The ASC were to have announced their nominees tonight, but we just heard word that they’ll be ready early tomorrow morning instead. Time now for quick predictions and simple overnight poll of your personal favorites.
Sasha’s picks:
- The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)
- Hugo (Robert Richardson)
- The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
- War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)
* alternate: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Hoyte Van Hoytema)
My hunch isn’t much different:
- Jeff Cronenweth, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
- Guillame Schiffman, The Artist
- Robert Richardson, Hugo
- Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
- Hoyte Van Hoytema, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
* alternate: Newton Thomas Sigel, Drive
Other top contenders in the poll after the cut.
(Having technical difficulties with the poll. It comes and goes. Keep trying back and we hope the service gets fixed.)
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I’m pretty convinced you have no idea how I regard film at this point.
Now it’s a ‘garbage film’ and has ‘standard cinematography’? I’m pretty convinced you’re trolling at this point.
*that level of respect.
The cinematography in Tree of Life is quite standard with a few exceptions that have already been noted.
Matthew D. says:
January 11, 2012 at 8:03 am
And really, Scott? You would ‘rejoice’ if TOL wasn’t nominated for Cinematography? It’s like you have absolutely zero respect for the film medium, which begs the question why you’re constantly here.
Um no, I just simply don’t think this garbage film deserves respect. I do however feel Days of Heaven is deserving of its cinematic praise…at least from a cinematography and sound perspective.
lol, Tero emaciated nude people isn’t really my thing…that would be a horrific nude scene more along the lines of that old lady in The Shining.
“Eyes Wide Shut (though I have to wonder how much of a factor nudity was in this making the list, lol)”
This is where one reveals to be American. Come on now. You even censored the bloody thing (Kubrick would not approve) whereas the rest of us saw it uncut.
Scott, watch Schindler’s List. You will not regret it. It also has nudity in it. A lot of full frontal nudity.
well i would love itt if HP gets in because, so far with the critics and other awards, they haven’t nominated eduardo serra for this.. i do think it’s ione of the best in the year… But who knows?
Bruno debonel’s nomination came out of nowhere, he wasn’t nominated for any of the big awards and still got a nom….(for cinematography)
I believe in a Drive nomination as they made the front story out of it in one of their monthly magazines. The ASC magazine is an important factor here, as it is kinda the standard source for cinematographers in Hollywood. Big stories with big coverage of course stay in mind. The Descendants just had a very small coverage in this months issue, so I would throw that one out. Midnight in Paris wasn’t big either, neither were Hugo or The Artist.
My long shot NGNG would be Super 8, as it had an excellent article covering it and also tells the story of a young cinematographer, someone the peers identify with.
The Artist
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Midnight in Paris
When mentioning the BAFTA snub, people should probably remember that Tree of Life wasn’t even screened for them.
And really, Scott? You would ‘rejoice’ if TOL wasn’t nominated for Cinematography? It’s like you have absolutely zero respect for the film medium, which begs the question why you’re constantly here.
By the way, if there is one sure near-100% lock this year, it is Cinematography.
The Artist
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Seems to me that ‘Dragon Tattoo’ is going to do really well with the guilds, so I’d be shocked if the nominees weren’t:
– The Artist
– The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
– Hugo
– The Tree Of Life
– War Horse
Their website claims that ASC is “neither a guild nor a union”, so probably not exclusive. I guess Willis went all those years without a nom just because he constantly bad-mouthed them – no nom for The Godfather was one result.
Ryan, do you now if cinematographers need to belong to the guild to qualify? (like the writers) Wasn’t that an issue several years ago with Gordon Willis? Thought you might know off the top of your head.
hey steve50
off the top of my head, seems as if Barry Ackroyd is member of the BSC and he was nominated, so I don’t think they exclude BSC and ICG members.
but the top of my head is not fully functional this morning
@Matteo, are you from Italy?
The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
Drive (Newton Thomas Sigel)
Hugo (Robert Richardson)
The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)
Yeah, despite Inception being my favorite film of last year I really thought Deakins should have finally got his due.
Oh, and on the merits, HUGO should be the runaway winner for both the guild and the Oscar. Which means it will win only one, or neither. This category, more than any of the other art/techs, consistently irritates me by selecting a solid slate of nominees, but a somewhat disappointing winner.
I hope for a surprise this morning, but looks like everyone agrees on 4 nominees
Tree
Hugo
Artist
Horse
with these battling for slot 5
Dragon
Tinker
Hallows
Midnight
Drive
Schindler’s List is such a modern masterpiece…you should watch it once in your lifetime! 😉
THE ARTIST, HUGO, THE TREE OF LIFE and WAR HORSE seem like safe bets. I had been thinking DRIVE for the fifth slot, but in light of the DGA nomination, Sasha’s inclination toward DRAGON TATTOO is probably spot-on.
On the topic of cinematography and lengthy films one I haven’t had the patience to finish has been Lawrence of Arabia. I’ve seen Dr. Zhivago and Gone with the Wind amongst others though.
Hmm, looking up the length of Spielberg’s other films…wow, is Saving Private Ryan really nearly 3 hours? That one has never felt long to me…
It’s also over 3 hours long, and while I don’t have a short attention span perse and have seen some long epics I prefer my movies wrapped up in 2 and a half or less.
And I’ve heard Schindler’s is one of the toughest to watch.
I mean I’ve seen a number of Holocaust films but they tend to be emotionally draining…
BTW, to answer your question Craig (or was it someone else who asked?) no I have not seen Schindler’s List and I don’t know if I ever will. Not exactly the sort of subject matter is excited to watch…
Oh really? lol. I guess that explains why he hasn’t done any work since those 2 I noted…
Scott, It’s kind of wierd to call Conrad L Hall one of your favorite cinematographers of today. He is dead.
The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)
Hugo (Robert Richardson)
The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)
Sorry for the copy-paste, but I have the same picks than Sasha.
Alt.
Moneyball (Wally Pfister)
The Ides of March (Phedon Papamichael)
Drive (Newton Thomas Sigel)
Oops, forgot to note Kaminski for Diving Bell…odd film but interestingly shot.
I think my Top 5 favorite cinematographers of today are:
Roger Deakins (True Grit, Assasination of Jesse James, The Shawshank Redemption, A Beautiful Mind, No Country For Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou (though I pretty much hate this film otherwise) Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Doubt, In the Valley of Elah)
Janusz Kaminski (Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Catch Me If You Can, War Horse)
Bruno Delbonnel (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Amelie, Across the Universe)
Wally Pfister (The Prestige, Inception, The Dark Knight, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Italian Job, Moneyball)
Jeff Croneworth (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, Fight Club)
Honorable Mentions-
Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men, Sleepy Hollow)
Eduardo Serra (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Blood Diamond, Defiance)
Conrad L. Hall (Road To Perdition, American Beauty)
John Mathieson (Gladiator, The Phantom of the Opera, Robin Hood)
But that list has reminded me of a number I forgot. To the list I posted in the other thread I would add…
Fight Club
The Prestige
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Moulin Rouge (though it can be a bit sensory overload at times)
Eyes Wide Shut (though I have to wonder how much of a factor nudity was in this making the list, lol)
Atonement
Black Hawk Down
Munich
Zodiac
The Insider (well I don’t exactly recall the cinematography, just that it was an excellent film, arguably should have won Best Picture)
Yeah, true, lol
And I am thrilled by the inclusion of Black Hawk down on that list. Underappreciated visually
Scott, interesting list but they are using the term “of the decade” kind of loosly since some of those films are from the 90’s
Looking back…
http://thefilmstage.com/news/the-best-cinematography-of-the-last-decade/
The Artist (SCHIFFMAN)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (SERRA)
Hugo (RICHARDSON)
Melancholia (CARO)- NGNG
Midnight in Paris (KHONDJI) – NGNG
Tree of Life
War Horse
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Artist
Melancholia
The Artist
Drive
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Or the Oscars for that matter. I would laugh sooo hard and rejoice.
wabbit says:
January 11, 2012 at 2:28 am
PS about Lubezki’s work in The Tree of Life … this year, he’s the only person to be nominated by virtually every critics group that selects in the category of cinematography (24 of 25 critics groups nominations). and he’s picked up 21 wins so far. that’s as close to consensus as we’re going to see in ANY category this year.
http://www.davidhanks.com/film/2011biglist.html#cinematography
Yeah well, it’s going to be hilarious if the ASC doesn’t choose him :p
http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/about/voting.html
found it. They vote to determine the nominees, then the whole academy can vote for the winner. That’s how I’m reading this
@ Ryan? only the Cinematographers branch of Ampas votes for best Cinematography right?
Sacha, a question: why everybody is so upset with the wins of Christopher Plummer in some lists??
I think he is wonderful in beginners… I like Albert Brooks in drive too but i prefer Plummer…
PS about Lubezki’s work in The Tree of Life … this year, he’s the only person to be nominated by virtually every critics group that selects in the category of cinematography (24 of 25 critics groups nominations). and he’s picked up 21 wins so far. that’s as close to consensus as we’re going to see in ANY category this year.
http://www.davidhanks.com/film/2011biglist.html#cinematography
The Artist
Hugo
Tree of Life
War Horse
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
Same as Sasha’s. I think they are pretty much a sure thing. Dragon Tattoo is the only one that might get snubbed but hey, we one heart choice among mind predictions.
If I had to fully go with my heart, the pics would have been kinda like this:
Drive
Warrior
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Harry Potter 7.2
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
1. The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki (perfect. a lock for a nom; a lock for the win. years from now, we’ll still be talking about the cinematography in this film)
2. The Artist – Guillame Schiffman (the visual style was very important to the overall effect and feeling of this film)
3. Hugo – Robert Richardson (beautiful; a strong contender)
4. Midnight in Paris – Darius Khondje (wonderful visuals in this postcard to paris)
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenworth (iffy, but this horse is running strong down the stretch)
Melancholia – Manuel Alberto Claro (NGNG: very possible for this film to replace paris or tattoo – if enough voters saw it)
Drive – Thomas Newton Segel (strong but not quite up to the level of the 5 above)
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski (probably too over the top; if it’s selected, it’s because of the two names: Kaminsky & Spielberg)
Artist
Hugo
TGWTDT
ToL
Melancholia
Ryan, I’m sure they stopped fast forwarding for a while when they saw dinosaurs. To see what that was all about.
Or that astroid hitting the planet….
It’s true but I still worship him. Expecually his early work.
It’s kind of like my quarells with Deakins. Love him to death but sometimes he goes overboard with the wide angle lens and the soft focus.
Hi Craigz – no, I like him. While I joke, I am distracted by his work. It like shining a torch in my eyes every time there is a reflective surface in shot. This is intentional. Have you not noticed?
The Artist and Hugo are absolute locks. The Tree of Life should be a lock, but after that horrific BAFTA Top 15 snub I don’t know if it is anymore. Anyway, I believe that the ASC will nominate Emmannuel Lubezki – not only for his great work this year, but on name recognition alone. (And I believe Lubezki will win as a way to the Oscar podium in February.) It leaves two more slots: Cronenweth has a lot of good will left from last year and the project’s quite baity in terms of cinematography. One more slot: too many contenders. J. Edgar has too much bad publicity and even though Stern does a good job and the DP’s usually don’t care much about how well-liked a film is (if you browse their past nominees, in 2001 they voted The Patriot their actual winner over Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in 2002 they nominated Pearl Harbor etc), but there’s nothing surprising there. I believe they could go in two directions – Midnight In Paris, which will absolutely cement the film’s lock status OR Melancholia (which I somehow think the Academy will go with). I’d say Midnight In Paris. Why I predict a War Horse snub? Because the film isn’t all that well-liked, it has been snubbed nearly everywhere and even though it has the bait factor, most of the cinematography is so tastelessly over the top that I doubt the ASC will go with Kaminski on name recognition alone.
I believe that the ASC will nominate Emmannuel Lubezki – not only for his great work this year, but on name recognition alone. (And I believe Lubezki will win as a way to the Oscar podium in February.)
I believe a lot of AMPAS member will have only watched 10 or 15 minutes of Tree of Life. But, scanning through the disc tying to find a narrative thread they could hang onto, it doesn’t matter which 10 minutes they paused to sample. It’ll be the most gorgeous FFW chapter-skipping speed-viewing they did all year long.
Though I will agree I found the extreme sunset at the end a little overbearing. Pretty but overbearing. But I think the action scenes are amazingly shot. It can’t be easy to do a steadycam shot of a running horse in a freaking trench….at night…
It probably won’t happen, but I think Adriano Goldman’s work in ‘Jane Eyre’ was exquisite. If this film had been released somewhere around October/December, it could have been a strong player. Too bad…it had the reviews, the solid arthouse-BO, the prestige-factor, the British-factor etc. All in all, everything about it was Academy-friendly…except the release date. If it weren’t all about temporary buzz, simply based on quality, I would seriously consider it in picture, adapted screenplay, actress, supporting actor, score, cinematography, costume, art direction.
Mattock, the man shot Schindlers List, SPR and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I think he deserves some slack 🙂
I am and I’m not a fan of Kaminski’s. If I had a dollar for every time I was almost blinded by him at the movies…I would have maybe enough for a couple of movie tickets.
Having said that, I think War Horse will get in, inspite of my collision on the way out of the theatre.
Other filems …Hugo, The Artist, Drive and Tree of Life.
The Artist, War Horse, The Tree of Life, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo are the obvious choices.
but I wouldn’t be surprised if J. Edgar slips in, and the Academy always has surprises…
It would be great if Robert Elswit would be nominated for his superb work on “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”, but I don’t see that happening.
Right now my predicts would be:
– Lubezki – Tree of Life
– Kaminski – War Horse
– Richardson – Hugo
– Schiffman – The Artist
– Sigel – Drive
Related/unrelated – I just voted for everything. I can’t lose I tell ya.
^
you’re a wild man today.
this poll is so faulty tonight. aggravating. I went back reset the maximum number of votes to 5.
Why do ‘t you take it to second base…
That won’t help. It comes whenever it wants before we even get to first base. Then, just as quick, it’s gone. I feel so cheap.
lol The one thing I’d actually give MONEYBALL and it’s #11.
I thought THE RUM DIARY looked lovely but it ain’t in it.
Tree of Life
Hugo
Drive
Melancholia
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo
On a side note, am I the only who finds the cinematography in The Artist very subpar? 🙁
We are truely honored to have greats like Richardson, Kiminski and Lubezki in consideration this year. Some of the best working today. So many other greats too.
Did the poll close?
poll should still be working. is there a problem?
…oh it keeps dropping off the page. I don’t know why it wants to disappear. I’ll keep an eye on that.
The poll refuses to show up — intermittently drops off. There’s a problem with how it communicates with its home base site, so there’s nothing I can do to fix it right now.
It comes and goes on its own.
My ASC Predictions:
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Hugo
The Artist
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Poll results so far:
1. Hugo (Robert Richardson)
2. The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
3. The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
4. War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)
6. Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows 2 (Eduardo Serra)
7. Midnight in Paris (Darius Khondji)
8. Melancholia (Manuel Albert Caro)
9. Drive (Newton Thomas Sigel)
10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Hoyte Van Hoytema)
gee, I feel great about my Tinker Tailor prediction now.
Predictions, and in an order according to my preference:
1. The Tree of Life
2. Melancholia
3. Hugo
4. The Artist
5. War Horse
Yep. Better than Deakins.
And these other names…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Cinematography#Superlatives
Better then Deakins?!
John Toll Is the greatest cinematographer of all time. Needed to be said.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)
Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows 2 (Eduardo Serra)
J Edgar (Tom Stern)
Moneyball (Wally Pfister)
War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)
alternates: The Artist or Hugo (I’m guessing at least one of these will get in but I haven’t seen either yet so I can’t make a judgement on them)
One I thought was beautifully filmed but isn’t a contender is Water for Elephants.
Moneyball
Hugo
Girl/Tattoo
Tree of Life
War Horse
NGNG: Shame
These are other cinematographers nominating these films remember
LMAO @ the TTSS predictions.
That film’s cinematography is far too subtle to be recognized.
Crazy to think people are giving up on War Horse.
The film has many flaws, but I’d be stunned if Kaminski doesn’t get a nod. Photography was its strongest asset.
I’d love a surprise!
Deathly Hallows or Super 8 would be a fantastic sight, as would Ides of March or Midnight in Paris.
Hugo – Richardson
Tree of Life – Lubezki
Melancholia – Claro
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Van Hoytema
The Artist – Schiffman
Bit of a stretch but not impossible.
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
The Tree of Life
The Artist
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, spy
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Also Ryan, I’d love to hear your reason for predicting TTSS over War Horse
The Artist
Hugo
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
Tree of Life
(I was tempted to say War Horse, but just couldn’t bring myself to do it… so much orange.)
Ryan, I’m still taking credit 🙂
Said it first on this site :p
Wally Pfister, Moneyball
Emmanuel Lubezki, Tree of Life
Darius Khondji, Midnight In Paris
Robert Richardson, Hugo
Guillame Schiffman, The Artist
Alternate: Jeff Cronenweth, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
*yawn*
I too was impressed with Moneyballs subtle beauty, but there just isnt room, even for the overlooked achievement in Drive. My suprise nom is Melancholia.
Sasha, I just want to point out that I predicted those exact picks yesterday in the DGA board so if we are right I get credit! 🙂
Craig Z
Sasha and I both picked the same 5 without being aware of each other’s choice — I switched out War Horse for Tinker Tailor but I think I’ve made a grave error in trying to be too cool.
I think the nominees will be
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
My own choices are not that different except that I think J. Edgar is beautifully photographed – it was engrossing, actually – and I would love to see that get a surprise nomination instead of maybe TGWtDT.
Anyone know why HP 7.2 is being overlooked in this category? I thought the cinematography was spectacular. Then again, I thought 7.1’s was even better, but that didn’t do much in terms of awards.
Here’s hoping that Wally Pfister gets in for “Moneyball.” Honestly some of his most impressive work to date. I’m not kidding.
Although I think it’s dangerous to rule out Pfister
aha! you can erase that if you want! about the poll not working, lol
You were right though, Nate .
It wasn’t working. I had to go fix it when I saw your comment. So thanks!
The Artist
War Horse
Hugo
The Tree of Life
Ides of March
alt: Midnight in Paris
poll not working, lol
Lubezki for Tree of Life
Sigel for Drive
Richardson for Hugo
Shiffman for The Artist
Cronenweth for Dragon Tattoo
NGNG: Bobbit for Shame (Replacing Sigel sadly, I just can’t imagine any guild going that indie)
The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
Hugo (Robert Richardson)
Jane Eyre (Adriano Goldman)
The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)
The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
Hugo (Robert Richardson)
Midnight in Paris (Darius Khondji)
The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)