Transitions: Research into Emmanuel Lubezki

Another cinematographer i've decided to research for this unit to give me a better understanding of the discipline, is Emmanuel Lubezki. 

Lubezki began his career in Mexican film and television productions in the late 1980s. His first international production was the 1993 independent film Twenty Bucks (1993), which followed the journey of a single twenty-dollar bill. 

Lubezki is a frequent collaborator with fellow Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. The two have been friends since they were teenagers and attended the same film school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Together they have worked on six motion pictures: Sólo con tu pareja (1991), A Little Princess (1995), Great Expectations (1998), Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Children of Men (2006), and Gravity (2013). 

(Emmanuel Lubezki)

I decided to research Lubezki, due to some of the shots created within our project as i felt they were of similar essence to him. Also, one other major reason i decided to delve into his work is because i find it so aesthetically captivating and pleasing to the eye. His distinctive style within close vicinity, capturing pure emotion so close to the characters, it's a very interesting way to capture such pure authenticity. 

(Children Of Men)

His work on the film Children Of Men will always be remembered for breaking the boundaries of camera work, especially the infamous car sequence which was taken in one shot with a few magic edits. This in my mind was some sort of reasoning to justify to try and pull off our one shot sequence, it was an audacious shot but if it was convincingly shot then it would seriously pay off.
Link - 

(Car sequence)

You feel as if you're there, within the confines of the car, next to all of the characters, unable to escape the terror that unfolds around them. It puts emphasis on the action, increasing that intensity of the world that they're trapped in. It's such a distinctive style and i've never watched anything so captivating visually in comparison to that sequence since.  

(Revenant) 

His cinematography work regarding Revenant was in some respect very similar, it gets close and intimate with characters, allowing the audience to feel as if you're sharing this experience with them. It allows you to kind of imagine what the character is going through and how hard they're suffering throughout the gruelling narrative. Its use of wide angle lenses allows for that, as you can get in seriously close, which sometimes throughout the film would have the audience be able to see the breath coming out from Leo's mouth. It's a very immersive way of filming which i find extremely intriguing & beautiful to watch. It uses a lot of immense handheld footage, throwing you right into the action again allowing for that immersive experience, i.e when he is being chased by the native american group, it adds greater emphasis on the intensity, location and aesthetic. 

All in all, researching this guy was a lot of fun, from a few interviews he seems like a really down to earth character, with a vast amount of knowledge on cinematography and film in general. His work will always be remembered for sure, having won 3 Oscars, i think it's safe to say he has been cemented in the history of cinematography & film forever.