Depth of Field

The span of distance along the shot axis in which objects will be in focus. Determined by focal length and iris aperture.

Skillful management of this property is a requirement for Rack Focus.

A shallow Depth of Field might be used for scenes set in restaurants and other public settings to keep the background blurry, and thus de-emphasize it for intimacy's sake.

2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars and the '80s version of Battlestar Galactica were innovative in that the models of the spaceships looked like large ships that were far away. Among other things, small lens apertures to lengthen the Depth of Field strengthened the illusion.

Modern video games attempt to emulate the depth of field effect of a real camera via a number of post-production effects, some of which are quite adept while others decidedly less so.