Oscar 2017 - Cinematography

I don't agree since quite some years with the results for the Oscar cinematography. Because the Oscar for cinematography is not really given lately for cinematography, but for collateral stuff that falsely makes camera work to look deserving. It's either VFX, editing, or as most probably this year, production design. Still, it's not so wrong as in the previous... But, let's cut this short.

Bradford Young for "Arrival". I don't know how hard is to stay limited to an area with grey shades and filters that keep the gloomy feeling of the movie from the beginning to the end, but probably that's the main merit here. Nothing more.

Linus Sandgren for "La La Land". Full contrast with the above. But besides that we also have a contrast between the first and second half of the movie, which is supported well by the cinematography, even though it always keeps a very lively chromatic. Another difference comes from the framing and movement part, which is obviously at a different level here, at least through the need of dancing shots. All in all... how much of what we see comes from production design, and how much from camera work... I wonder.

Greig Fraser for "Lion". Well... maybe I'm too conservative, but finally what we have here is indeed pure camera work. It spans on almost everything, from panoramas to close shots, from good use of kinetic to fixed tracking shots, filters a bit less but we have these too. And maybe one of the most impressive is the composition of some fixed frames. The clip below doesn't do justice for all we have here, but unfortunately I don't have time to look for more now... Just watch the movie ;)

James Laxton for "Moonlight". The movie is shot ok-ish, but I don't find it much better overall than "Arrival". Probably the most impressive part is the sequence below... There are few frames "to remember" in the rest.

Rodrigo Prieto for "Silence". Scorsese's movie, adaptation of a book on the torment of several missionaries in the Middle Age Japan has an implicit factor of "cinematography boost" = the historical/epic character coupled with the open air action. In brief, it gains a bit from the open shots, the rest is ok overall, but not impressive.

Verdict: "La La Land" will probably get it, but I will keep my fingers crossed for "Lion".