Let's look at two recent examples of how contemporary directors use deep focus technique. In American Psycho , '80s yuppie Patrick Bateman moves in a world of pure surfaces. He is frequently reflected, sometimes distorted, in mirrors and lenses. His dates are punctuated by breathlessly maudlin exposition on the wonders of corporate pop music like Huey Lewis and Phil Collins. And Bateman's lack of empathy is reflected in the camera's depth of focus.
Sets are overlit, flat and angular, with layers of white on white.
We know what Bateman knows. And we only see Bateman stimulated when he lets loose in his emotional outbursts of brutal murder. Yes, Patrick Bateman is a serial killer, and a comically inept one at that. He drags dripping bodies through hallways, runs down corridors naked with a chainsaw, and nobody seems to notice. Well, except when Bateman enters his homicidal rages.