🎥 How Focal Length Affects the Mood

In 2015, a new generation of filmmakers were born.

This generation should be christened the golden children of Casey Neistat:

Casey revolutionized the way people make vlogs. He often referred to his daily vlogs as “movies.” He made a movie every day.

Because he owned that word and was so highly committed to telling a proper story, his channel blew up and his filmmaking techniques spread like wildfire.

One of the things that distinctly separated Casey, and now many YouTube vloggers from any other type of video creator is the direct-to-camera, wide-angle talking head shot.

This shot has almost a fish-eye effect wherein you get a full view of the background, but the subject is still the main focal point of the shot. Their facial features could appear rounded and slightly distorted because of the wide shot.

This is an excellent illustration of how different focal lengths of a lens capture the same scene differently:

The higher the millimeter number, the tighter the shot.

Most standard DSLR cameras come with a lens that has an 18-55mm focal length, which means you can go from a very wide shot to a tighter shot.

A 50mm focal length most closely mimics the perspective of the human eye, which makes it a very popular lens for portraits because there is essentially zero facial distortion.

Now if you take a look at the news, reality TV shows, or content more oriented around education, there is a distinct stylistic difference from vloggers:

The camera is significantly farther away from the subjects and the focal length of the lens is tighter.

This makes the image flatter and the subject’s features less distorted, but it also creates a sense of emotional distance.

You can still achieve a lovely depth of field with this method, but the overall tone of the content changes as well.

Sara Dietschy regularly swaps out focal lengths depending on the type of content she publishes on her channel.

If she shoots a more casual, vlog-style video she tends to use a wider lens, but if she’s reviewing tech she uses a tighter, flatter shot.

So… WHY does a wide lens make video casual?

I attribute it to the use of video chats and webcams.

If you talk with a friend on a computer video chat, the setting itself is intimate. A computer’s webcam is built with a wider lens and ever-so-slightly distorts features, and you are physically much closer to the camera. Physical closeness = emotional closeness.

Here’s an example of my webcam vs a DSLR camera with a lens at 70mm focal length:

Let’s look past the pure quality difference and focus on the distortion itself:

My features are much rounder in the first image, and it overall feels much more intimate and casual, despite the fact that I’m wearing the same thing, in the same room, and probably talking about the same thing.

If you want your videos to have a sense of kinship and familiarity, try shooting them with a wider lens and positioning yourself closer to the camera.

If you want to portray more of a sense of authority or formality, rely on a higher focal length to create more distance between you and your audience.

Thanks for reading! If you try out these techniques, send me your videos, I’d love to watch them.

In the meantime, have an ELITE Week,

Hannah

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