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Deep Focus

Depth of field or depth of field is the area between the closest and farthest places to the camera in which the image is focused in visual works such as photography and motion pictures. A number of variables, including aperture, lens type, focal length, and distance to the subject, affect the depth of field.

Deep focus or deep focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique that keeps the depth of field wide enough to include objects in front of and behind the scene. Thus, there is no out-of-focus place in the deeply arranged scene and the image consists of foreground, middle and background presented equally to the audience. In short, thanks to the "deep focusing" technique, the image can better evaluate the depth. On the contrary, in shallow focus or shallow focus technique, the actors in the dialogue or the objects whose importance is wanted to be emphasized are kept as close to each other as possible, leaving other players and objects in the background blurred. and shallower depths of field are obtained.

Directors use deep focus for scenes that feature important events in both the foreground and background of the picture. Directors refer to this form of staging as "deep space" or "deep staging" because it involves placing actors, props, and set pieces in too deep. For a shot like this to work, a director needs to be able to capture a clearly focused image. A deep focus shot will allow for this sharpness.

You can take deep focus shots with the following camera settings:

  •  Wide depth of field: Depth of field is the distance in an image at which objects appear in focus or have an acceptable level of sharpness. A wide or deep depth of field will bring a longer distance into focus.
  •  Small aperture: The hole in the center of the camera lens that allows light to pass through to the image sensor of a digital camera or the filmstrip on a film camera. A small aperture allows less light to reach the sensor, which helps create a longer depth of field.
  •  Small camera sensor: A camera sensor collects incoming light when the shutter is opened. Cameras with smaller sensors have greater depths of field as they allow for shorter focal lengths.
  •  Short focal length: The focal length is the distance between the convergence point of your lens and the sensor that records the image. Shorter focal length lenses are called wide-angle lenses as they allow you to get a wider field of view and deeper focus in a single image.

In the movie Citizen Kane, which became famous with this technique, while Orson Welles is being taken from her family by a lawyer, Welles is seen deeply and clearly through the glass.

To see more about camera shots you can check our article;

https://cinema8.com/blog/types-of-camera-shots