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Effect of Zooms and Push in “Life Lessons”
Through excellent use of cinematic technique, the short film Life Lessons follows Lionel Dobie’s
relationship with his assistant Paullete as he tries to complete his final painting for his art exhibition in
three weeks. The films use of certain camera techniques leaves one in the shoes of the character.
For example, in the opening scene, Dobies throws his shoe at a clock and the camera races to capture
the action in a swoosh pan like it is just as surprised as we are. We are ever suspicious of Dobie yet when
he speaks we listen and agree with him. The film treads a thin line of sympathy and resentment but our
protagonist never lost our respect despite not having our trust. Of course, by the end, we see that he never
loved Paulette and that our time with Dobie was just another chapter in a history of abuses used to fuel
his painting.
The use of zoom/push-ins in this film has progressive meaning as the characters develop
within the story. Originally zooms pull us into Dobie’s words. All this man seems to do is talk and twist
ideas, trying to convince Paulette to stay. The zoom personifies how the audience and Paulette are
buying his rhetoric. Take their conversation in Paulette’s bedroom at the beginning of the film.  
She is ready to pack up and move out but Dobie enters to bring “reason.” Their conversation is told
through reverse medium close-ups that get tighter as the characters speak. In this case, the zoom can
be interpreted as showing visually how convinced Paullete is becoming that staying is the best action
and that being with Dobie is her only option. As the frame slowly becomes tighter on her we have
access as she's being sucked into his world and we are being sucked into his face.


Another case of this comes later on in the film. In one of the rare moments when we are only
with Paullete, we watch as she witnesses Dobie painting. The camera zooms in on her
intercutting shots of the painting. Until eventually we just cut between the painting and
close-ups of her. Music blaring in the background Dobie is engrossed in his painting and
Paulette is engrossed in Dobie or more specifically his talent.
  
This technique is not only used in Dobie’s/Paulette's case. We even see this in an early scene
where Dobie is speaking with his manager on the elevator. We gradually push in as the manager
tries to convince Dobie to give him a time that he’ll be complete with his work. We are quickly
taken out of this as Dobie is unconvinced to share that information. Conversely, in later scenes,
we dolly back when characters become unconvinced with others actions - specifically with
Paulette.





l Almost halfway through the film just after the “kiss your foot” scene, we exit from Dobie’s
hazy blue sex fantasy, and we land on a tight shot of Paulette sucking her finger. Then we
expand to a medium close up. This pulls out signifying that despite Dobie currently professing
his love, Paullete is not taken by his words. The technique distancing her from him as she tells
Dobie that she doesn’t love him. This later repeats itself when Paullete tells Dobie to kiss the
Driver on the mouth. We start in a close-up and pull out again showing that Paulette is no
longer going to fall for empty words and excuses as a means to trap her.

                                              

Originally the shots became tighter through either zoom or push as characters try to instill
trust in one another. With the first example told through increasingly closer frames revealing
Dobie’s attempt to dissuade Paulette's fear of living with him for a second time. Another
being when Paulette convinced herself of Dobies talent while watching him paint through a
series of close-ups. Eventually, zoom/push dissolves into zoom out/pull when character
relationships break down as the protagonists realize that they can’t change. Most prominently
seen in the final scene where Dobie offers the waitress his recently empty position as assistant
and life lessons. We pull out to show how as an audience we are wise to his actions and cease to
look to him for guidance.

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