This is the first year that cinematography has been included in the Oscar nomination list, which includes familiar names like Guillermo del Toro’s go-to Dan Laustsen and Robbie Ryan, who regularly works with Yorgos Lanthimos.
But there are trends. Three women were chosen: Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Sinners), Alice Brooks (Wicked: For Good), and Amy Vincent (Song San Bleu).
In the history of the category, no woman has ever won an Oscar for cinematography, and only three women have ever been nominated. Rachel Morrison in 2018’s Mudbound, Ari Wegner in 2021’s The Power of the Dog, and Mandy Walker in 2022’s Elvis.
This year, Arkapaw made history as the first female cinematographer to shoot in Imax 65mm and Ultra Panavision on “Sinners,” and she looks like a front-runner. If she wins, she will not only become the first woman;
If she wins this category, she will become the first Filipino/African-American to win an Oscar in the cinematography category.
Arcapeau and Kugler went out to the desert near Lancaster, California to test the IMAX 35mm and 65mm. Kugler expressed a keen interest in showcasing the landscape. The idea was inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, and was shot on 65mm film using Ultra Panavision 70mm. “We screened those tests at FotoKem and IMAX headquarters. Once you see what you’ve created, you can’t miss it,” Arkapaw said.
Emotion was key to “Wicked” and its conclusion, “Wicked: For Good.” “The first film will live in this glorious daylight, and the second film will be full of maturity and density and weight,” Brooks says. “When we were designing it, ‘Wicked: For Good’ had a handcrafted feel to it, but it also had a textured, raw, edgy feel to it.”
Brooks used every color of the rainbow to illuminate the film. Each scene and color had a meaning. “Red is when you make a bad choice. You see it a lot in the Governor’s Mansion. Orange is the color of Elphaba’s transformation, and you see that in the flames and ‘No Dood Deed.'” And blue is the color of love between two people, Brooks says. We first see it in the surrounding Ozdust Ballroom, and then in the moonlight colors of “For Good.”
But given the level of achievement on display, it will be a difficult choice for voters to narrow down this field. Among the familiar faces on the nominees list is Seamus McGarvey, two-time Oscar nominee for Die My Love. Łukasz Jaru has also been nominated twice for “Hamnet.” Darius Khondji returns to the race for a third nomination with “Marty Supreme.” “One Battle After Another” star Michael Bauman is likely to be a leading candidate for nomination, as is “F1” Oscar winner Claudio Miranda. “All Quiet on the Western Front” Oscar winner James Friend returns to the races with “The Ballad of the Little Players.”
The first person to participate in an Oscar campaign was David Chamville, who shot “Nouvelle Vague” in black and white on the streets of Paris. “Sentimental Value” interior by Kasper Tuxen. It further enriched the family secrets and untold emotions of the film’s protagonist. “Sirât” by Mauro Else captures raves and majestic landscapes in the deserts of North Africa. Fabien Gamper’s work “Sound of Falling” translates intergenerational trauma in film. And “Train Dreams,” directed by Adolfo Veloso, who just won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Cinematography, tells the story of the majestic scenery of the Pacific Northwest.
