Differential focus

Shooting the second half of a white-collar crime drama. The exteriors were shot in LA and the interiors back in the UK. 

The interiors 'look' leaned heavily on differential focus. 

The combination of a large sensor size (36x20.25mm) and large apertures (all examples below at F1.4 and F1.2) whilst bringing certain shooting challenges offers an almost inevitable optical beauty.

The challenge is focus itself. How do you hold the bits that you want in... When there is so little of it about?

 The solution here seems twofold. Both by using very exacting frames, where your subject moves within a thinly defined field of vision.

Or, as we primarily opted for, an aggressive verite style where the cameras movement and focus-finding almost become a character in the story alongside the cast.

Optical affects aside the impact on production design, lighting and shooting speed were marked.

These frames on Cinevised Nikkor 35mm F1.4, 50mm F1.2, 85mm F1.4