If you're looking at this obscure url, you are probably a fellow 15-463 student, Spring-10 or later, and already know the context of these shots. If that's the case, feel free to scroll down to the pretty pictures; everyone else, welcome!
In mid-January of 2010, a project in a Computational Photography course had me out and about Carnegie Mellon University's campus trying to recreate the Vertigo Shot (aka Dolly Zoom effect). I set out with a friend, also in the class, and his Canon Rebel Xt (with an 18-55 mm lens). We each took several sequences of photos at various locations around campus. Below are the two sequences I took that I deemed good enough to post on the internet.
This sequence is inspired by a scene in the movie Poltergeist, in which a hallway stretches out as a character tries to escape the house. It was, as best I can recall, the first Vertigo Shot I ever saw, and struck me as a child as being "really cool". I knew I would want to do something similar in this project.
There are plenty of plain dorm hallways about, but I wanted a more interesting setting. After checking several options (there were some nifty construction lights strung up in Wean Hall at the time, most of the hallways in the Gates-Hillman Center are... interesting), I settled on this long sloped hallway in Baker Hall.
The sequence was made by walking down the hallway but zooming out between shots to give the illusion of a stationary camera positioned just outside office 245. (I actually used the utility hatches in the floor as the point of reference.)
The story behind this sequence is much more mundane: I thought the windowed walls of this walkway would look good in a vertigo sequence. This was shot in the enclosed walkway connecting Wean Hall and Newell-Simon Hall. The subjects are Matt and Ilkyoo, two friends of mine (thanks to both for posing).
This sequence was made by setting the camera up on tripod at one end of the walkway and having the subjects move in increments toward it from the other side, zooming out each time to keep them constant size in the photos.
As opposed to moving the camera, I think this gives the impression of the subjects approaching on a moving walkway, but also with the hallway telescoping behind them.
Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed this humble site.
For anyone reviewing this with a checklist mentality (possibly for grading purposes), that was two Vertigo shots presented as animated gif files: one featuring moving camera and the other featuring moving subjects, size 1024x683, 7 and 6 frames, respectively.
I especially want to thank Matthew Morrill for allowing me to use his camera.