A related question: is this something inherent in the technology and, if so, how do you think it will affect staging and blocking in the future? Can you “work deep” in HD like Citizen Kane or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? Will you ever be able to?
Boy, it’s a whole new animal. When I shoot HD I’m happy for the shallow depth of field. Have not yet explored increasing it.
But you should be able to increase the gain, stop down, shoot at a shorter focal length thus increasing depth of field.
Nitpick: standard definition has 480 visible lines visible, HD has 1080 or 720.
Yes, but remember what’s not seen past the screen edges has no affect on the actual resolution.
What jimpatro said. 
I shoot full-field. If your set doesn’t show you the full-field, well…-cough-… 
Additionally, you need to remember that there have been and still are a range of high definition resolutions being tossed around as the acceptable standard.
vibratronica, if it were possible to light intensely enough to stop down enough to have deep depth of focus, then I’d wager folks would do it now and again. It is, in fact, one of the most dismaying issues with Mini-DV cameras. They have terribly deep focus. There are a variety of solutions to this problem, including one brillaint and cheap one that was sent to me a few weeks ago, involving the use of a Nikon “F” body and Nikon lenses to shoot a Mini-DV image through. Fun stuff. I may go into a side business of making these jigs up.
With lighting technology going brighter/cooler/easier, I could see a time when we are once again flooding sets with light to gain depth of focus. Indeed wider lenses give you greater depth of focus, but my god- you have to light and dress a HUUUUGE set in order to shoot with very wide lenses. Makes life difficult. Then, there are the fisheye lenses. I used to risk seeing my shoulder in some Steadicam shots that I shot with the fisheye in 35mm. Damned hunk of glass was titanic in size and weight.
Tough to keep the talent from squinting, though…
Sure, but you’re talking about 725 lines, and that sure isn’t standard definition. Perhaps you meant 525?
When shows move to HD, often the sets have to be completely reconditioned. A show that’s been on the air for a few years can have sets that are banged up, duct taped, patched, fillered, defects spray painted, etc. None of that shows up in SDTV, but all those little details pop out in HD, making the sets look unrealistic. Now production people have to be much more careful to keep the sets in tip-top shape.