Abstract

‘New Naturalism isn't just about the cinematic form, but also about the films' content. A recurring theme in Malick’s films is that human encounters with nature are transformational, transcendent events.’ (B, 2021)

The dogma of New Naturalism in its visual form, was first defined by Terrence Malick and Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, ASC, AMC. with reference to their film The New World (2005). This was developed further for Tree of Life (2011). More recently It has been used to describe the cinematography of Chloe Zhao’s Oscar winning film Nomadland (2020) by writer Benjamin B with reference to shooting only with natural light which Zhao and cinematographer Joshua James Richards successfully achieved.
Benjamin B expanded beyond Malick and Lubezki’s visual dogma by exploring the feel and visual dynamics of what appears on screen and ultimately how the characters are portrayed.
But by looking beyond the creative impact of the dogma an intriguing question now comes into view.

Could New Naturalism and its expanded interpretation, completely without intention, contain the formula for sustainable practices for cinematography embedded within it?

At a critical time in which we all need to make fundamental changes to our way of doing things a manifesto devised from New Naturalism could make a positive contribution to combatting the effects of climate change.
By taking positive action now it would help provide the next generation of film makers with a ‘manifesto’ that embraces restraint and helps discover new creativity solutions, just as with the Dogma 95 movement of Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.
Could it aid films in becoming more sustainable in the wider sense, such as in the community and financially? And what would this new manifesto look like? What restraints would be included or excluded? This paper aims to address these questions by focusing on the early research conducted as part of Jack Shelbourn’s on-going PhD.