What Is Deep Focus? Explained
Deep focussits at one end of the depth-of-field spectrum, and it means thateverything in the shot—foreground and background—is sharply focused and visible.
Director Orson Welles was a particular fan of this technique, and he popularized the deep focus technique in his 1941 film buff classicCitizen Kane(which we’ll explore some more later in this article).
When a scene is filmed in deep focus, viewers are given the maximum amount of information from the scene. Nothing is hidden. We’re forced to take in the background action as much as the foreground, which can imply a link between action, character, and setting.
Or it could just be used to show off the cool set design.
Here are several excellent movies that have used the deep focus shot technique to great effect.
1. Citizen Kane (1941)
Citizen Kaneis Orson Welles’s most famous film—and by extension, his most famous use of the deep focus shot.
One quick Google search reveals a ton of YouTube essays and scholarly articles about the flashback scene to Charles Foster Kane’s childhood. In this scene, young Charles can be seen playing in the snow through the window, way back in the background.
Thanks to cinematographer Gregg Toland’s employment of deep focus, we aren’t just seeing what’s happening inside the room—everything outside of the room is clearly visible, too.
This use of deep focus is particularly clever as it links the core question of the movie and the ending of the film: Who/what is Rosebud?
It wasn’t just inCitizen Kanethat Welles used deep focus. He used it in pretty much all of his movies.
The next time you watch one, take note of how crisp the details are of everything in the shot. When a character walks toward the back of a set—or leaves the room—see how they remain in constant focus.
It sounds simple and possibly even trivial, but most movies have characters fade into a blur for a more “cinematic” look. By keeping them in sight, your attention isn’t drawn away from the character (which may be hinting to an important plot point).
2. Mank (2020)
In ode to Orson Welles, director David Fincher leaned heavily on deep focus in his Oscar-winning historical dramaMank.
Telling the lesser-known story of Herman J. Mankiewicz—the man who actually wroteCitizen Kane—Fincher mimics the style of Welles' famous cinematography.
This doesn’t just mean black-and-white film grain. Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt evoked the aesthetics ofCitizen Kanein every way possible, including deep focus.
So when we see Gary Oldman pacing the grand, tall buildings (reminiscent ofCitizen Kane’sset design), he remains completely visible and in sharp focus, as if it were Welles himself.
Related:The Best Modern Black-and-White Movies
3. Atonement (2007)
We’ve highlighted the war dramaAtonementbefore for its incredible use of the long take technique, but there’s more to the film’s greatness than its sheer length of a single take.
Not only is this stately shot done all in one go—without edits—it also makes full use of deep focus.
The whole point of this scene is to show how different men spent their last days on the beaches of Dunkirk. Some play football, some get drunk, some sing together at the bandstand.
It’s a touching scene that’s full of humanity and emotion, but probably wouldn’t have worked if a shallow depth-of-field was used.
Imagine if cinematographer Seamus McGarvey filmed five uninterrupted minutes of carefully choreographed action, just for half of it all to get lost in blurriness and be hard to decipher by viewers.
The scene would’ve lost all of its impact, and we would’ve been bored to tears. Deep focus is what makes it so good!
Related:The Long Shot Film Technique, Explained
4. Django Unchained (2012)
InDjango Unchained, there’s one particular setting that Quentin Tarantino kept in full focus throughout the movie: the plantations.
As a key setting in this modern Spaghetti Western, the Candyland plantation is owned by (one of) the antagonists of the film (played by Leonardo DiCaprio).
It’s where Django’s (played by Jamie Foxx) wife is forced to work, and is eventually blown up in an all-out Tarantino-style ending. Before this is “Big Daddy’s” plantation in Tennessee—equally as terrible.
Whenever we’re introduced to these grand-yet-horrifying settings, cinematographer Robert Richardson films from the end of the long path leading to the doorway.
The building’s whiteness pierces the landscape and asserts its authority over the land and the people working it.
Similarly, whenever a scene takes place on the porch, the background view of the grounds are kept in sight. While the white men casually pour drinks and gaze over their property, the slaves toil on down below.
Related:The Best Blaxploitation Movies, Ranked
5. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Most of Wes Anderson’s films are shot in deep focus, but it doesn’t get mentioned much because his filmmaking style is dominated by distinct use of symmetry, birds-eye shots, and whip-pans.
However, none of these would work nearly as well if not shot in deep focus by cinematographer Robert Yeoman. Deep focus is the element that allows those other cinematic choices to shine.
We’ll look atThe Darjeeling Limitedfor this entry, but the same can be applied to any Anderson movie.
InThe Darjeeling Limited, the setting and design play an integral role in the narrative. Therefore, it only makes sense for it to always be in focus.
As a story about three brothers going on a journey across India, the vibrant colors of Indian culture must be acknowledged and celebrated.
The rituals, arts, and practices of Hindu temples and Christian convents guide the brothers' journey of self-discovery, filling the screen with gorgeous architecture, set pieces, and nature.
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6. Rear Window (1954)
Legendary director Alfred Hitchcock often used deep focus to create suspense. After all, he’s nicknamed the “Master of Suspense”!
InPsycho, the Bates Motel is just as clear as the characters inhabiting it—especially Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). This technique makes the creepy taxidermy décor one with the villain.
ButPsychohas already been dissected to death by film scholars, so let’s look at a different Hitchcock example:Rear Window.
A deep depth-of-field is crucial for the narrative ofRear Window. The plot is based around a photographer with a broken leg, who has nothing to do except watch his neighbors across the road. (The voyeuristic theme is common to many of Hitchcock’s films.)
Jeff (played by James Stewart) thinks he witnesses a murder through his telescope and tries to solve it. Now, imagine if Robert Burks used a shallow depth-of-field here? We wouldn’t be able to see anything happening through the windows!
Before the murder even takes place, Hitchcock gives us a famous peek into the courtyard opposite, zooming in on the windows of Jeff’s neighbors during a heatwave. To see so far into the opposing rooms, deep focus is a technical necessity.
Related:The Best Movies About Neighbors (Who Are Good, Bad, or Strange)
7. All the President’s Men (1976)
This one’s a bit of a cheat because, technically,All the President’s Menemploys a split diopter shot rather than traditional deep focus. In other words, it creates theillusionof deep focus.
This is accomplished by attaching a partial lens to a standard lens, creating two different focal planes that look to be a deep focus shot, except obscure in a way you can’t quite put your finger on…
This shot is used in a famous 6-minute-long take where Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) makes a phone call while the rest of the news team gathers in the back, left-hand corner.
As cinematographer Gordon Willis slowly zooms on Redford’s face, we can’t help but be drawn to the hubbub and wonder what’s afoot.
Alan J. Pakula’s journalistic biopic is based on the true story of two men investigating the Watergate scandal forThe Washington Post. As the nature of the movie is all about uncovering secrets, distractions, and lies, the use of deep focus and diopter shots is fitting.
Related:The Best Political Drama Movies of All Time, Ranked
8. The Revenant (2015)
At its core,The Revenantis a tale of man versus nature, so it’s important we actuallyseethe nature that confronts Hugh Glass (played by Leonardo DiCaprio, based on a real fur trapper).
Beyond the famous grizzly bear attack, Hugh has to fight against enemies, hypothermia, drowning, and starvation to survive the frosty American Frontier.
Therefore, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki shows all these things clearly in the background, creeping up and looming over Hugh’s fate.
But director Alejandro G. Iñárritu doesn’t reduce nature to just something to survive against. It’s beautiful, panoramic, and somewhat spiritual, representing Hugh’s soul connection to his lost family.
Lubezki won an Academy Award for presenting nature in this dualistic way, using wide-angle lenses to capture the terror, awe, and grandeur of the Dakota wilderness.
And what would be the point of it all if Lubezki were to use a shallow depth-of-field that fizzles all the fear and beauty away?
Related:The Best Cinematographers in Hollywood of All Time, Ranked
9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Due toPortrait of a Lady on Fire’s narrative, the use of deep focus is a fundamental technical choice. It couldn’t be without it.
Céline Sciamma’s historical romance is about a woman having her portrait done. In light of this, Claire Mathon makes the cinematography itself look like a painting—crisp lines, precise colors, no blurry edges!
Héloïse (played by Adèle Haenel) and Marianne (played by Noémie Merlant) are forbidden lovers in 18th century France, and shots of them on the beach are particularly prevalent throughout the movie, marrying shades of cyan sea with emerald green dresses and sandy beige.
It’s crucial that all of this is sharp, detailed, and ultra high-def to echo Marianne’s artistic work, who’s commissioned to watch Héloïse in secret and paint her from memory.
The deep focus also helpsPortrait of a Lady on Fireto achieve that sophisticated, polished look that keeps with its gentry setting.
Related:The Best Movies About Art and Painting, Ranked
10. Gravity (2013)
For any film about space, it’s important that you can actuallyseespace—not just the inside of a spaceship. But it’s even more important for a film likeGravity, which is truly about the emptiness of space itself.
As the only surviving crew member left on the Explorer space shuttle, Dr. Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock) floats around the atmosphere trying to make communication with Earth.
Lovely as she is, it would be a total bore to watch nothing but Bullock’s face for 90 minutes clanking around a metal container. Luckily, we’ve got the sweeping views of the universe in the background, thanks to director Alfonso Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.
One sequence in particular makes marvelous use of deep focus: when Ryan becomes entangled in parachute cords, Matt Kowalski (played by George Clooney) detaches himself from his tether to save her.
As they twirl about in zero gravity, the Earth looms huge behind them, each cloud and continent finely detailed from thousands of miles away.
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