How Severance Perfected the Zolly
- Esra Tanrıverdi
- Aug 1
- 2 min read
As a fan of dystopian films, I was immediately captivated by the TV series Severance. Its meticulous visual style and unsettling, layered narrative — where identity and memory are manipulated in a controlled, almost clinical environment — kept me hooked from the first episode.
Later, when I discovered that the show was filmed by a female cinematographer, Jessica Lee Gagné, I admired it even more.
While watching, I kept thinking about the transition between unsevered and severed — the Zolly shots — a moment that has become iconic among fans. These shots have a long history in cinema, used in classic films like Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo to create dramatic perspective shifts. In my own short film, Nela, I attempted a Zolly shot using a Steadicam and a slider, but I quickly realized how difficult it is to achieve precision and consistency manually. Seeing how seamlessly Severance executed this effect multiple times made me curious to learn how they did it.
Reading Gagné’s interview shed a lot of light on the challenge. Instead of relying purely on manual techniques, they used a motion control rig called the Cooper, operated by Anthony Jacques. This is a laser-driven, half human/half computer system that automatically adjusts the zoom as the dolly is pushed, keeping the actor’s face precisely framed while moving at variable speeds. Gagné explained:
“Somebody pitched Anthony Jacques to me during prep. He operates the Technodolly for Monster Remotes and has a rig called the Cooper Motion Control. It’s a laser-driven half human/half motion control set up. He uses a computer software—it looks like a weird Excel table with a bunch of numbers in it—that he’ll connect with a laser that tracks on the ground that’s attached to a Fisher dolly that the grip will push. The Cooper rig controls the motor that’s on the zoom, so as the grip pushes the dolly, the lens zooms.”
What I find especially fascinating is how this setup allowed both precision and creative flexibility. As Gagné noted:
“It became a really good creative tool for us. It allowed us to completely improvise without having to reprogram something every single time. We did all those shots on a 19-90mm zoom. We did the zollies a little bit differently in episode nine, where we did some of them on Steadicam.”
Of course, these are big-budget productions with the possibility to collaborate with highly skilled professionals. Still, it’s good to know — once I have the opportunity — which tools are out there and how they can be used. :)
For any cinematographer, this insight is inspiring — a perfect example of combining technology, precision, and creativity to create unforgettable visual storytelling.
You can read the full interview and watch an additional interview video here: