How Emmanuel Lubezki shot The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is undoubtedly one of Emmanuel Lubezki's best films, but not just because it looks incredible, but also because it's the starting point of the style he is now famous for, the ultra-wide angles, handheld, organic natural light, it was all the beginning of one of the most famous styles we see today.

So, in today’s video, I’ll be looking at the Equipment Lubezki used, his use of lighting and movement, spoiler alert, it’s 95% natural light, as well as the look he and Malick created, and that he is now famous for.

As always if you have a recommendation for an analysis, let me know below!

Timeline:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Equipment
04:04 Lighting & Movement
06:37 The Look
08:21 Conclusion

Music:
The Thought of You - TrackTribe
Maestro Tlakaelel - Jesse Gallagher
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies - Tchaikovsky

[TopshelfJunior]

Just watched this last night, for the first time...and it absolutely FLOORED me ! Beautiful film and images.

[adanrodriguez]

I can’t believe it took me this long to realize he shot the Cat in the Hat…

[canaldemais]

thanks Angus, I had already read about his techniques used in Tree of Life...But your video was a very helpful reminded... it made me want to go out and film I have watched and re-watched all of Malick's second generation films... I think The New World is my favourite. I tried to mimic his style in my last two projects (Changes and Doctor Faustus)... I think Malick and Lubezki are worth studying through these films because they help filmmakers free themselves from simple dialogue scenes and help us really adopt the "show don't tell" practice (which I personally find really difficult to do).

[megamatt]

great, informative video! chivo has got to be one of the most inspiring cinematographers out there.

[PostromoPictures]

Great video - as far as I've read, I believe the Red One was only used for some of Douglas Trumbull's VFX space sequences (as with the other digital cameras).

[sadrasahranavard]

thank you for making these great videos 👏🌹

[eversparx]

Love this cinematic exploration so much! 
I'm obsessed with the challenge of shots -- something that's so difficult to do with the vast majority of digital cine cams if no additional lighting/bounce is used (although I'm sure the new Arri Alexa 35 could handle it). Do you happen to know if Lubezki used bounce for the backlit exteriors... or... was it simply the marvel of film latitude? Thanks much!

[kevinbrennan]

Great video. Thanks so much! Do you know what size the lenses were that he was using?

[MightyThor]

Which focal length did they use for the closeups, like the close up in the hands or the scene at 1:14???

[marvin]

What do ypu mean with " arricam is too loud for dialogue scenes?

[valentinemedvedev]

Didn't get why underexposed image is milky, maybe the opposite ?