The Shot and Editing

On the Shot:
Explain the difference between small and large depths of field. Make up and describe two scenes in a movie and describe how both effects could be used to achieve the point of your scenes.

Depth of field is the measurements of the closest and farthest planes in front of the camera lens where everything will be in sharp focus. An example is how an object is 15 feet away from the camera lens, but the object will lose focus when its moved 3 feet away from the lens. A short-local-length lens has a greater depth of field than a long- focal-length lens. Short-local-length lens is also known as wide-angle lens. This depth of field can be used to focus on objects equal to or shorter than 10 feet depending on the type of lens. This is the same with a long-focal-length lens or telephoto lens.
In the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith they use different depth of fields. In the scene, Jane uses binoculars to see an incoming car. The shot is a point of view shot. In that scene they use long-focal-length lens to focus on the car far away. As the car gets closer, it re-focuses using the short-focal-length lens.

On Editing:
Imagine a continuously edited scene in a popular movie you have seen. Now imagine it re-edited discontinuously. Consider what graphic and rhythmic possibilities exist in the shots you're thinking of. How does it change the scene and the rest of the movie?

In the movie, The Dark Knight, the beginning scene uses continuous editing. It starts with a slow zoom in to a building window, then suddenly the shot is two joker masked men in that building.. The they use another zoom in but onto a joker mask held by a man a the street. The man on the street jumps in a car, then it jumps to the two men sliding out of the window. Then the shot is inside the car and a wide shot of the men sliding from the window. If this scene wasn’t edited people would be lost. They wouldn’t know who is doing what and why it’s happening. They use zooming to show another setting for the shot. If they didn’t jump from shot to shot, they would have a long boring shot of a building. Then inside the building, while men are sliding onto another roof, and finally a man waiting for a car, and a shot of what happens in the car. This would be a longer movie than it actually is if it was discontinuously edited. The scene wouldn’t show how the characters and setting are connected to each other. Since the scene is continuously edited, the scene is shorter and easier to understand what is happening. It also shows connections between each shot. The movie would also have long shots of the characters getting from one place to another. It would be a long and maybe boring movie because it will have unnecessary shots and scenes. The characters would be all over the place and it won’t jump from scene to scene to show how the scenes connect.