70 Grammar of the Shot

Lens FocusDirecting the Viewers Eye Around

Your Frame

We now understand that the framing of a shot is established through camera format,
camera angle, camera proximity, and camera lens focal length. The composition of
objects and/or subjects within that frame is your creative goal, and you are now staging
those elements along the rule of thirds and diagonal lines deep into the frames middle
ground and background. Utilizing this deep space in your lm frame also allows you to
unlock an additional tool in your shot construction tool kitfocus.

Your eyes can only focus on one thing at a time. As you look from one place around you
to another, your eye instantly changes focus to the new distance of the new object of
visual interest. The illusion of constant focus is achieved, but, in reality, you are only
able to focus on one physical plane or distance from your eye at any one time. A camera
lens behaves in the same way. It can only generate clear, crisp focus at one distance
from the camera at one time. This distance is called the point of critical focus. There
is a zone around this distance of critical focus that may also appear to be in acceptable
focus (not yet blurry), and this zone is called the depth of eld (DOF). Lucky for you,
image optics follow certain scientic rules, so there are many charts and tables avail-
able to help you predict this changing depth of eld and they allow you to creatively set
what may be in focus within your frame.

Setting focus is the job of the camera operator or camera assistant. Determining what
important object within the composition of the frame gets treated to the primary critical
focus is often the job of the director or the director of photography. As staging talent
and set dressing deep into the shot are now possible, you get to determine where (what
distance from the camera) the focus is set and therefore control what the viewing audi-
ence will most likely pay attention to on the screen. Another bit of shot grammar for
you here: what is in focus in your shot is the important thing for the viewer to watch.

Again, humans pretty much see everything in focus all of the time. We are not accus-
tomed to seeing things blurry (unless we need corrective lenses and choose not to wear
them). A camera lens does not know what is or what should be in focus. Only you, the
camera operator, knows that. You set the critical plane of focus and the corresponding
depth of eld according to what you wish to have in proper focus. The audience will
want to look at the objects within that zone of most clear and crisp focus. Anything
outside the depth of eld will appear blurry to the viewers eye and therefore not be an
attractive element to watch.