Awesome thanks that’s really helpful! Reading the article I had to google what a “focus puller” was, like did they have their hand on the lens turning the focus

Awesome thanks that’s really helpful! Reading the article I had to google what a “focus puller” was, like did they have their hand on the lens turning the focus wheel the whole shot down the hallway? That video explains it much better. Though I’m not sure why in Contact the focus puller had to be painted out of the entire shot, maybe they couldn’t get behind the camera in the hallway?