Instead of showing a large static photo on screen, the Ken Burns effect crops to a detail, then pans across the image. The zooming and panning across photographs gives the feeling of motion, and keeps the viewer visually engaged. For example, to segue from one person in the story to another, a clip might open with a close-up of one person in a photo, then zoom out so that another person in the photo becomes visible.

The effect can be used as a transition between clips as well. By employing simulated parallax, a two-dimensional image can appear as 3D, with the viewpoint seeming to enter the picture and move among the figures. For example, in a photograph of a baseball team, one might slowly pan across the faces of the players and come to a rest on the player the narrator is discussing.

Action is given to still photographs by slowly zooming in on subjects of interest and panning from one subject to another. The technique is principally used when film or video material is not available.

The feature enables a widely used technique of embedding still photographs in motion pictures, displayed with slow zooming and panning effects, and fading transitions between frames. This technique had also been used to produce animatics, simple animated mockups used to previsualize motion pictures, but Burns's name has become associated with the effect in much the same way as Alfred Hitchcock is associated with the dolly zoom. The name derives from extensive use of the technique by American documentarian Ken Burns.

The Ken Burns effect is a type of panning and zooming effect used in film and video production from still imagery.

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