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How to Film Someone's Vision Regaining Focus

Raise your hand if you have seen a scene in a movie where a character wakes up or regains consciousness, and his vision goes from blurred to focused. It happens all the time, and it's not too hard to do, though the sequence of shots during editing must be compiled perfectly to get the desired effect. Here are some insights into this film technique.

Things You'll Need

  • Shot List
  • Editing station
  • Camera assistant good with pulling focus
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Instructions

    • 1

      In this scenario we will discuss someone regaining vision focus after waking up on the street.

      Start by filming a wide shot showing the characters on the street, unconscious or asleep.

    • 2

      Cut into a close-up of his head turning and eyes beginning to open.

    • 3

      To emulate his point of view, film the street and exterior from his position, being sure to angle the camera exactly the way his head was just seen angled.

    • 4

      To show how blurred his vision is, be sure to lose all focus on the camera so the exterior is very blurry.

    • 5

      Cut back to the close-up from Step 2 with his eyes squinting. This offers the illusion that he is having trouble seeing.

    • 6

      On the shot from Step 4, "pull the focus," so everything regains a sense of normalcy.

    • 7

      Finally, a shot of the character rubbing his eyes or excessively blinking to signify his vision is restored. Put these together in this sequence and you will have just utilized movie magic to its fullest extent.

Film Production

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