Shot Craft Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara looks directly into the camera - with the aid of director Errol Morris' Interrotron rig - in the documentary The Fog of War. a bit farther from the subject. One consideration, however, is background perspective compression. For a given medium-close-up framing, a wider lens closer to the subject will exaggerate the relative distance between the subject and the background (as compared to the distance between the camera and the subject). A longer lens farther away - to maintain the same compositional framing - will compress that distance, both magnifying the background and making it appear closer to the subject. Additionally, the same compresSome cinematographers prefer wider lenses close to a subject to create intimacy between the subject and the viewer. This is another situation some subjects might find intimidating, but it can also be argued that we live in a society wherein cameras are ubiquitous, and people are fairly comfortable around them or quickly become so. A more traditional approach is to use a slightly longer focal length sion factor affects the human face. A 100mm lens from 10' away will give a very different rendering of the face than a 10mm lens 1' away. Going too long and too far from the subject will tend to flatten out facial features and even make the subject look heavier. Going too wide and too close can distort and exaggerate their features. There is an aesthetic sweet spot for every face and focal-length combination - which can vary based on objective aesthetics as well as those of the specific production at hand - and finding it takes a bit of trial and error. Using a zoom lens is one wayhttp://digital-la@milkstudios.com