The following techniques that we're going to discuss originate from filmmaking.

But they are also often used in animation (and even illustration), and thus I made this guide.

This one is brief. Let’s go.

See the classification of camera shots by scale here:

(there is a template you can download)

Classification of camera shots by focus

When the camera focus shifts from one object to another, we say that a focus pull happens.

 

A focus pull is natural occurrence, and you know this from real life - the things you're not looking at right now, in your background, are blurry. But when you shift your eye view, and look into the background, then your foreground gets blurry. That's focus pull.

The blurry objects are blurry because they are out of your depth of field.

(By the way, the area that you see sharply or crisply is called your "depth of field")

 

Types of shots by focus:

1. Deep Focus

2. Shallow Focus

3. Tilt-Shift Shot (Selective Focus)

4. Split Diopter

5. Rack Focus

6. Soft focus

 

1. Deep Focus

Everything is sharp because everything is in focus. You can see everything properly. This is the standard way of portraying things.

2. Shallow Focus

Your character is sharp. The rest of the objects, both in the foreground and in the background, appear blurry. This draws the attention towards your character.

3. Tilt-Shift Shot (Selective Focus)

Some parts of image are in focus, other parts are out of focus.

Often case: the face of the character is in focus, while the rest of the body, together with the background, are out of focus.

4. Split Diopter

Basically, the objects in the foreground and the background are in focus. However, your middle layer, or what separates the background from the foreground, will be out of focus.

 

It's a very special type of shot, and even in filmmaking, let alone animation, it is used sparingly.

I don't think I've ever seen it employed outside of filmmaking. However, I decided to still include it in this guide, since it is a type of shot after all. What's more, it is very interesting.

Split Diopter is said to add mystery to your scene. As well as, it has the ability to make the audience feel unsettled, disoriented, and tense.

5. Rack Focus

Rack focus is the way the focus of your camera changes within one camera shot.

The focus of the camera moves from Object A to Object B, and these two objects are placed in different focal planes.

6. Soft focus

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That's it.

 

Manipulate where the eye of the on-looker will go by playing around with the focus.

 

Hope this was useful. See you in the next tutorial _φ(*￣0￣)ﾉ

P. S.

If you want to know how to vary the transparency of your character in an animation, or how to animate a character with blending modes, you can see the Bonus section of my Camerawork Tutorial: