Focus Pullers: Large Format vs. Super 35 - How has your approach evolved?

Hey everyone,

Liam here. I've been wrestling with something lately on sets and wanted to tap into the collective experience here. With so many productions moving to large format (we've been on ALEXA Mini LF and ARRI Mini 35 often, sometimes a C300 Mark III for specific looks), I'm finding the shallow depth of field can be incredibly, well, shallow.

Back in the Super 35 days, say with an ALEXA Mini, I felt like DPs had a bit more breathing room with composition and blocking, knowing I could probably hold a reasonable plane of focus even if things got a little loose. Now, with large format and wide open lenses, it feels like every inch counts way more.

I'm curious how DPs you work with, and you yourselves, are adapting your approach to composition and achieving that desired shallow DoF? Are DPs blocking differently? Are you finding specific focal lengths or stops become 'go-to's' that wouldn't have been in the Super 35 era? What creative or practical challenges has this shift presented for you on set?