Talk:Shallow focus

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I think the _Rules of the Game_ example is a bad one. For one thing, using it will confuse readers, since the film is famous for its use of deep focus photography. But I'd also call the shot in question a deep focus shot, and Alexander Sesonske's commentary on the Criterion DVD agrees with me. It's true that Schumacher isn't perfectly clear in the screen capture shown, but he appears somewhat more clear in motion on the Criterion DVD. What's more, one must remember that the negative to _Rules of the Game_ was lost during the war, so the image isn't as good as we could hope. But most of all, any shot in which we notice something in the background (and if you watch it in motion, you definitely notice Schumacher), doesn't qualify as a shallow-focus shot. Much better would be something like the comparison halfway down at <http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/Corrigan.html>. (No idea of the copyright status of that). Amolad 04:09, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree that there is some potential confusion for readers skimming this article (and the one on deep focus), but I also think that this screenshot illustrates a crucial difference between deep focus and what André Bazin and others call composition in depth. The latter is a function of mise-en-scene, determined by how the actors are positioned on the set. The former is a function of attributes of the camera (aperture, focal length, camera-to-object distance). Renoir composes this scene in depth--as he does many others in Rules of the Game--but he does not shoot it with deep focus.

Even though Rules does have a reputation for deep focus, there are many composition-in-depth shots in it that use shallow focus. Here's another example: http://www.tcf.ua.edu/classes/Jbutler/T340/RulesOfTheGame/Rules_13.jpg

If you're looking for "pure" examples of deep focus and composition in depth, you're better off with Welles or Wyler--as can be seen here: http://www.tcf.ua.edu/classes/Jbutler/T440/VisualStyleIllustrations02.htm

Thus, I must disagree with your comment that "any shot in which we notice something in the background (...), doesn't qualify as a shallow-focus shot." And, for the sake of precision, I believe it's important to maintain the distinction between deep focus and composition in depth. However, if you're looking for an example of shallow focus without composition in depth, you can find some in the bokeh article (but that is for still and not motion photography). --Jeremy Butler 12:48, 16 January 2007 (UTC)