Best Production Design

Yesterday, we looked at some of the lower-profile below-the line fields in this year’s Oscars. This morning, we’re staying in the technical areas but progressing to some categories that carry a bit more weight. Of course, the Academy initially planned on announcing the winners for two of these fields during commercial breaks, but then they reversed course, no doubt because they remembered that the Manifesto prizes these categories.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES
Cold War—Lukasz Zal
The Favourite—Robbie Ryan
Never Look Away—Caleb Deschanel
Roma—Alfonso Cuarón
A Star Is Born—Matthew Libatique Read More

With the Oscars on Sunday, we’re running through our predictions and preferences for all 21 feature categories. Yesterday, we looked at eight below-the-line fields; today, we’re continuing with some more high-profile technical categories. And by “high-profile” I mean “ones I care about”.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES
Blade Runner 2049—Roger Deakins
Darkest Hour—Bruno Delbonnel
Dunkirk—Hoyte van Hoytema
Mudbound—Rachel Morrison
The Shape of Water—Dan Laustsen
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Today, the Manifesto is analyzing the technical categories at this year’s Oscars. For our look at the eight “smaller” craft fields, click here. On to the (relatively) sexier categories. Read More

We’ve already ripped through eight less significant (in this viewer’s opinion) technical categories. Now it’s time to get to the big guns. Not only are these categories independently intriguing, but their winners could also foreshadow some of the night’s more high-profile awards.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES
Birdman—Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel—Robert D. Yeoman
Ida—Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lynzewski
Mr. Turner—Dick Pope
Unbroken—Roger Deakins

WILL WIN
Birdman. Lubezki is on a heater right now after winning for Gravity last year, and besides, the entire movie looks like it was shot on one freaking take. Call that technique facile if you want, but Academy voters are going to respond to it.

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