It took six months for the film's pre-production process, whereas in the following six months, it was shot and edited.
"The Focusing Effect" was Tanner Smith's first film after graduating with a Digital Filmmaking degree at the University of Central Arkansas. After having finished two documentaries ("Oma & Us" and "Unscripted") with few resources, he thought it'd be fun to create a *faux*-documentary narrative with what little he had.