Space Expansion and Compression - a Story

There is the additional element of space compression, in the case of long lenses, or space expansion, with shorter lenses. Here is a story about that subject that I posted on the Micro35 Forum a while back.

My favorite story (which was related to me as true) that illustrates the point is about a small town city council meeting. There was a group of citizens that wanted to limit the number of billboards that were popping up along the adjacent highway. The local outdoor advertiser, naturally opposed any restrictions, pointed out that the billboards were a reasonable distance apart and not an eyesore at all.

After an unfruitful discussion, it was determined that each group should photograph examples to illustrate their points of view and bring the photos to the next city council meeting. The group wanting the billboards hired a photographer who chose a wide angle lens. He picked a section of highway and captured an image that showed the billboard so far apart that there was no way anyone could possibly complain.

The opposing group also hired a photographer. By coincidence, he chose the same section of highway to make his point. But he chose a long telephoto lens. The photograph he created showed the billboards so close together that they looked like a picket fence.

Armed with their evidence, the two groups arrived at the monthly council meeting. When presented with the photos, the council members became extremely irritated. They threw out both photographs because they had determined, since the camera doesn't lie, that the group that opposed the billboards had obviously gone out and put up a bunch of billboards to make them look bad AND the group that wanted the billboard to stay had gone out and torn them all down. Meeting adjourned.

Using Spatial Compression and Expansion to Help Tell the Story

The spatial compression can be an effective way to convey the emotional state of a character. One of the best examples I can think of was used on a made for TV movie several years ago starring Andy Griffith. He played the part of the owner of a salvage company. He and his crew planned to go to the moon and retrieve the rover which was left there by NASA. Early in the story, while the characters were excited about the possibility of actually going to the moon, there was a shot of Griffith in the foreground looking up at a full moon. They shot it from a low angle with a long lens. The moon was so close it almost looked like he could reach out and touch it. Later in the movie, after the character learned a heart condition was going to ground him from the mission, they used the same low angle view. But this time it was shot with a wide angle lens. The moon was so far away, it was obvious there was no way he could ever get there.