2016 Oscar Preview: Best Cinematography

THE NOMINEES:

- Ed Lachman (Carol)
- Robert Richardson (The Hateful Eight)
- John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)
- Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)
- Roger Deakins (Sicario)

SHOULD BE HERE: Maryse Alberti (Creed)

Former Hitfix.com and current Variety writer Kristopher Tapley creates a list every year of the best shots in film of the year. Wouldn't you know it, Creed ended up at the very top of the list. Almost everyone currently nominated for an Academy Award earned a spot on Mr. Tapley's list, but one of the very best films of the year ended up at #1. I personally would have gone with the oner fight scene in the middle of the film- a piece of technical mastery that instantly rose to the top as one of the best fight scenes in the history of cinema (not a hyperbole)- but that's just me. Alberti's camera work in Creed is just incredible, much like everyone who worked on the film, and her nomination would have not only made the Oscars not so white, but would have been well deserved.

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Cinematography

Click here for my introduction

WHAT IS CINEMATOGRAPHY?

Before I begin this post, it is probably best to explain to you what “cinematography” actually is because I’m sure most of you reading this post have no idea. Cinematography is the look of the film. The director is the one in charge and ultimately everyone answers to the director, but the one actually behind the camera is the Director of Photography- or the cinematographer. Everything about how a particular scene LOOKS is due to the Director of Photography (DP). How the light affects the scene, the framing of the scene, and how the scene looks is (mostly) because of the DP. 

For example, about a year ago, shots of the filming of the climax scene between Bane and Batman from The Dark Knight Rises were released. The movie was shot in the middle of summer in Pittsburgh but the scene itself takes place during the cold of winter with snowflakes falling from the sky. When you see the final product, it absolutely looks like Bane and Batman are fighting in the middle of winter and there is no evidence the scene was shot in the wrong season. The way Wally Pfister (Nolan’s Oscar-winning DP) shot the scene and tinted the light and such makes you believe you are watching a gloomy, dark, and cold fight. The reason it looks that way is about of the DP and that’s (generally) what a DP does.

NOMINEES

• Anna Karenina (Seamus McGarvey)
• Django Unchained (Robert Richardson)
• Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)
• Lincoln (Janusz Kaminiski)
• Skyfall (Roger Deakins)

MY THOUGHTS