Depth of Field

 1) The Pacifier (2005 film)

In this still with Deep focus, we can see how each foreground (the duck and the man in the white shirt), middle (some police officers) and background (more police officers and buildings) can be seen clearly, there is nothing blurred and this allows us to analyze the photo further, at the same time it tells us a story since we can infer that everyone is putting pressure on the boy in the white shirt and they look confused because there is a duck, but the boy in the white shirt knows that they have a plan with that duck and in itself has more power than the police officers since despite being at a low level it looks bigger in size and without his hands up it shows us that he is the only one who has an idea to save himself, also by seeing the police officers clearly we can realize that they are in a moment of danger since we see them with their hands up and cornered because we can see the wall behind and next to them and we know that they are without a way out which makes playing an important scene because of the mise en scene, while if this shot had a shallow or soft focus it wouldn't work either because we couldn't infer that they are in a dangerous situation but rather that the boy in the white shirt is talking or planning something strange with the duck. This is how we can see that something as specific as Deep focus together with mise en scene helps tell a story to the audience.

1) My recreation.

In this attempt to recreate a deep focus. As we can see, both the foreground, middle, and background are clearly in focus, giving the audience the ability to analyze different things at once instead of focusing on just one. What I'm trying to recreate here is that many things are happening at once behind our main characters. Although we can say the context is diverse, this gives us more clarity about the environment they're in, which we can see is busy and fast-paced.

2) Superman (1978 Film)

This still with shallow focus, we can notice that Superman's biological parents are in focus but all of his environment and surroundings are out of focus, this was done with the purpose of representing a memory of Superman but at the same time giving us the feeling that something is not right, their faces are not happy, they are hugging, they are dressed in white, and with the environment out of focus. All this plays as Mise en scene and we can infer that they are dead and/or it was a farewell, and that therefore the most important thing that Superman's memory kept was not the bad circumstances but the faces of his parents.

2) My recreation.

In this attempt to recreate a shallow focus, we can see that everything is blurry and out of focus, except for the lamb. This is done with a purpose: to make the audience focus on the lamb regardless of what's happening around it. In this case, we can deduce that it's the main character.

3) Gladiator (2000 Film)

This is a soft focus still, in which we can see everything and nothing, because we have a sense of space and silhouettes but they are distorted since they are not in focus, this was done with a purpose, in this scene Maximus the main character is fighting the final battle with the evil emperor, at this point Maximus is at his limit he is seriously injured literally dying but he continues fighting, and this scene makes us feel Maximus' P.O.V, how he is seeing everything and it makes us feel dismayed, dizzy and uneasy, worse at the same time since it is a fight in the coliseum we can relate more to the space we can see that what makes it even more out of focus is in fact because of the arena and what happens when people fight in the arena everything becomes blurry, so we can immerse ourselves more in this moment and place (this is thanks to how the soft focus plays with mise en scene)

3) My recreation.

In this attempt to recreate a Soft focus, we can notice that everything is out of focus and that although we can see some silhouettes in detail, we still can't see them clearly. In this case, I tried to represent it as a memory of my childhood. We often remember toys that were very precious to us, but the memory is simply blurry because it was a long time ago and we were little. That would be the purpose, and I don't need motion or dialogue to understand it. This is how this attempt recreates one of the functions of Soft Shot.

Reflection:

In this photo experiment, I experienced several things, both good and not so good; but to give a more detailed analysis I want to be specific.

Good: I was able to better understand the difference in the purpose of each focus, and how to apply it. I was even surprised to discover that I could take these shots at home using soft focus cream. I learned how to use my phone camera to enhance shallow focus. Now, when I watch movies, clips, or even commercials, I can quickly notice these focus shots and I can enter much more context and development into the story.

Not so good: I must admit that I had a hard time finding specific stills that conveyed a clear idea. For example, with soft focus, it was difficult for me to differentiate when a photo was out of focus, which didn't necessarily mean something wasn't, so I struggled with that. But at the same time, it was sometimes difficult for me to know if it was meant for the purpose of a flashback or more like a dream.

In conclusion I must say that I expanded my terminology and understanding, and although there is still much that I must learn I think I have advanced and I can begin to see the correlation between all the elements and how I can play with them, not only big things like the use of Mise en Scene but also just a small change like the focus can totally change the purpose of what I want to tell.