Beginning filmmakers are usually told to avoid zoom shots, but the truth is that zoom shots can be extremely cool if done properly. Two outstanding movies with plenty of good zoom shots are Ridley Scott’s Hannibal and Steven Spielberg’s Munich (this was a significant departure for Spielberg, who never uses zoom shots).

There is a fine line between a zoom shot that is tacky and one that is visually compelling. The difference lies in the execution and in the context. Combining the zoom with translational motion (tracking) can work very well.

Ridley Scott has come up with a wonderful technique that he sometimes uses: he sometimes zooms in as a subject approaches the camera, and simultaneously tilts up, since the camera is quite low down. It is quite striking because the zoom, which has the effect of magnifying the subject, is combined with the subject walking towards the camera, which also has the effect of enlarging it in the frame. There is one such shot in Gladiator, in the scene in which Commodus demands loyalty from his sister after the conspiracy against him is foiled; and there is another one in Kingdom of Heaven, when Richard III approaches Balian late in the film. This zoom technique is powerful and it is not a coincidence that he reserves it for powerful characters in extarordinary situations.

Very slow zooms can work extremely well. James Cameron occasionally uses zoom shots, but they are so slow and smooth that most people are not conscious of them. An excellent example of a James Cameron zoom shot is in Terminator 2 – as Dyson is dying and holding a piece of junk above the detonator, the camera zooms very slowly on him. The zoom then stops, Dyson exhales his last breath, drops the piece of junk onto the detonator, and the Cyberdine building blows up.