That's the trick on most films. There really are anywhere from 2 to 4 people doing the job that makes the camera do those things. To me that's what's so cool is that they all work together to get these amazing smooth shots.

OMG, I just read something that made The OC gayer. Consider the parallels between Ryan in season 1 and Alex -- the ones that were freaking pointed out onscreen by Seth, and the whole tossed out of the family home and invited (even jokingly) back to the Cohen house -- she's a total Ryan substitute. Which, judging from previews, will become even more apparent. Yay.

eta:

To me that's what's so cool is that they all work together to get these amazing smooth shots.

See, I can't imagine how the focus puller does his job, period. To think he's synching in real time with so many other people, boggles the freaking mind.

Computers are easy.

See, I can't imagine how the focus puller does his job, period.

Me, either. Cause I'm guessing movie lenses aren't SLR.

Yay.

Very Yay!

He's going off very strict distances. Basically all the moves are run through once, and he'll literally take a tape measure from the gate out to the focal point and do that for each move in the shot. Then on the roll he does all of that in time. Pretty crazy stuff.

Cause I'm guessing movie lenses aren't SLR.

What Z explained (after admitting it was sorcery) was that the FP knows the focus settings for (in this scenario) five positions, and then transitions between them. Now, the camera's moving in 3D space. I can't even imagine being sure the camera was back in position 3, much less deciding on what gradient to change focus when it moves to position 5 versus moving to position 2. And I'm decently spatially coordinated.

Well YAY! Except the big... That Thing.

Well, there's a whole different person who's making sure that it hits points 1 through 5 exactly on.

there's a whole different person who's making sure that it hits points 1 through 5 exactly on.

I'm not meaning moving it there, but accurately assessing where it is in space at any given time -- this was a very swoopy shoot, with the camera moving in space (if not rotating) for just about the whole shot.

I don't know what thing is your That Thing, but given the spoiler that's no longer a spoiler because they showed clips from most of the rest of the season, it's not an except. Unless you mean the fact that she's taller. That's inconsistent.

Random thought:

Okay, Desperate Housewives is creeping me out. Yet, it's so happy making that scripted tv is doing better this season.