By 
I have nothing but respect for Emmanuel Lubezki. He’s an excellent cinematographer who has composed some spectacular shots in his time. But I also think that his Oscar win Sunday night was misguided. Gravity, while perhaps the technical pinnacle of films he’s worked on, is not the pinnacle of his own work. Watch any behind the scenes on Gravity (this is the one referred to in the video above) and you will see that while the actual camera movements generally corresponded with a real camera (and as such, the fascinating opening shot can be mostly credited to him), what went into that Arri Alexa bear little resemblance to the spectacular images that were projected onto screens.
Like Life of Pi‘s win last year, this represents an unfortunate trend, one that gets into the heart of what cinematography is, and it may be that some disagree with my somewhat more naturalistic view of cinematography, but that’s what debate is for. If you agree, disagree, or whatever, let me know. I’d love to talk about it. Also, check out the other videos on our YouTube page and subscribe and do all that good stuff.