VFX breakdown #2 Focus pull and Camera Flare - Elliott

I covered both of these effects in preparation for my AS film last year, but due to equipment constraints was never able to use them in the finished product.

      

An example of a 2-shot that would
benefit from a focus pul

This year I have a laptop and my preferred VFX software (AE) so I should be able to finally make use of these effects. The focus pull will be very useful for a variety of shots that we have planned, especially during the poker scene where I hope to use it to show reactions in a two-shot, which is much more dynamic than
the normal way of taking a separate shot for each character's reaction.

While a separate camera could be used to do focus pulls without VFX the hassle of carrying two cameras and trying to get both bits of footage to match means this is a much more efficient way to pull off the effect. Another bonus of this effect is it can be used to achieve very technical shots like dynamic (moving camera) focus pulls such as this example from Jurassic Park.

experiments with different stages of lens flare

You can see more detail on both effects, including how I made them, on these posts:
Camera Flare
Digital Focus Pull