Zoom anecdote

While a bit pissy, this thread brings back a funny memory. I don't want to make the thread go longer but I have a little anecdote to share.

About 33 years ago my college professor, an English Dept. guy who thought he knew movies, taught a film appreciation seminar -- very competitive to gain entry to. I was the only freshman in the group, because I had a visual arts background, and I was a bit scared to talk.

The prof was really very good about a lot of things, but one day he said, "Notice how the camera ZOOMS down the table..." I was intimidated in this class, but I was so offended that I raised my hand to interrupt him, "Actually it trucks down the table, there's an important difference." Man was he mad -- and he absolutely could not get it -- nor could any of the other students. They were all very smart and far more knowledgeable about film history than I'll ever be, but the diff. bet. trucking and zooming eluded them all.

Why? I guess, because all they saw were old movies, and there was no zooming to compare to the trucking -- while the only cameras they saw were zoom lens-equipped -- so they assumed that the way you did that shot was to zoom.

-- Bob Cole