pull-focus

Rack the lens

Pull-focus is a cinematography technique where the camera operator shifts focus from one subject to another within a single shot, guiding the viewer's attention: The director wanted a pull-focus from the detective's face to the gun on the table.

Also called a rack focus.

As a verb, to pull focus means to execute this shift or, more broadly, to draw attention away from something else: Her dramatic entrance pulled focus from the main speaker.

technique

lens

Light-focusing curved glass

background · shift · transition · f-stop · cinematography · optical · defocus · blur · sharpness

narrative

reveal

Make something visible

storytelling · subtext · misdirection · foreshadowing · dramatic · suspense · tension · discovery · realization · highlight

profession

marking

Indicating with symbols

timing · coordination · gaffer · grip · clapperboard · take · blocking · steadicam · dolly · production

Opposites
camera movement type

pull-focuszoom

Rapid movement or magnification

zoom in · zoom out · dolly shot · tracking shot · push-in

depth of field approach

pull-focusshallow focus

Narrow depth of field

Family

pull, pulls, pulled, pulling, puller, focus, focuses, focused, focusing

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Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G