Fish Eye Lens



The extremely wide-angle lens. Used to produce a sense of disorientation.

The lens in a door's peephole is a fish-eye, so this lens is used when a visitor is viewed outside an apartment. Makes anyone look ugly. May also be used from a low angle to spice up long-winded dialogue sequences in anime.

Also frequently used when shooting skateboarding and other extreme sports, as it can make big air look bigger from the appropriate angle.

Since less-expensive security camera set-ups are often fitted with wide-angle lenses to allow one camera to cover more area, the resulting footage may show a fisheye effect. Simulated security-camera footage, therefore, is also often shot with a fisheye.

Note that when seen in an animated format it is actually a False Camera Effect.

Anime

 * Pani Poni Dash! used this effect to emphasize Miyako's gigantic forehead.
 * The same gag is used on Yue in Negima!?, as both were made by the same studio - one of the OAVs opened a scene with a fish-eye view of Nodoka as she talks to someone, then pulls back to show it was the reflection off Yue's Forehead of Doom.
 * The first two Patlabor films have this on occasion, usually (but not always) when a character is getting reamed for screwing up.
 * Done a couple times in Naruto when a character is going crazy or about to succumb to his dark side (or both).
 * Mostly it's done just to show off, it seems, as many of the shots are completely gratuitous..
 * The manga often uses this for the traditional effect, or a lesser version for particularly intense full-page spreads (this is probably the best example).
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion did this often in Shinji's internal sequences, to heighten the sense of isolation around him.
 * They're used in real-life scenes as well. There's a shot in episode 11 that's used to emphasize the implied menace of a locked door AND to visualize Asuka's self-centeredness.
 * In Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the Major and Batou are shown this way while they're piloting Tachikomas.
 * In Digimon Tamers this is used both to enhance the idea that the world shown is a mindscape (When focused on a character) or that the characters are alone (when focused elsewhere). The technique is used sparingly.
 * Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha was quite infamous for using the fish-eye effect on the most mundane of scenes, such as, for example, when a character is standing besides a fridge. These were fixed on the DVD version.
 * Invoked for a moment in Magical Pokaan, to make you think Aiko had snapped. She didn't, but it was terrifying nonetheless.
 * Used a few times on Kyubey in later episodes of Madoka Magica.

Film

 * A shot like this occurs in The War of the Worlds (1953), when the scientists are testing the Martian probe viewer device.
 * The film Hot Shots had a character afflicted with "Walleye Vision" that made the world appear this way. This was a problem because he was a pilot.
 * HAL 9000's POV shots in 2001: A Space Odyssey. His infamous glowing red eye was in fact made with a real fisheye lens.
 * The entirety of How the West Was Won was shot through two paired fisheye lenses, a purposeful choice by director John Ford to show the open, sweeping landscape of the West. It works beautifully for it's intended purpose, but when used for close-ups inside buildings... not so much.

Live Action TV

 * Doctor Who director Graeme Harper has done this with nearly every new series story he has directed. Example from "Journey's End".
 * When Kramer decided to put his peephole in backwards (so people could see in his apartment), we saw him like this.
 * This is often used in establishing shots on TLC's Hoarding: Buried Alive, because massive, all consuming piles of stuff apparently aren't freaky enough on their own.
 * The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Mind's Eye" used fisheye lens in a scene featuring Geordi La Forge when.


 * As Tosh.0 shows, everything looks cooler through a fish eye lens!

Music

 * Some album covers use this effect:
 * Mr. Tambourine Man by The Byrds
 * The American cover for Are You Experienced? by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
 * Safe as Milk by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
 * Carnival of Light by Ride
 * Don't Believe the Truth by Oasis
 * Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield
 * Mars Audiac Quintet by Stereolab
 * On Your Feet or On Your Knees by Blue Oyster Cult

Music Videos

 * This technique was used a lot by music video director Harold "Hype" Williams in the mid- to late-1990s, especially ones that he directed for Busta Rhymes' songs.

Porn

 * Typically used in videos (especially ones catering to an anal fetish) to make the stars' assets look larger, and use increases as the girl's bust decreases. Bangbros in particular loves using this type of camera.

Web Comics

 * Gunnerkrigg Court uses these on occasion -- to convey a view of mini-camera and along with some other distortions for ethereal sight.

Web Original

 * Appears in Marble Hornets as the chestcam Jay wears.

Western Animation

 * The Simpsons once had Marge look out the peephole at Skinner to produce this effect.
 * The Critic also did this, with Jay's ex wife looking out the peephole at a grotesque Jay. She was even more disgusted to find he looked exactly the same when she opened the door.
 * Disney's Beauty and the Beast has one of these with Gaston through a peephole.
 * One episode of Home Movies revolved around Brendon trying to buy a fish-eye lens to use in his movies.