An elegant, gorgeous montage.
Speaking technically, depth of field refers to the distance between the subjects or objects nearest and farthest from the lens, and the sharpness of everything within that distance. It’s also known as the focus range, or, more specifically, the effective focus range because everything in this range is effectively in focus. This is an illusion of sorts because of course a lens is built to only focus on a single thing at a time, but in depth of field, it’s the decrease in sharpness on both ends – the near end and the far end – that gives the visual impression everything is in focus equally.
Speaking aesthetically, depth of field is one of the most beautiful shots in a filmmaker’s repertoire and has been used to represent connection, disconnection, wonder, terror, discovery, mystery, and a host of other complementary and contradictory themes and emotions.
In the following montage from Fabriccio Diaz, the most elegant examples of the depth of field in contemporary cinema have been gathered and put on display. Films from Terrence Malick, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Martin Scorsese, Denis Villeneuve, Peter Berg, Peter Weir, Barry Jenkins and others all make the cut, representing the broad range of the shot’s impact.
Movie and Director in order of appearance:
1. I Origins (2014) by Mike Cahill
2. Nerve (2016) by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman
3. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) by Alejandro González Iñárritu
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) by Wes Anderson
5. Nerve (2016) by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman
6. I Origins (2014) by Mike Cahill
7. To the wonder (2012) by Terrence Malick
8. Cloud Atlas (2012) by Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski
9. The Revenant (2015) by Alejandro González Iñárritu
10. Sicario (2015) by Denis Villeneuve
11. To the wonder (2012) by Terrence Malick
12. To the wonder (2012) by Terrence Malick
13. I Origins (2014) by Mike Cahill
14. To the wonder (2012) by Terrence Malick
15. I Origins (2014) by Mike Cahill
16. I Origins (2014) by Mike Cahill
17. The Revenant (2015) by Alejandro González Iñárritu
18. The Giver (2014) by Phillip Noyce
19. Cloud Atlas (2012) by Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski
20. I Origins (2014) by Mike Cahill
21. The Giver (2014) by Phillip Noyce
22. Hugo (2011) by Martin Scorsese
23. Sicario (2015) by Denis Villeneuve
24. Nerve (2016) by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman
25. Deepwater Horizon (2016) by Peter Berg
26. Unbroken (2014) by Angelina Jolie
27. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013) by David Lowery
28. I Origins (2014) by Mike Cahill
29. Deepwater Horizon (2016) by Peter Berg
30. Nerve (2016) by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman
31. Requiem for a Dream (2000) by Darren Aronofsky
32. Hacksaw Ridge (2016) by Mel Gibson
33. Moonlight (2016) by Barry Jenkins
34. The Truman Show (1998) by Peter Weir
35. The Revenant (2015) by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Music: Cloud Atlas Finale by Tom Tykwer