A lens focuses light to form an image behind the lens. This image is “in focus” not at a point but across a small distance. The image is out-of-focus in-front of and beyond this space.

The small diagram below illustrates three aspects of lenses: Depth of Focus, Depth of Field and Circle of Confusion.

diagram-depth-of-focus

For the new movie, the title relates to how the characters see the world in their minds. Each of us sees the world through a “lens” of our beliefs, superstitions, fears and joys.  How the character’s individual “lenses” process the events of the story, determines the clarity with which they see and the width of their in-focus space determines the breadth of their understanding. The characters see some things clearly and other things distorted.  The out-of-focus parts lead to conflicts and confusion.

The Circle of Confusion relates somehow too but at the moment the only confusion lies in the screen writer’s mind.