Tracking shots have become very popular in modern cinematography as evidenced by 3-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki. Lubezki has become renown for long, unbroken tracking shots that are featured in his Oscar winning (for cinematography) films Gravity, Birdman and The Revenant. Gravity and The Revenant feature long tracking shots that are eventually broken up by cuts, Birdman however features a tracking shot that is made to look completely unbroken. Lubezki (cinematography), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (director) and the editors achieved this by cleverly disguising cuts with techniques like having the camera briefly covered by scenery or walls, they are also cuts where the camera is taken through dark rooms, eventually reaching pitch black for a short amount of time. This way, they can create cuts while still making the film feel seem less (like a theater performance which was what the director wanted to achieve).
What makes Lubezki's tracking shots different to others is the use of camera techniques and lighting.
Lubezki uses mostly hand-held camera's for his more recent movies (Knight of Cups, The Revenant, Birdman and Children of Men) as opposed to the usual standard of having the camera placed on an on-rails dolly, this gives both more and less freedom to the cinematographer and the actors as every scene has to be meticulously planned out to perfection, but the camera is not limited to a dolly as it is handheld. The use of these types of tracking shots gives off a surreal vibe to the viewer, making them feel much more involved in the scene, like in Birdman, or a part of the action, like in The Revenant.
Lubezki prefers to use much more natural lighting and a wide angle lens. Lubezki tends to use two different types of lighting, one where the shadow-side faces the camera and the other is (side-lighting) where it is split right down the middle of the actors face; for both of these techniques, he uses very soft and diffused lighting (often under multiple layers of diffusion), this gives the actors an extremely flattering and shadow-less look. In exterior shots, Lubezki loves landscaped, sunsets, sunrises and shots that are back-lit from the sun. Recently, most of his movies have exteriors that are almost completely natural lighting (like The Revenant) which can make it very difficult to film, but the payoff is worth it as the shots are much more pleasing to look at and they can achieve some beautiful shots.
For example, this scene (and every scene) in The Revenant was shot with completely natural light, which shows off some beautiful shots whilst also making the viewer extremely close to the action.
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