The Tree (1993 film)

The Tree
Directed by Todd Field
Written by Todd Field
Starring Travis Martin
Jameson Baltes
Jason D'Rion
Matthew Modine
Music by Mab Ashforth
Release dates
1993
Running time
12 minutes
Country United States
Language English

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