Best Cinematography is always a tough category to predict. Many so often get caught up in the pretty pictures and forget cinematography isn’t all about capturing a beautiful image, but instead using the camera to tell the story as much as actors, direction, editing, score, screenplay, etc.
As of now it’s far too early to tell which films will be the ultimate front-runners so I’ve based my initial picks on story and what little has been seen so far. After Children of Men and considering so much of the pre-release hype has centered on the camerawork of Emmanuel Lubezki through the use of space and long takes, I couldn’t help but place Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity at #1.
Second is Bruno Delbonnel‘s work in the Coens’ Inside Llewyn Davis as his use of lighting attempts to capture 1960’s Greenwich Village folk scene. Barry Ackroyd was nominated for an Oscar for his work on The Hurt Locker, but I can’t help be hesitant with my early prediction placing him at #3 for Captain Phillips. No director of photography has earned a Best Cinemtography nomination while working with Paul Greengrass, will Ackroyd break that streak?
After seeing All is Lost I can’t help but give Frank G. DeMarco (Margin Call, Rabbit Hole) an early consideration as his camerawork helps turn a nearly wordless feature into a harrowing story at sea and I round out my early top five with Oscar winner Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) and his work on Ron Howard‘s Rush, which may be able to use the film’s face sequences to great effect.
This, of course, just scratches the surface as the likes of Phedon Papamichael (The Monuments men and Nebraska), Roger Deakins (Prisoners) and John Schwartzman (Saving Mr. Banks) wait in the wings along with Sean Bobbitt whose work on Steve McQueen‘s Shame was overlooked, but now he’s back with not only McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, but also Spike Lee‘s Oldboy.
At this point I would be willing to bet at least two of my first five end up making the final list of nominations, but I fully expect a couple to storm the table, especially considering I have a total of 29 contenders. For the full list and complete rankings click here.
