Zoom quickly into a face at the moment someone is surprised or dumbfounded, to emphasize the reaction. It points out the laugh and feels as if the camera caught the moment without missing it. Among punch-ins, this is the one that goes quickly into a reacting face.
Variety and reaction videos, mockumentary-style ads, and right after the punchline in short-form comedy.
If you generate the character who will react big and in the center of the frame from the start, the face won't get cut off when you zoom in. Keep the zoom within 120%, and if you need more, upscale first or generate a separate close-up. If the face is not in the center, give crop x and y values to crop toward the face. Use it together with whoosh and scratch sound effects.
Editor instruction: right after the punchline at 2.0 seconds, snap to a 120 percent zoom on the listener's shocked face for 1.5 seconds, then cut back to the full frame, and add a short whoosh on the zoom. Command for a 1080x1920 clip: ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]split[a][b];[b]crop=iw/1.2:ih/1.2,scale=1080:1920[z];[a][z]overlay=enable='between(t,2.0,3.5)'" -c:a copy out.mp4
The Office (2005–2013, TV series) — Fast zooms catch the face at the moment someone is funny, angry, or making a mistake (No Film School)
No Film School — Tips and tricks for shooting The Office (zooms that catch reactions)
Not verified