# Cinematography Question for The Last Jedi. Focus Breathing lens issue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876 "2018-07-31T16:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876/21 "2018-08-02T13:40:14Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > So I had some fun last night learning how to make a GIF. Here is a clip from TLJ. It is 7.5 seconds long (so it is kind of large) that has two different focus shifts. > > The first one is from Rey to Luke and back. It is less noticeable, but it stretches and compresses vertically. > > The second one is from the caretakers to Rey and it compresses horizontally. > > [https://gfycat.com/UnknownNextCrayfish](https://gfycat.com/UnknownNextCrayfish) > > In the movie, these two are right next to each other which make it even more jarring. …it looks deliberate to me. Its so easy to switch focus-point in camera that it looks like a deliberate stylistic choice to help guide the eye in the direction they want us to look. As Rey’s head swings towards Luke the compression naturally makes our eyes swing left, then as it focuses on Rey we “pull back” slightly and that brings our eye back onto her. Its such a quick moment that that subtle moment stops us from lingering on either subject. The same with the next scene. As it compresses inwards our eyes are naturally drawn to the left, onto Rey. So my WAG is it was all done in post production on purpose. I’m just starting to learn the art of video editing in premiere. So I’m gonna try and duplicate this tomorrow. 🙂 Stay tuned. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876/22 "2018-08-02T17:48:38Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I wonder if this has to do with being shot with an anamorphic lens. Anamorphic or not, I do think it is a lens effect. it’s an analog effect, not digital. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876/23 "2018-08-02T17:57:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Anamorphic or not, I do think it is a lens effect. > > it’s an analog effect, not digital. The consensus on the web seems to be that it **IS** a result of using an anamorphic lens. > [@](#): > > When the lens elements move, the entrance pupil moves, so you’re effectively moving the camera forward or backward very slightly. This unavoidably changes the apparent relative size between foreground and background objects. The fact that the lens is anamorphic on top of this means you don’t get the same amount of distortion vertically and horizontally. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876/24 "2018-08-02T20:48:24Z")
Gee, I wish I had suggested something like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876/25 "2018-08-02T23:11:03Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Gee, I wish I had suggested something like that. 🙂 Well, yes, but the anamorphic lens is what makes the background change shape, which you didn’t mention… ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876/26 "2018-08-03T19:25:02Z")
Sorry I was gone for a while. I think you guys have it. Some other evidence: [http://presynkt.com/2014/05/30/the-anamorphic-look-breathing/](http://presynkt.com/2014/05/30/the-anamorphic-look-breathing/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/cinematography/comments/8c4m0y/background\_movement\_in\_anamorphic\_rack\_focus\_why/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cinematography/comments/8c4m0y/background_movement_in_anamorphic_rack_focus_why/) The second link had an interesting comments about why this may be more common now: "Anamorphic lenses do that when you pull focus, and it becomes more obvious when you open up the aperture really wide. Shooting really wide open (as in: below t/2.8 or so) wasn’t very common back in the day, but has become more popular with the advent of even faster lenses, and after people grew accustomed to it during the larger format craze in amateur cameras of the 2010s. So it’s possible that you have noticed it more in newer films than in older ones." ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876/27 "2018-08-07T02:22:56Z")
Showed my wife, it is weird. Do we have a bunch of examples from other movies? I’ve never noticed this effect before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematography-question-for-the-last-jedi-focus-breathing-lens-issue/818876.md?page=1)