The Focal Lengths and Lenses used by Great Directors
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The Focal Lengths and Lenses used by Great Directors

Famous directors and the focal lengths they preferred.

Watch the video:

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Specific lenses mentioned in the video:

  • Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 adapted for Barry Lyndon (37.5mm with wide-angle adapter)
  • Kinoptik 9.8mm
  • Cine-Pro 24-480mm T9 zoom lens

Links mentioned in the video and which could be useful to your research and study:

Focal lengths and lenses used by great directors

Here’s the list:

S. No.DirectorFocal length, Lens
1Orson Welles18mm (Touch of Evil), 25mm (Citizen Kane)
2Jean-Pierre Jeunet18 an 25mm lens, 14mm (Alien Resurrection), 25mm (Delicatessen)
3Roman Polanski18mm, 40mm anamorphic (Chinatown)
4Wes Anderson40mm anamorphic, 27mm (The Royal Tenebaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel)
5Quentin Tarantino40mm or 50mm anamorphic
6Steven Spielberg21mm
7Tim Burton21mm, never beyond 50mm. Long lenses as a punctuation
8Martin Scorsese25mm and wider, 32mm (The King of Comedy), long lenses for Raging Bull
9Joel and Ethan Coen27 and 32mm (Stays between 25-40mm)
10David Cronenberg27mm
11David Fincher27mm and 35mm
12Francis Ford Coppola40mm (Most of Godfather)
13Yasujiro Ozu50mm
14Robert Bresson50mm
15Alfred Hitchcock50mm
16Ridley Scott75mm and longer, zoom lens – anamorphic. Eventually shifted to spherical
17Akira Kurosawa35-50mm, tended towards longer lenses in late career, but occasionally
18Sidney LumetChanged focal lengths for every movie
19Stanley Kubrick18mm, Special lenses – Kinoptik 9.8mm, Zeiss 50mm f/0.7, Cine-Pro 24-480mm T9 zoom
20Terry Gilliam14mm (later work), earlier work is wider than 28mm
21Steven Soderbergh18mm (only recent work)
22Mikhail Kalatozov 9.8mm Kinoptic for 90 percent of the film, and the other lens was just an 18mm
23Terrence Malick14mm-25mm
24Christopher Nolan65mm/IMAX – 50mm has become the wide lens, the 80mm the tighter lens, almost all of Memento and Insomnia on a 75mm E-Series lens, Batman Anamorphic – workhorse was the 50mm

In the art of filmmaking, the choice of focal length is a crucial element that great directors use to shape their narratives. The focal length of a lens determines its angle of view, thus influencing how a scene is captured and perceived by the audience. This essay explores how different focal lengths – wide-angle, standard, and telephoto – are employed by acclaimed directors to convey various emotional and storytelling effects.

Wide-angle lenses, typically less than 35mm, are known for their expansive field of view. Directors use these lenses to create a sense of vastness or to capture large-scale scenes. The distortion they introduce at the edges can also be used creatively to give a surreal or disorienting effect, as seen in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” where wide shots contribute to the eerie atmosphere of the Overlook Hotel. Wide angles are also favored for their ability to exaggerate spatial relationships, which directors like Wes Anderson exploit for stylistic effect.

Standard lenses, around 50mm, are often described as mimicking the human eye’s natural field of view. They provide a balanced perspective without the distortion of wide-angle lenses or the flattening effect of telephoto lenses. Directors like Quentin Tarantino often use standard lenses for dialogue-driven scenes to create a sense of intimacy and immediacy. The neutrality of these lenses helps in maintaining focus on character interactions and expressions, as evident in the intense diner scenes in “Pulp Fiction.”

Telephoto lenses, with focal lengths over 70mm, are used for their ability to compress and flatten space. This effect can isolate subjects from their background, creating a sense of intimacy or claustrophobia. Alfred Hitchcock famously used this to great effect in “Vertigo” during the dolly zoom shots, where the changing focal length created a disorienting vertigo effect. Telephoto lenses are also used for capturing details from a distance, allowing directors to focus on specific elements without disturbing the natural flow of the scene.

Additionally, the choice of focal length can also influence the depth of field. Directors like Steven Spielberg use deep focus (achieved with shorter focal lengths) to keep multiple planes in a scene sharp, as seen in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” where both foreground and background details are crucial. In contrast, shallow depth of field (associated with longer focal lengths) can be used to draw attention to a particular subject, as used by Christopher Nolan in “The Dark Knight” to focus on characters’ emotions.

In conclusion, the selection of focal length is a powerful tool in a filmmaker’s arsenal. It is more than just a technical decision; it’s a creative choice that impacts the narrative, mood, and visual style of a film. From the surreal expanses created by wide-angle lenses to the intimate focus of telephoto lenses, the mastery of focal lengths is a hallmark of great directors who use this element to bring their unique visions to life.

If you know the focal lengths preferred by directors I’ve left out, please let me know. Please also link to sources so I can confirm the information. I’ll be happy to update this list.

4 replies on “The Focal Lengths and Lenses used by Great Directors”

Seeing the scenes and getting the audience to feel the emotion you are they to convey. It’s a mental visualization process built with feeling the scene. Then the focal length needed will present itself.
At least this is how I do it . I don’t make movies but shoot live music,live events make music videos and have just started into documentaries.

Thank you! You’re right, it’s all about the emotions.

As a university lecturer in cinematography I find your online resources to be among the very best. I also have 35 years experience behind the camera so I can verify your information. Well done and keep it up!

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