I am going to be doing a short film using Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography’s style, my aim is to research his technique and use my resources to film as accurately as possible. This essay is based on the cinematography done by Emmanuel Lubezki, also known as Chivo. Emmanuel Chivo Lubezki was born on the 30th of November 1964, from Mexico City in Mexico. I chose Emmanuel because I found that there are different aspects of his work that I really like. In this essay I’m going to address Lubezki’s filming techniques, the films he has worked on and the cinematography overall. Emmanuel Lubezki has been a professionally known cinematographer since 1989 and has progressed ever since then, from doing shows such as La Hora Marcada to winning an oscar for the cinematography in ‘The Revenant (2015)’.
Emmanuel Lubezki does a lot of tracking shots in the movies he has worked in, for example, ‘Children of Men (2006)’. The majority of that film consists of tracking shots like the tracking shot of Clive Owen stealing the car for their escape and to the part of the film where he goes to save the woman from captivity and they escape. I think that Lubezki’s tracking shots make the movies feel more realistic and it also makes the audience feel as if they are there. On top of that, it gives a realistic feel to the movie, it also keeps the movie moving, it flows, it is visually appealing because your eyes follow all of the movement in the movie and the shots that were taken, not only have you focused on the character, but the shots also broadened your perspective of what is in the background and this added depth to the story.
Natural Lighting. Emmanuel Lubezki uses natural lighting when filming movies. He used natural lighting in movies like ‘The Revenant (2015)’, therefore this movie was filmed in all natural light. This means that he had to film at the right time of the day and in the right weather conditions so that he could capture the moment. This is one of the reasons why I picked Lubezki and think that he is a very skilled cinematographer since filming with natural lighting takes dedication and patience. I understand this as I tried to use natural lighting in my previous projects and researching how he uses natural lighting in films has taught me a bit more about the hard work that was put in the filming with natural lighting and the hard work of planning and making sure that it is the right environment before you start filming. Plus, I think that it gives each shot authenticity because you rarely see natural lighting being used in big productions, especially at night time. If it is night time, normally, the lighting crew would add bulbs to produce light, for example; ‘The Maze Runner (2015)’, there were scenes filmed in the evening, however, the additional lighting was being used because they needed clear footage. I found that out from a b-roll on ScreenSlam which is a youtube channel. Other directors tend to film the scenes in the day, they then set up the camera setting and they use post-production to create the late evening atmosphere.
Also, I learnt that the reason why he is skilled with natural lighting is because he didn’t have much money for lighting equipment when he was starting out, so he developed the skill of using natural light to set different scenes. I find this as interesting and inspiring because as a starting out filmmaker, you can not get the latest lighting equipment so, to get a clear shot you have to learn how to use natural lighting properly. In addition to that, landscaping is an aspect of scenery that I think Emmanuel likes to use, for instance, in the ‘The Relevant (2015) and To The Wonder (2012)’, he filmed horizons, which are beautiful and it evokes a closer connection between the audience and the film. Furthermore, the landscaping shots that he captures makes the audience think about what he must have felt when he witnessed a beautiful view on set and how the other people on set felt while witnessing the horizon as well as seeing it played back on screen for the first time. I think that capturing moments in the film engages individuals more into it because of the familiarity of a beautiful horizon could remind the audience of a holiday they could have gone or they could think of planning to go, for example, a moment at the beach could remind people to visit a beach. The familiarity of it makes people more interested.
Another technique he uses that is good when filming is the Steadicam/handheld technique. The steadicam/handheld techniques were in ‘Dr Seuss: The Cat in the Hat (2003)’, for instance, it was used when the house changed and the purple bubbles expanded, the steadicam was used to scan the babysitter from toe to head and it was also used in various other shots and scenes in the movie. I really liked that in ‘Dr Seuss: The Cat in the Hat (2003)’ because it makes the transition from shot to shot look effortless and the shots taken looked smoother and steadicam if it was handheld. Another example of handheld technique was in the movie ‘Children of Men’ when he used the tracking shot for the characters and situations. I watched ‘Hora Marcada’ which was a Spanish program that he had worked on. I think that ‘Hora Marcada’ was a good television show. I think that he did a fantastic job doing the cinematography for this show. This show used different cinematographers but I could tell which episode Emmanuel Lubezki was working on compared the other cinematographer that filmed other episodes. For example, Lubezki worked on the episode called El Taxi he used some of the techniques that he displays currently; in the show which was aired from 1989 to 1990.
Techniques such as the handheld/steadicam technique were used in this episode of La Hora Marcada. He also uses different types of shots to capture the character’s emotions as they act. I think it involves me more with the show because I feel that these techniques made the story flow better and at the start of ‘El Motel’, it looks like only natural lighting was being used. I think he has enhanced the skills I have mentioned over the years with each project that he has done. He probably has a lot more to offer. Emmanuel Lubezki has done both Mexican and American movies and I think that this is very influential because it shows that he is diverse and cultural as well as bilingual as he knows English and Mexican. Also, Mexico is where he is from so he is honouring his country.
Emmanuel Chivo Lubezki is an outstanding Cinematographer who has won 139 awards and has been nominated for 66, he also has slowly developed his own successful style of a cinematographer. Capturing wondrous moments on locations, for the films he works on, enhancing as well as using his steadicam/handheld techniques that are beneficial to each film/tv show that he has worked on. In addition to that, Lubezki has worked with famous directors such as Alfonso Cuarón and Tim Burton. He is known to be cultural due to his work on both Mexican and American films. Furthermore, he uses different camera techniques to victoriously intensify and improve a scene/shot. All of these elements have been useful in his career as a cinematographer and I feel like those qualities have inspired me because I would like to specialise in either cinematographer or editing in the film industry. I like coming up with ideas as well so researching and watching the films and tv show that he has worked on were to me.
In conclusion, I think that Emmanuel Lubezki is a phenomenal cinematographer and I think that he deserved those 3 Oscars that he received, one was for ‘The Revenant’ in 2016, ‘Birdman’ in 2015 and ‘Gravity in 2014’ because his work is amazing. I had to research the techniques and films that he has worked on and that has made me feel confident in implementing these into my own short film that I will be doing for this unit 12 brief. There were other films that didn’t mention that I had watched such as Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events which also clarified the skills and techniques that I had mentioned above and was a very good movie because of the cinematic atmosphere that Brad Silberling and Emmanuel Lubezki created such as close-ups, tracking shots. He has made me think more about the way I do the cinematography for my own film such as coming up with shots and I am going to come up with an idea influence by the cinematography style that I learnt from Emmanuel Lubezki so this research is very beneficial. Due to the research that I have discovered through this essay. I have gained new knowledge on how I can develop my skills in cinematography and find my own style.
Stephanie Corr-Amajor 