Oscar Countdown: Cinematography & Editing
Can the obscure French film artists of ‘The Artist’ beat Martin Scorsese’s buddies?
In advance of the Academy Award ceremony on Feb. 26, Screen Grab will predict the winners in all categories.
Cinematography: The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, The Tree of Life, War Horse. The American Society of Cinematographers awarded Terence Malick’s beautifully-photographed The Tree of Life. Will the Academy fail to recognize The Artist, which is, quite conspicuously, a black and white film? Apparently cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman shot The Artist in color and then “monochromed” it after the fact, but I don’t know if cinematographers would glance askance at that sort of thing. Incidentally, the last black and white film to win an Oscar was Schindler’s List. (In 1979, Woody Allen’s Manhattan wasn’t even nominated, but Disney’s The Black Hole was.)
Prediction: The Artist, although an award for Hugo could be a means of recognizing 3-D.