Paper Moon is the only movie I know where everything in the frame is in focus. This is true of every scene in the movie. How did they do that? It was much appreciated - at times seemed almost 3D. Now DOPs want to make the depth of field as shallow as possible.
shareWell, greater depth of field implies filming with a smaller aperture.
That, in turn, means either using "faster" film or more light (or both). Faster film generally has more noticeable grain. However, B&W is generally faster than equivalently fine grained color film. So wanting that old B&W look would also make it easier to get more depth of field in the photography. (By contrast, old "three strip technicolor" sets were notoriously extremely hot because of all of the extra lights needed.)
I suspect (but don't really know) that in a lot of cases (though obviously not all) the shallow depth of field in newer movies is driven as much by a desire for the look of low light levels as by a specific desire not to have more depth of field. However, there may well also be cases where it is considered easier to hide the boundary between physical sets and CGI backgrounds when that boundary is in a region that is out of focus anyway.
I've read something on László Kovács and his cinematography on this film. I'll see what I can dig up.
'One of the movies of which I'm most proud is Peter Bogdanovich's 'Paper Moon'. We wanted to evoke the classic b&w Hollywood tradition pioneered by cinematographers like Arthur Miller, John Alton and Gregg Toland. 'Citizen Kane' was our biggest influence; I had seen it for the first time in Budapest in 1948 and it had made an indelible impression. Orson Welles and Peter were very close friends, and I got to meet my 'god' while we were preparing our film. I'd been testing b&w film with various filters but still hadn't found the right look. Orson said, "Use red filters, my boy." And I did, because although the filters reduced the film speed and meant I had to use big arc-lights to achieve the deep-focus look Peter wanted, the red filters created incredibly beautiful, dramatic skies and gave us exactly the expressionistic look we were after.'
Comments like this remind me of how great the old IMDB boards were...
shareLászló did say in the DVD extras that he used really intense lighting. He mentioned how Ryan O'Neal complained about it. I love the really crisp, sharp look of this film.
shareI can't answer the question, but if you listen to commentary on the DVD, they explain exactly how it was done.
shareDeep focus cinematography.
shareYes, they do talk about this technique on the DVD. They even use the scene where Mose is buying Addy's train ticket and how in the background the kids who are playing are in perfect focus. The director was also a friend and protégé of Orson Wells. Wells is the one who suggested they film in black and white and use a red filter to give the film a sharper image.
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