This is perennially my favourite category, and as it is every year, there was an abundance of excellent work to choose from. The Academy and I match up 3/5 this year. Find out which three they are, and what other two films I included as having the
Best Cinematography of 2012 after the cut (complete with my fav shot from each nominee):
Beasts
of the Southern Wild
(Ben Richardson):
Richardson's
grainy, intimate hand-held camera work captures amazing sights
without indulging in overt flashiness, such as the one above, which
perhaps owes more credit to the effects crew, but has become
something of a defining image for the film.
Django
Unchained (Robert
Richardson):
Richardson
brings his usual dynamic flare to this visceral Western. Thanks to
his eye for visual storytelling, the film is none too short on
striking and effective images, like this morbidly beautiful
slow-motion shot which depicts Bid Daddy's grisly demise.
Lincoln
(Janusz Kaminski):
Kaminski's
artfully composed frames find exquisite light in a desaturated
palette, lending a sombre atmosphere to Lincoln's embattled political
cause. The painterly frame above is just one of many that communicate
solemnity with such beauty.
The
Master (Mihai Malamaire
Jr.):
Malaimare
Jr.'s much touted 70mm photography is a mesmerizing vehicle for
Anderson's frequent long takes, with its dramatic focus pulls and
glossy choreography, as in this shot which sees Phoenix's
directionless vagabond stow away on a warmly alluring ship.
Skyfall
(Roger Deakins):
Deakins
delivers a jaw-dropping showcase of some of his most invigorating
work to date. He clearly hasn't lost a step in his transition from
celluloid to digital. The entire Shanghai sequence (pictured above)
is a monument to his eye for lighting.
Just missed: Anna Karenina, Flight, Life of Pi, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Rust and Bone
