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Why Film Directors avoid Deep Focus Cinematography

wolfcrow on deep-focus cinematography, where everything in the frame is sharp, and why modern directors tend to avoid it, from the practical difficulties to how it changes the audience’s job.

wolfcrow · 8 min · Intermediate · CIN · Cinematography · 2023

What you take away

Deep focus asks the audience to choose where to look; use it when that is the point.

Watch it

Filed under

Oscar winners for cinematography

Books on cinematography

Kit for this lesson

Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM — The portrait-adjacent normal
Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 — The swirly Soviet prime — a look for the price of a meal
Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 — Warm, cheap, and everywhere — a first vintage prime
Minolta MC Rokkor 58mm f/1.4 — Glowing highlights wide open, pin-sharp stopped down
Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II — The standard zoom most FX bodies wear
Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II — The wide end of the same set

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Making THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (with Wes Anderson & Robert Yeoman) — Cinematographers on cinematography · 27m · Advanced
Cinematic Film Composition — Roger Deakins on Blocking, Staging & Composition in Cinematography — StudioBinder · 7m · Intermediate
Depth of field | Virtual Cameras | Computer animation | Khan Academy — Khan Academy Labs · 3m · Intermediate
Roger Deakins on "Learning to Light" — Cinematography Techniques Ep. 1 — StudioBinder · 9m · Intermediate
Shooting “Moonrise Kingdom" (with Wes Anderson & Robert Yeoman) — Cinematographers on cinematography · 17m · Advanced
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Depth of Field Explained: Ultimate Guide to Camera Focus [Shot List Ep. 4] — StudioBinder · 15m · Beginner

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