you might not even notice it, while others pepper it all over the place to the point that it looks like they're bouncing off the camera when you slide through the preview.

Is this a commonly taught/known technique, or is there just some template for it built into popular video editing packages?

For anyone else who didn't notice it before and can't un-see it now, I'm sorry.

foxtrotluna,

Does it hide audio/video cuts maybe? Or maybe it’s emulating the style of older vlogs when they’d constantly cut between words, but it’s not as disconcerting because there’s some level of continuity. I’ve definitely noticed it before and had the same thoughts.

duckythescientist,

It may also be used to hide cuts

artillect,
artillect avatar

I think they do it to add motion, and make what would have been just a still shot look a bit more dynamic. I've been tempted to do the same thing in my videos, but more for diagrams and pictures, because it makes it a little more interesting than just staring at an unmoving picture for 30+ seconds

JunkMilesDavis,
JunkMilesDavis avatar

Makes sense. Do you know if there's a specific name for it? I assumed there had to be a reason everyone knew to include it in their editing, but I know there's some heavy bias there too since I'm less likely to stumble across uninteresting videos.

sudo_xe,
@sudo_xe@fedia.io avatar

For still images it's Ken Burns effect, but yeah unsure of whether that's true for talking figures.

kmkz_ninja,

I think more Youtubers should embrace the Tarantino zoom.

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