Watch the video:
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:
- Is Scope 2.39:1?
- Crop factor
- 35mm Equivalent
- Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
- Focal Lengths Used by Akira Kurosawa
Focal lengths and lenses used by great directors
Here’s the list:
S. No. | Director | Focal length, Lens |
1 | Orson Welles | 18mm (Touch of Evil), 25mm (Citizen Kane) |
2 | Jean-Pierre Jeunet | 18 an 25mm lens, 14mm (Alien Resurrection), 25mm (Delicatessen) |
3 | Roman Polanski | 18mm, 40mm anamorphic (Chinatown) |
4 | Wes Anderson | 40mm anamorphic, 27mm (The Royal Tenebaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel) |
5 | Quentin Tarantino | 40mm or 50mm anamorphic |
6 | Steven Spielberg | 21mm |
7 | Tim Burton | 21mm, never beyond 50mm. Long lenses as a punctuation |
8 | Martin Scorsese | 25mm and wider, 32mm (The King of Comedy), long lenses for Raging Bull |
9 | Joel and Ethan Coen | 27 and 32mm (Stays between 25-40mm) |
10 | David Cronenberg | 27mm |
11 | David Fincher | 27mm and 35mm |
12 | Francis Ford Coppola | 40mm (Most of Godfather) |
13 | Yasujiro Ozu | 50mm |
14 | Robert Bresson | 50mm |
15 | Alfred Hitchcock | 50mm |
16 | Ridley Scott | 75mm and longer, zoom lens – anamorphic. Eventually shifted to spherical |
17 | Akira Kurosawa | 35-50mm, tended towards longer lenses in late career, but occasionally |
18 | Sidney Lumet | Changed focal lengths for every movie |
19 | Stanley Kubrick | 18mm, Special lenses – Kinoptik 9.8mm, Zeiss 50mm f/0.7, Cine-Pro 24-480mm T9 zoom |
20 | Terry Gilliam | 14mm (later work), earlier work is wider than 28mm |
21 | Steven Soderbergh | 18mm (only recent work) |
22 | Mikhail Kalatozov | 9.8mm Kinoptic for 90 percent of the film, and the other lens was just an 18mm |
23 | Terrence Malick | 14mm-25mm |
24 | Christopher Nolan | 65mm/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!
Thank you!