Back in 2015 two film nerds had an idea for a podcast for the website Live in Limbo. They originally wanted to call it The Third Man, after the classic Orson Welles noir thriller, but they worried Jack White might come calling for royalties. The idea was that the listener was the mysterious and unseen Third Man. I still think it’s a great name, but with too many potential conflicts it was scraped.
Eventually the duo, Dakota Arsenault and Andreas Babiolakis, settled on Contra Zoom, and you might be wondering what that even means. It actually is another name for a dolly zoom or more commonly the Vertigo shot.
The effect is achieved by zooming a zoom lens to adjust the angle of view (often referred to as field of view, or FOV) while the camera dollies (moves) toward or away from the subject in such a way as to keep the subject the same size in the frame throughout. In its classic form, the camera angle is pulled away from a subject while the lens zooms in, or vice versa. Thus, during the zoom, there is a continuous perspective distortion, the most directly noticeable feature being that the background appears to change size relative to the subject.
Wikipedia
It famously is also used in Jaws, Goodfellas, Jules et Jim, Lord of the Rings and much more. To see it in action check out this Now You See It video explaining.
Ending with the episode 30: Wings To Birdman 1968-1977 Part 2 in November of 2016, Andreas left the show to pursue other opportunities including starting the website Films Fatale. Rachel Gordon temporary came on board as co-host from 2016-2017 before leaving as well.
Instead of trying to find another co-host, Dakota decided to forge ahead on his own and bring in guest hosts that suit the subject matter. Stephanie Prior who has created all the original artwork for the show is a frequent guest, especially when the subject matter is the Oscars or one of her favourite directors. Sammy Feilchenfeld is our resident geek expert and won’t hesitate to throw in a Suicide Squad reference at the most inopportune moments. Who is a better guest than other movie podcasters and plenty have come on. Check out the Friends of CZP page for all of them!
From May of 2019 to March of 2021 Contra Zoom Pod teamed up with Aesthetic Magazine to home the rebranded and reinvigorated show. New music was created by Eric and Kevin Smale and a new graphic was designed by Stephanie Prior.
The show continues on with more interviews, more consistent shows and better quality production allowing the show to grow even more.
In October of 2020, Rachel Ho joined the show as a guest, and later became a permanent co-host in May of 2021. She started her own personal website where she reviewed films and was able to write for Exclaim!, POV Magazine and That Shelf. She has since become a member of Toronto Film Critics Association and received their 2021 Emerging Critic Award.
The show surpassed 200 episodes in July of 2022 and this is just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come!
