Deep Focus in True Grit

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  • #216958
    gx42
    Participant

      Hi Roger, I re-watched True Grit recently as it had been a while and I’d forgotten a lot of it, what an incredible film!

      I am curious about your approach on getting these deep focus shots in the film as it plays so well in the story. Is it as simple as smaller apertures? Or are there split diopters or background plates playing here?

      And are there considerations with smaller apertures such as diffraction or limiting light to the film/sensor? Neither of which seem to be present here.

      Apologies for the poor quality screen grabs, but I pulled a few stills online from examples I was curious about. This first ones seems particularly tricky to get with the iris alone.

       

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    • #216959
      gx42
      Participant

        Adding one more here also that is a bit different than the former

        #216963
        Roger Deakins
        Keymaster

          Those three shots were made in camera. The very distant details in the town were added later but nothing of consequence. True Grit was shot on film and these exteriors were exposed at around f 8/11 on the lens, probably a 27mm. Hence the depth of field.

           

          #216965
          gx42
          Participant

            That is awesome. Thank you Roger!

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