Lights, camera, action! Focus is a major cornerstone of successful cinematography, and it’s time to learn how to find the focal plane manually in every situation that might arise on set. Just like the Cajun holy trinity of onions, bell peppers, and celery is the foundation of a beautiful gumbo, exposure, framing, and focus are the divine trinity of operating a camera. In this post, we take a deep dive into manual focus, offering tips so that you can stay sharp on one of the most important skills in the world of cinematography.
When our subjects are on the move, our focal distances are as well. To maintain sharp focus, we discuss predictive vs. reactionary focal techniques. Predictive focus means to track and roll your focus with the subject, predicting their movements so you can maintain a rhythm that will allow you to always keep the subject in focus. This will prevent you from having a reactive focus, where the shooter waits until the subject is almost soft, or sometimes even slightly soft before rolling their focus.
Racking focus is a movement from one focal plane to another, usually highlighting either a different subject or detail. This can be much more than a stylistic choice. It can actually convey narrative elements through visual storytelling, or adjust the eyeline of the audience. This tactic of forcing your audience’s eyeline by racking focus is an extremely nuanced technique, and it’s something great cinematographers have mastered and use all the time.
Solo shooters will most likely just use the focus assist settings on their camera. But, if you find yourself on set, especially as an AC, learning how to properly measure focus is a must. You can use a soft tape on a spool for this, a hard tape, or a laser to measure your distance. But, please don’t bust out the laser if you are measuring to a human subject. We do not want to be in the business of blinding our talent.
Much like anything in life, truly becoming a master of anything takes time. But, hopefully these tips will help you crush your manual focus on all of your takes to come. Lights, camera, action!
