Coming on the heels of yesterday's announcement of Wally Pfister taking the ASC win for Inception, the Oscar for Best Cinematography is very much a two horse race now. At the top of my list, and the person I'm personally rooting for, Roger Deakins for True Grit. Authenticity is something I really go for in terms of cinematography, so films of a more fantastical nature like Inception tend to be lower down on my list. It's not that Wally Pfister didn't do a fantastic job, but the coats of computer generated visuals are mostly responsible for the awe that the audiences feel.What Roger Deakins did with Joel & Ethan Coen's western was take some down-to-earth sets and landscapes, and show how textured and beautiful they can be. There's not a shot of the film in which I can truly say I was dissatisfied, from start to finish. One of the less obvious treasures in this race is Matthew Libatique's work on Black Swan. The combination of the set design and the way the film is shot creates a visceral and reality-grounded experience, and as Nina descends into madness, the camera goes into a marvelous freely spinning routine that rivals the dancers on screen. It's not going to take the prize, but it is worth noting that it got the nomination. The last two film in the race as The Social Network and The King's Speech, neither of which are truly deserving of any acknowledgment. If I were to place a bet on which of these is most likely to pull an upset, I'd go with the former.
1. True Grit
2. Black Swan
3. Inception
4. The Social Network
5. The King's Speech
Will Win: Inception
Should Win: True Grit
Potential Upset: The Social Network
Should Have Been Nominated: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
But don't you think that Sarra's cinematagraphy was abput as computer generated as Inception? Or are you putting that on your "Shoud Have Been Nominated" list since you thought that overral it looked better?
ReplyDeleteand is it wrong that I actually feel like this is one of the categories that King's Speech should win?
There were a great deal of wonderfully textured and beautiful wilderness shots in "Deathly Hallows: Part 1", without the aid of visual effects.
ReplyDeleteAs for "The King's Speech", I felt the cinematography, for the most part, was rather plain and unextraordinary. It went with what worked, rather than searching for the best possible shot.
My problem with Harry Potter (it did look great though) was that I couldn't tell what was natural and what was CGI. I'm know though that that scene from the photo you have was CGI, and I though everything from that scene was the most beautiful looking things from the film.
ReplyDeleteAs for The King's Speech, I can admit it does nothing new, but I thought the close ups and fish eye lenses where effective. It sounds lame I know but in those scenes I really felt Bertie's sense of being trapped.