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Television Production & Broadcast Journalism
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
foreground, Figure  4-6. The reverse is commonly used as well—the
background is in focus and the foreground is out of focus. When using
a shallow depth of fi eld, the camera operator must refocus the camera if
the talent moves toward or away from the camera (even slightly), or if
any camera movements are performed.
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Figure 4-6. The pain
this young woman feels
is more powerful with the
background out of focus.
A shallow depth of field
compliments this image.
Selective depth of fi eld is the technique of choosing to have a shallow depth
of fi eld in a shot or scene. One dramatic effect that results from this technique
is changing the camera’s focus from the foreground to the background (or the
reverse) while the camera is hot. The attention of the audience may be intently
concentrated on a foreground image, but the camera gradually brings some-
thing unexpected from the background into focus. The process of changing
focus on a camera while that camera is hot is called rack focus, or pull focus.
Keep in mind that selective DOF loses its impact when overused in a program.
selective depth of field: A
technique of choosing to have
a shallow depth of field in a
shot or scene.
rack focus: The process of
changing focus on a camera
while that camera is hot. Also
called pull focus.
The following is a powerful example of the use of selective
depth of field. The scene described is an anti-war spot that
was used during a presidential campaign in the 1960s.
A little girl wearing a yellow dress chases a butterfly around a beautiful field
of flowers. She giggles and is obviously having a grand, happy time.
The background is an out of focus greenish color. The viewer simply
assumes that the background contains vegetation of some kind. The camera
moves toward a shot of the girl’s smiling face, with her two small hands
reaching toward the butterfly a bit closer in the foreground. Right before the
viewer’s eyes, the camera’s focus shifts and brings the background of the
shot into focus. The background vegetation becomes a line of fifty or more
soldiers with rifles ready to fire, stealthily moving out of the trees and toward
the camera. The little girl is standing between the advancing soldiers and the
camera/viewer and, therefore, in apparent danger.
The use of selective depth of field makes the line of soldiers surprising
background material and increases the impact of the scene.
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