Re: Best Cinematography 1960
Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 6:51 pm
The cinematographers often filled out the black-and-white category in this era with mid-tier Oscar contenders that generally got a handful of nominations, regardless of whether or not the photography was notable. Ergo, the nomination for The Facts of Life, despite little in the way of visual distinction.
Inherit the Wind is a bit more understandable -- I can recall some torch-lit nighttime exteriors that popped out -- but on the whole it's mostly filmed play territory, without the level of invention that made something like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? so striking.
I'd say The Apartment is definitely a more elegantly shot comedy than many of its era -- the lighting and compositions in the office sets, for instance, give a real sense of the mundanity and oppressiveness of mid-century work life. I don't think it's quite enough of a visual wow to get my vote, but it's a worthy nominee.
Like most, I debated between the remaining two, and I do think the Academy made a perfectly admirable choice with Sons and Lovers. The comparatively brief period of film history when widescreen black-and-white was prominent left behind a group of films that often used the larger screen to capture some really impressive landscapes, as this film does, with its detailed portrait of an English mining community and its nearby countryside. It's artful, evocative work.
But Psycho has just too many all-time legendary shots to pass up: the headlights following Marion on her drive out of town, Marion looking through the rain-soaked windshield to see the lights of the Bates Motel, the imposing house on the hill, Norman staring through the peep hole, the final close-up in the shower scene, the overhead shot of the stairway murder, the single overhead bulb that illuminates the reveal of Norman's mother, the final shot with Norman surrounded by stark white light. The film is a master class in the use of lighting and framing to create suspense, and gets my vote as the finest photographic achievement of the year.
Inherit the Wind is a bit more understandable -- I can recall some torch-lit nighttime exteriors that popped out -- but on the whole it's mostly filmed play territory, without the level of invention that made something like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? so striking.
I'd say The Apartment is definitely a more elegantly shot comedy than many of its era -- the lighting and compositions in the office sets, for instance, give a real sense of the mundanity and oppressiveness of mid-century work life. I don't think it's quite enough of a visual wow to get my vote, but it's a worthy nominee.
Like most, I debated between the remaining two, and I do think the Academy made a perfectly admirable choice with Sons and Lovers. The comparatively brief period of film history when widescreen black-and-white was prominent left behind a group of films that often used the larger screen to capture some really impressive landscapes, as this film does, with its detailed portrait of an English mining community and its nearby countryside. It's artful, evocative work.
But Psycho has just too many all-time legendary shots to pass up: the headlights following Marion on her drive out of town, Marion looking through the rain-soaked windshield to see the lights of the Bates Motel, the imposing house on the hill, Norman staring through the peep hole, the final close-up in the shower scene, the overhead shot of the stairway murder, the single overhead bulb that illuminates the reveal of Norman's mother, the final shot with Norman surrounded by stark white light. The film is a master class in the use of lighting and framing to create suspense, and gets my vote as the finest photographic achievement of the year.