Rack Focus

Rack focus is where the focus is changed from one subject to another during a shot.

Rack Focus from Jakob Morrison on Vimeo.

Process

The final shot produced is fairly effective in showing rack focus. I struggled with this to start with as I was using a camera with a deep depth of field, and I am an amateur when it comes to camera settings.

Problem Solving

The main problem I faced with this task was the fact the camera had such a deep depth of field but after experimenting with the aperture I managed to get the right shot. Increasing the aperture lead to a shallow depth of field which allowed me to use rack focusing efficiently.

Justification of Decisions

At the start of this shot the sign on the door in the background is in focus, the focus then shifts to the hand in the foreground before shifting focus back to the sign in the background. The sign on the door was readily available and then placing the hand close to the lens meant I could easily shift the focus between the two to show rack focus efficiently.

Recommendations

To improve this video, I would use a higher aperture so that I had a shallower depth of field. I would also use different subjects because I feel like two people, one in the foreground and one in the background, would allow me to show the technique of rack focusing more efficiently.