Cinematography: Depth of Field

 Cinematography

1. Stills from Existing Media:

1a. A still showing how a deep depth of field is used to convey conflict, character or development from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The deep depth of field puts a focus the characters and their surroundings to show how climactic the fight between the two is. We feel as we are part of the scene as it is all so clear, and we see how grand the setting really is and how grand the incoming strikes are. They are in deep conflict and are trying to really incapacitate each other.  

1b. A still showing how a shallow depth of field is used to convey conflict, character or development from The Batman. In this shot, the shallow depth of field helps the viewer focus on the Riddler's expression. Here is the big moment where the bad guy is caught and nothing else should matter, however he is smiling as if there is something more going on. It leaves little distractions for the viewer and shows how everyone is primarily focused on the Riddler. 

1c. A still showing how a soft depth of field is used to convey conflict, character or development from Watchmen. In the shot, a soft depth of field is used to help portray and develop the environment of the movie as well as the character of Rorschach. The setting of the story is dark, gritty, and sometimes dreamy, making it harder to make things out which the softness shows. Rorschach is not someone who wants to be seen. He works outside of the law as a vigilante. He is trying to blend in with background and not stand out, so he is also not in full focus. 

2. Stills I Created:

2a. A still showing how a deep depth of field is used to convey conflict, character or development. The shot is in a deep depth of field to emphasize Scarlet Spider's victory over Electro who is in the background and middle ground. We can clearly see the outcome of the fight and the state Electro was left in to show the power of Scarlet Spider. We still keep that focus on Scarlet Spider who is in the foreground and not just Electro to show he was the one responsible and should be equally noticed.

2b. A still showing how a shallow depth of field is used to convey conflict, character or development. Here, a shallow depth of field is used to put emphasis on Jack-O-Lantern and take it away from the background. This is to show that the outcome of the altercation between him and Spider-Man ended with him escaping. Spider-Man is not in focus as he is no longer Jack's main focus as he managed to getaway and is not worrying about him. 

2c. A still showing how a soft depth of field is used to convey conflict, character or development. The soft depth of field emphasizes the motion of the characters. Jack is striking at Spider-Man and forcing him to quickly avoid it. Nothing is still since action is happening that shows conflict between both characters. The characters are attacking quickly meaning it would be hard to focus so the shot itself is not in focus. 

3. Reflection

During the photo experiment I faced many issues. The biggest challenge I faced was getting a soft shot. My camera would always find a way to put direct focus on something which makes the depth of field totally different. It would do something similar when trying to get a deep shot, something else would be out of focus and it would wind up as a shallow shot. I believed the best way to capture a soft shot was trying to portray motion.  I had to manipulate the lighting on my soft shot so that it would not focus on anything specific and then have to manipulate the brightness which caused lots of blur to be visible. That was its own issue as I didn't want the shot to be hard to decipher but also not completely clear. The deep shot sometimes came out in a way that could be considered soft but that type of depth of field didn't match what the shot was going for. Another issue was trying to get a flying shot as I didn't want my hand in the shot, so I used what was available to hang the character up. Finally, I felt like the depth of field I used at times didn't fully express what I was trying to go for. Overall, the experience was stressful as once you finally had your shot it would focus on something different last second and cause you to retry multiple more times. It makes me have a lot more respect for people trying to take very specific types of shot.