The Tree is a 1993 short film that Todd Field created while a fellow at the AFI Conservatory. It is a non-verbal dramatic piece following the life of a boy born at the turn of the century. The single setting, an apple tree set high on a rural ridge, is where we glimpse the boy mature, fall in love, go to war, return with his own son, and finally pay his last respects as a very old man who has seen much change. The set was designed using the tree as a scale foreground visual anchor and employing forced perspective for other items appearing in frame, including distant mountains, a train, and a town in transition. The scene changes from season to season and year to year all achieved practically using trompe-l'œil.

The Tree
Directed byTodd Field
Written byTodd Field
StarringTravis Martin
Jameson Baltes
Jason D'Rion
Matthew Modine
Music byMab Ashforth
Release date
  • 1993 (1993)
Running time
12 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film is loosely based upon and inspired by the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

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