Depth of Field in Cinematography

 1) Stills from existing media that use depth of field in cinematography

a. Still image from Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014, showing how deep is used to convey conflict or development.

b. Still image from Moonlight, 2016, showing how shallow is used to coney conflict or development. 

c. Still image from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009, showing how soft is used to convey character or development

2) Stills I created using depth of field to demonstrate meaning

a. A still showing how deep is used to convey conflict, character, or development 

b. A still showing how shallow is used to convey conflict, character, or development.

c. A still showing how soft is used to convey character or development.

Reflection

Throughout the process of taking my pictures, the main challenges I faced was applying deep and soft focus onto my images. When I first attempted the deep shot, I went out to my front yard and used my brother as the center, but the background didn't seem far enough to make it look like a deep shot. I was stumped on what to do and where I could find a long enough background to take the image. Then, later I went to work and realized the store I work in has a long lobby, so I asked my co-worker to stand still. While I took the shot I made sure to remember to keep the background in focus. This background seemed perfect because there was countertops and things to focus on. The next thing I had trouble with was creating my soft focus shot. I first tried taking a plain picture of my dog and messed around with some editing filters on my phone, but nothing was really efficient in blurring the picture. After doing some research and watching the recommended video, I used Vaseline on my phone camera which was the most effective way to get the shot how I wanted it. I decided to take this shot outside since my main subject was a dog. I think having the soft focus shot with outside lighting may help the viewers envision that the dog is most likely very playful and energetic, compared to taking the shot with a grey background on a dog bed.