The Tragedy of Macbeth -written four centuries ago for the stage-has been translated to the screen throughout cinema history. Replete with medieval atmosphere, witches, and murder, the iconic tale has now been retold by director Joel Coen. Working with director of photography Bruno Delbonnel ASC, AFC, Coen developed a visual approach to the bloody proceedings that emphasizes Shakespeare's matchless language and the faces of the actors delivering it. This strategy, designed to eliminate distractions, led to black and white images, framed in the squarish Academy format, filmed on minimalist sets built on stages at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles.
Working with director of photography Bruno Delbonnel ASC, AFC, Coen developed a visual approach to the bloody proceedings that emphasizes Shakespeares matchless language and the actors faces delivering it.
Black and white becomes abstract and graphic by nature, says Delbonnel, who had previously worked with the Coen Brothers on The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Inside Llewyn Davis, among others. If the color blue appeared in a scene, it would be more likely to distract from the words of Shakespeare. When that blue tone is merely a shade of gray, the faces are more present.
The decision to shoot in Academy aspect ratio [1.37:1] also came from the desire to lose all kinds of ornamentation, he says. When you go in for a close-up, the face is framed with nothing on the right- or left-hand sides. With anamorphic, for example, there's air on both sides.
Actor: Denzel Washington
The decision to shoot in Academy aspect ratio [1.37:1] also came from the desire to lose all kinds of ornamentation, says Delbonnel.
The stripped-down aesthetic informed the sets, costumes, and lighting as well. There were no practicals in the sets, no torches except occasionally at night, and no windows, he says. The idea was to give shape to the set with light only, and to create abstraction with the light on very simple surfaces.
With gaffer Mike Bauman, Delbonnel created soft fill light for the sets and lit with much harder, contrasty light on faces in the foreground. Because the resulting images would be black and white, color temperature was not a significant concern.
Delbonnel shot with the ARRI ALEXA LF and Cooke lenses, captured in the rich ARRIRAW file format. Monitors on the set displayed the images in black and white, although the camera sensor was capturing the full range of color information. He says he almost never pushes beyond 800 ISO, and usually stays at 500.
Actress: Frances McDormand.
With gaffer Mike Bauman, Delbonnel created soft fill light for the sets and lit with much harder, contrasty light on faces in the foreground.
I was not interested in recreating an old-fashioned style of photography, and I didn't want to refer to other black and white movies, Delbonnel says. I wanted something very crisp and modern in many ways. When you see skin, there's a presence. So, the ALEXA LF was perfect for me because it gives crisp 4K images. The LF camera and Cooke lenses were the perfect combination.
Delbonnel calls himself an ARRI person, having shot on ARRI cameras, with one exception, going back at least 25 years. The ARRICAM viewfinder was probably the best ever, he says. Nothing better. When I light through the viewfinder, I need to see an accurate image. With digital, the ARRI color science is great-it suits me perfectly. With ARRIRAW, it's like a pure neg. There's nothing better. You have all the information you need, and then you can manipulate the image later, in post, as much as you like.
Actors: Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand
I was not interested in recreating an old-fashioned style of photography, and I didn't want to refer to other black and white movies, Delbonnel says.
The Tragedy of Macbeth premiered at the New York Film Festival in September 2021 and will be streaming on Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022.
Surprisingly, Delbonnel says he has not seen the finished film. I don't watch the movies I've done because I see all my mistakes and ways I could have done better, he says with a laugh. What makes me happy is that Joel thinks it's great.
Photo credit: Apple
Related Products ALEXA LF Large format, high speed, fully featured
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
07/07/2026
Applications are now open for the Validation Booster, a six-month acceleration programme supporting journalists, media organisations, content creators, media in...
07/07/2026
New mixer aimed squarely at instrument-level sources
Heritage Audio have clearly been busy recently, as alongside their all-new Tubestrip, they've also ...
07/07/2026
New channel strip combines popular hardware designs
The latest arrival to the Heritage Audio line-up brings together a selection of their praised hardware d...
07/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
07/07/2026
UKTV commission with BritBox and Sony Pictures Television and inspired by Deborah Cadbury's book, Chocolate Wars
The six-part series is produced by Fable P...
07/07/2026
Tuesday 7 July 2026
Record audiences tune into the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on Sky Sports
The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 was the most watche...
07/07/2026
Tuesday 7 July 2026
Official trailer released for Fightland, a revenge drama fr...
07/07/2026
Wuppertal July 7, 2026
Riedel and ARRI Bring Cinematic Live Production to the Eurovision Song ContestRiedel Communications and ARRI played a key role in one o...
07/07/2026
To Whom It Concerns RT today confirmed that Patrick Kielty is to extend his contract as host of The Late Late Show.
Last season, the world's longest-runn...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky Kids unveils new slate for 2026 including Paris Hilton&#...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH: THOUSAND-YEAR BLOOD WAR THE CALAMITY Continues I...
04/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Unveils New Anime Slate at Anime Expo 2026 with ...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Celebrates Anime Expo 2026 with BLACK TORCH Worl...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Thursday 2 July 2026
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen
Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
Our SD10T was an absolutely rock-solid, stable console and the Quantum 338T has been the perfect upgrade, Hurley says. Having multiple screens is a big advant...
01/07/2026
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that span...
01/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
01/07/2026
Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...
01/07/2026
9.2 million streams on RT Player between 11 and 28 June
Reach of 2.9 million viewers during Group stages of FIFA World Cup on RT 2
23 million video views acr...
The Tragedy of Macbeth -written four centuries ago for the stage-has been translated to the screen throughout cinema history. Replete with medieval atmosphere, witches, and murder, the iconic tale has now been retold by director Joel Coen. Working with director of photography Bruno Delbonnel ASC, AFC, Coen developed a visual approach to the bloody proceedings that emphasizes Shakespeare's matchless language and the faces of the actors delivering it. This strategy, designed to eliminate distractions, led to black and white images, framed in the squarish Academy format, filmed on minimalist sets built on stages at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles.
