Road to the Oscars: Cinematography

           This has been a tough category for me this year. Last year, Robert Richardson, one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, was obviously the one to win. However, this year he is going against Life of Pi, which is also in 3D, giving it a lot in common with Hugo. Also, I have yet to see Anna Karenina and Skyfall, so there's that problem. Although Life of Pi was beautifully photographed, Django Unchained gives it a run for its money with cool zoom shots, overhead shots of slave lines, and vivid imagery with blood, whether it be on white flowers or on white walls, the cinematography helped bring those colors out. This is especially hard to do outside, and Richardson did a great job. I'm not sure if the brilliant transitions between scenes in Life of Pi (like when the background would change, the people would slide off the screen, and then the new characters would appear) counts as editing or what, but those were visually appealing to make the cinematography look even better. And those underwater shots at the Piscine Molitor were absolutely maginificent. Lincoln had good cinematography, but it didn't have anything special to make it stand out over Django Unchained and Life of Pi. Anna Karenina looks super cool, and for an action movie, Skyfall looks particularly good. It's a tough choice, but I'm rooting for Richardson to win, and Life of Pi should win Visual Effects to balance it out. What do you think?

For an interesting and educational article on creating the look of Django Unchained, read http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/visualizing-django-unchained/.