Pre-production
In November 2011, the film was announced with Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale and Isabel Lucas mentioned as cast.[13] It was also announced the film would be shot back-to-back with Song to Song.[13] To prepare, Bale read Walker Percy's novel The Moviegoer, on Malick's suggestion.[14]
Filming
Production on the film began in June 2012 and lasted nine weeks.[15][16] During production, many of the cast and crew were spotted filming throughout Los Angeles County and Las Vegas, as most of the filming took place on the streets and in public places.[17][18]
Although a script was written, Bale received no pages from it, while all other cast members received only pages of internal and verbal monologue for each shooting day.[19][20][21][22] Bale later said that while filming, he was unclear about what the final film would actually be.[23] During production, Malick used a process he calls "torpedoing", where a character is thrown into a scene without the other actors' advance knowledge, forcing them to improvise.[24][25] In addition to a traditional studio, the cast also recorded their voice-over work in nontraditional places, such as in a van or by the side of the road.[23]
Post-production
The film spent two years in post-production,[26] which consisted of a small group of editors in the beginning and widened throughout.[15]
