In this frame from the short film Sacramentum, a combination of techniques give the feeling that something secretive is going on.

Because of these effects, a longer lens can create the sense that a character is being spied on (especially when combined with other techniques).

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With each shot, whatever your aim, you'll want to label intended focal length in your shot list and keep track of the lenses you’ll need on set for a particular day.

Focal length affects how "zoomed in" an image appears. The higher the millimeter (mm) number, the more "zoomed in" the image appears.Focal length is measured as the distance from the focal point where light rays converge in the lens to the sensor or film in the camera, as illustrated in the diagram below.

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Since wider focal lengths exaggerate the size of things close to frame, this can give the audience a sense that they are right there next to your character, up close and personal.

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Your camera and lens are the audience. Your audience sees no more and no less than what you show them. It is crucial that when telling your story, you consider all the aspects of visual storytelling for your film.

All the small creative storytelling choices that you make for each image of your film are important. These small choices coalesce into the powerful effects your audience will feel as your story unfolds before them.

The far objects appear even smaller, and the closer objects even larger, than they would normally appear to the human eye.

Every type of camera lens has distinct qualities and visual characteristics that every image-maker should understand. Download our FREE e-book to get in-depth explanations on prime vs. zoom lenses, anamorphic vs. spherical lenses, wide angle, standard, telephoto and even specialty lenses that all tell a slightly different story.

In the next focal length example, the camera is positioned at varying distances with different lenses, as indicated in each photo:

This increases the perception of speed when something moves away or toward camera. Since wide lens exaggerates distance to camera, to create more intense effect of moving toward or away from camera, you need to use a wide angle lens.

If you watch the scene, it’s clear he’s still in love with her. The shot helps visually communicate this information to the audience.

Often any lens with a focal length that falls between 23mm and 35mm can be categorized as a wide-angle lens. To go down any lower than 23mm would still be considered wide-angle, but it pushes the lens into fisheye territory.

At times you may hear someone use the term lens size, which is the same thing as the focal length. Very rarely will you hear someone respond to the question with something general like standard lens or long lens. More often you will hear the specific mm value.

In this first example, below, the camera is positioned the same distance from the subject and different lenses are used:

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Specifically, a cultist has dragged a man into the woods to sacrifice. Looking down at the unconscious man from above (like a security camera), with a long lens (like binoculars), and with objects in the foreground (as if someone is watching), all enhance this feeling.

Another lens compression application is to make two characters feel closer, and therefore the shot more intimate, such as in this scene from The Office.

Some long lenses are also telephoto lenses, but this only occurs in a specific situation where a telephoto group of glass is built inside.

Think about how you want the viewer to feel, and then make focal length, camera stability, movement speed, and production design to generate that intended feeling. The more thoughtful, the better the result.

Fisheye lenses produce distorted, curved images. As the name implies, a fisheye lens is based on how a fish would view things beneath the surface of the water.

In this shot, Michael is reconnecting with Holly. They are just friends now, but he’s trying to woo her. This shot establishes the scene, but also has some level of intimacy — as you might have noticed, the filmmakers used a long focal length to isolate Michael and Holly and drown out other distractions — their interactions here are the focus.

Some films are shot entirely with wide or long lenses because of the type of images they create, and in other cases directors will elect to show a gradual change in a story through a gradual change in focal length.

A secondary effect of wide lenses is that they minimize the perception of camera shake, thereby smoothing out your shot.

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This clip from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a highly exaggerated example since they used an incredibly long focal length of 2000mm. Most long telephotos commonly used top out at around 300mm.

Before we get into the different focal lengths, take a minute to download our FREE Ebook — Camera Lenses Explained Vol. 1 — where cover everything you need to know about the different types of camera lenses, their unique visual characteristics, and how to use them.

This includes causing backgrounds to appear further away compared to normal and long focal lengths. This is often used for landscape and architecture as it enhances the existing shapes and leading lines of the image to create visual interest.

All the small creative storytelling choices that you make for each image of your film are important. These small choices coalesce into the powerful effects your audience will feel as your story unfolds before them.

It appears that Holly and Michael are shoulder-to-shoulder. The intimate moment, and Michael’s intent, is sold with the way he looks at her when she’s grabbing and eating her strawberry.

You guys should mention the numbers/sizes of lenses for the examples you're giving. It's well explained but I'm finding it hard to apply practically because I can't quite figure out which lens sizes you're talking about.

It creates parallax movement and depth by having the subject move opposite the direction the camera is moving, with a long lens, which exaggerates the movement.

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A wide-angle lens is any lens with a set focal length that is shorter than the length of the sensor or film (measured diagonally). For a full frame sensor, your wide-angle focal length would be anything below 35mm.

Telephoto lenses are often used to shoot wildlife or sports. They can make distant subjects appear closer. Also, in close-up portrait shots, telephoto lenses tend to keep a subject's features in  proportion, with minimal to no distortion.

When you add camera movement, things get more complicated, as you are then changing the perspective of the audience by physically changing proximity to objects, subjects, and your background.

Any wide-angle lens with a focal range of 1mm to 23mm can be labeled a fisheye lens. They are often used to shoot buildings, large rooms and open spaces, and birds-eye views, as they curve straight lines to dynamic effect. Fisheye lenses are also popular for creating funny, warped images, such as close-up shots of faces.

Of course, exaggerating the rapid approach of a person isn’t the only application. It works with pretty much anything including cars.

Longer focal lengths isolate a subject from the background. This perspective is very different from how we normally perceive the world.

It's a lot to consider, and a lot to remember, but planning is critical. Fortunately, shot list tools make your work easier.

Depth of field and focal length are some of the most powerful visual tools for any filmmaker, regardless of whether you are shooting music videos, television shows, or online content.

This video highlights that a long focal length can be used for interesting creative applications, such as creating a sense of danger within this scene.

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In this article, we’ll explain it in detail. We’ll look at different lenses and focal length examples. You’ll come away knowing why focal length matters, and how and when to use a variety of focal lengths to generate intended feelings.

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To expound upon what we've discussed in section one above, a lens with a shorter focal length (i.e., a lower mm number) gives you a wider field of view. A lens with a longer focal length (i.e., a higher mm number) gives you a narrower field of view.

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When it comes to narrative filmmaking, your focal length will allow you to capture footage with different visual properties based on your lens choice.

Of course, if your subject is pretty far from the camera, this effect won’t be very noticeable, if at all, but if the subject is close, it will have a significant impact on your image.

The true reason 35mm to 55mm are similar to the human eye is that of our cone of visual attention, which thins the field of view of the human eye.

A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens (often called a super wide-angle lens) that captures an extremely wide image, generally around 180 degrees.

However, it also fills a practical application by manipulating perspective and allowing dangerous special effects, action sequences, or perhaps landing planes to be further than they appear, eliminating risk for actors.

Focal length might seem like a purely technical consideration, and there's a lot of detailed mechanics involved. But as the video makes clear, technical details like focal length and lens selection exist to serve your story.

The reason this effect is possible is because it is using the relationship between how the lens compresses the image and the physical movement of the camera in unison to warp the visual perspective.

In essence, you can create a shallow depth of field and "flatten" subjects and their background by shooting from a distance with a longer focal length lens. This is a form of distortion known as lens compression.

A unique technique that uses the power of focal length and camera movement is the the famous "vertigo" effect popularized by filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and later Stephen Spielberg.

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The other reason is that due to the magnification of longer lenses, even the slightest movement by the camera operator can be greatly exaggerated. Combined with visual compression, this results in camera shake which can be a desirable effect that creates a sense of urgency and energy.

Here's a buzzworthy example of wide-angle lenses expanding space. Watch the trailer for The Favourite below, and count how many times wider focal lengths (and even fisheye lens shots) enrich the world of early 18th century England.

A long-focus lens is any lens with a set focal length that is significantly longer than the length of the sensor or film (measured diagonally). For a full frame sensor, your focal length would be anything above 55mm.

It’s a more objective perspective for the audience to experience because this perspective is like sitting next to a friend.

Your camera and lens are the audience. Your audience sees no more and no less than what you show them. It is crucial that when telling your story, you consider all the aspects of visual storytelling for your film.

This is a sort of side effect from the fact that wide lenses exaggerate the distance between objects. Since closer objects appear larger, the wider your lens, the more quickly an object grows in the frame as it approaches.

Longer focal lengths exaggerate lateral movement. That is, movement perpendicular to the camera will be intensified by increasing the perceived speed of a subject compared to its background.

There are both practical and creative consideration when making these decisions, so understanding focal length might be the most important visual tool for a director to comprehend.

A standard lens has a set (prime) focal length that is around the same length as the sensor or film (measured diagonally). For a full frame sensor, your focal length would come in right around 42mm.

Focal length is the distance between the optical center of the lens, and the camera sensor or film plane when focused at infinity. The optical center is where light rays converge inside the body of your lens. The focal length defines the magnification and field of view for a given lens. This value is most commonly measured in millimeters. Prime lenses have set focal lengths whereas zoom lenses have variable focal lengths, and any change alters the visual properties of your footage.

Reason number one is that due to compression of space with longer focal lengths, the subject in the frame appears to be moving more rapidly against its background.

Longer focal lengths compress the image by causing the background to appear closer to the subject. This compression also causes objects (or actors) that are behind one another to appear closer together than they really are.

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If you look at the difference between the two shots in the scene, the ones with the longer lens make Holly and Michael feel much closer, which is appropriate in context.

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You may be excited to film a big tracking shot in your next project, which means you’ll be moving the camera with your subject.

An understanding of focal length, field of view, and lenses gives you the power to orchestrate your shots and convey intended emotion. This is what we'll explore further in the next chapter.

Standard lenses are purported to have a similar field of view to that of the human eye, though this has been disputed considering that the human eye has a true field of view closer to that of a 17mm to 25mm lens, with a f/3.2 aperture rating.

That is why it’s so important to learn the different effects that focal length has on your image, and ultimately, your audience.

Every type of camera lens has distinct qualities and visual characteristics that every image-maker should understand. Download our FREE e-book to get in-depth explanations on prime vs. zoom lenses, anamorphic vs. spherical lenses, wide angle, standard, telephoto and even specialty lenses that all tell a slightly different story.

Using a long lens would have flattened the features on his face, giving the audience the impression that they are watching him from afar, as opposed to experiencing events with him.

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A telephoto lens is a specific kind of long-focus lens. Its internal design provides a focal length a great deal longer than the length of the lens itself. Like other lenses, telephoto lenses are available in fixed (or prime) focal lengths, as well as zoom varieties.

Since long and wide lenses compress or exaggerate the perception of how close an object is to frame, this also affects how faces look in the frame.

Wide lenses and shorter focal lengths increase the perception of speed when a subject is moving toward or away from camera.

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For example, facial features will be evened out in proportion, or ‘flattened’, by longer lenses. On the other hand, wider lenses tend to exaggerate facial features, or at least whatever is closest to the lens at the time.

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A longer focal length, such as 135mm or 85mm in the diagram below, results in a narrower angle of view and greater magnification. Meanwhile, a shorter focal length, such as 24mm or 14mm, translates to a wider angle of view and less magnification.

What is focal length? It’s a measurement that specifies how your lens interacts with your camera. On a practical level, focal length determines field of view, or how much of a view will be captured. It also indicates how large subjects and elements in that view will be, or the magnification.

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Often any lens that falls between 55mm to 500mm can be categorized as a long-focus lens. You may hear a cinematographer or camera operator refer to them simply as "long lenses."

We can’t explain this much better than by showing you this great scene from Fast & Furious. The filmmakers use this lateral action technique throughout the film, but there are some great examples in this particular scene.

Foot chases are again a great example of how to use wide lenses to your advantage. If you’d like to show the baddie chasing your hero through a hallway, you can make their movements appear faster than they are by using this technique.

The filmmakers continue using a long lens here, which makes Holly and Michael appear even closer than they did in the previous shot. It’s a very cozy image. In the final shot, the filmmakers zoom in even closer. Note the blurred background.

Telephoto lenses in general have focal lengths over 70 mm, and come in different sizes. Any telephoto lens with a focal range of 300mm or higher would be considered a super telephoto lens.

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Wider focal lengths exaggerate the appearance of distance between objects. In other words, they actually take the normal perspective you have that objects become larger as they get closer, and smaller as they get further, and intensify this difference.

This not only makes the scene more exciting, but it raises the stakes for your hero because you almost feel that they cannot escape.

Every choice you make as a filmmaker will change your footage. Some choices are bigger than others, one of which is focal length.