The fundamental element of a film. Cinematography. What is captured and how it is captured. It’s basic, but some films make you forget that it’s basic. Some films project imagery that seems impossible to capture on camera.

Camera work is a beautiful thing, and the five films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 2017 are all visually stunning. Obviously, only one can take home the award. But how obvious are the odds?

Best Cinematography

• Arrival – Bradford Young
• La La Land – Linus Sandgren
• Lion – Greig Fraser
• Moonlight – James Laxton
• Silence – Rodrigo Prieto

Will Win: La La Land

Could Win: Moonlight

Dark Horse: Arrival

 

You’d have to think that La La Land will lose one of these categories. But the shooting is pretty solid in this film. If the film is going to show cracks at the Oscars, Moonlight or Arrival both have a good shot. Moonlight is not a bad upset pick in this category.

As for the others, the cinematography in Lion is on the of the better aspects of the film. The film certainly has gotten enough attention elsewhere that a win here would make sense, but it is up against very heavy competition. And this is the only nomination for the surprisingly slept-on Silence, so it is the most unlikely of the five to pull this out. It could win if only to give Silence some sort of recognition.

 

As always, thanks for reading!

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—Alex Brannan (@TheAlexBrannan)