Sequence viewing > Aesthetics Index - Resource - © Lloyd Godman

Differential focus - perspective

By selectively focusing on a specific subject within a scene or selecting an aperture that produces limited depth of field (so that only that area is in focus), the viewer is predictably drawn to the area in focus.

This technique can act as a sign to the viewer, it announces, the area in sharp focus is the subject, this is important look at this, while the out of focus areas might be simply seen as the ground that the subject sits against and are generally considered of less importance. It can be used to create a psychological emphasis on those parts of the image in focus by pulling the audience towards them. Generally an audience expects object in the foreground to be sharp against an out of focus background. In terms of space, some contradiction can arise when the background is in focus while the foreground is out of focus. Often more concentration is needed to read images like this.