The Best Cinematography nominees by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) for the 97th edition of the Oscars Awards, are “The Brutalist” (Lol Crawley, BSC), “Dune: Part Two” (Greig Fraser, ASC BSC), “Emilia Pérez” (Paul Guilhaume), “Maria” (Ed Lachman, ASC) and “Nosferatu” (Jarin Blaschke).
The cameras used to shoot 2025 Oscar-nominated films include Arricam, Alexa, Sony Venice, and Kodak Negative film stock. These films were shot in a variety of formats, including 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, VistaVision, and 8k. “The Brutalist,” “Maria,” and “Nosferatu” were all shot on Kodak Negative film stock.
Camera Equipment Used for Principal Photography and 2nd Unit.
Arricam: Arricam LT, Arricam ST, and Arriflex 235 were used to shoot The Brutalist
Alexa: Alexa 65 and Alexa LF were used to shoot Dune: Part 2
Sony Venice: Sony Venice 2 was used to shoot Emilia Pérez
Kodak: Kodak Super 8 Camera and Classic Pro 8 were used to shoot Maria
Mediums, Film & Digital Format Used to Acquire Necessary Footage.
The Brutalist was shot in 16mm, 35mm, and VistaVision 70mm
Dune: Part 2 was shot in 70mm (Kodak Vision 2383)
Emilia Pérez was shot in Sony XOCN XT 8k
Maria was shot in 35mm Kodak color, 16mm negative, and Super 8mm
Chosen Lenses by Director of Photography
Cooke S4 and Leica R Lenses were used to shoot The Brutalist
Prime DNA, IronGlass Helios, Jupiter, Mir, Optica Elite, and Zero Optik Rokkor were used to shoot Dune: Part 2
Blackwing Tribe 7 T-Tuned were used to shoot Emilia Pérez
Ultra Baltars, Cooke S4 Primes, Super 8 6-66mm Schneider Zoom Lens, Angenieux 8-64 Zoom Lens were the choice of Ed Lachman, ASC to achieve a naturalistic look for Maria.
Original Baltars, Dagors, UHS were used for Nosferatu.
The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS), will take place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS will present Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 23 categories, honoring films released in 2024. The ceremony will be televised in the United States by ABC and be streamed on Hulu, the first Academy Awards ceremony to be broadcast as such.
The Look: The best way to photograph architecture is with rectilinear lenses that don’t distort the buildings themselves, so it’s only natural that you would look to a format with a wider field of view. We use [VistaVision] not only for capturing aspects of the architecture and landscape, but you can also shoot the most beautiful portraits on the format. Essentially, you’re encompassing two different things: You have the shallower depth of field of a longer lens but also the field of view of a wider lens.
DUNE: PART 2
Cinematographer: Greig Fraser, ACS, ASC
Format: 70mm (Kodak Vision 2383)
Cameras: ALEXA 65, ALEXA LF
Lenses: Prime DNA, IronGlass Helios, Jupiter, Mir, Optica Elite, and Zero Optik Rokkor
MARIA
Cinematographer: Ed Lachman, ASC
Format: 35mm Kodak color 50D/5203, 250D/5207, 500T/5219 Negative 16mm 250D/7207, and 500T/7219 35mm Black and White double-X 5222 negative Super 8mm 50D/7203, 500T/7219
Camera: ARRICAM 3perf, ARRIFLEX 416, Kodak Super 8 Camera, Classic Pro 8
Lenses: The Ultra Baltars, Cooke S4 Primes, Super 8 6-66mm Schneider Zoom Lens, Angenieux 8-64 Zoom Lens.
The Look: The film explores the life of Maria Callas, and the scenes of her past are shot in black and white Negative with the Ultra Baltars, which was glass used over 70 years ago in “Magnificent Ambersons,” parts of “Citizen Kane,” and “Touch of Evil,” which I also used on “El Conde” with Pablo Larraín. The Baltars have a six-element design and early single-layer coatings that contributed to the period look that we were looking for due to the film taking place from over 80 to 47 years ago; I wanted the look of the film to be affected by the glass that created images in films at that time.
“I also used the Baltar glass in the later color period used in the film for the ’60s and ’70s, depicting the scenes in her life. The Cooke S4 primes were used primarily in the evening scenes where I needed more stop. The 16mm film with an Aaton LTR and 416 ARRI cameras was used for the film crew that we see in the movie investigating Maria’s life. The Super 8 camera and lenses were used as Maria Callas’ home movies for the private moments of the people that were closest to her”.
NOSFERATU
Cinematographer: Jarin Blaschke
Format: Super35mm
Cameras: Arricam ST
Lenses: Original Baltars, Dagors, UHS
The Look: The Baltars have a beautiful pastel palette and suppress fine detail while keeping overall sharpness reasonable. The Dagors have a shimmering halation and unique, mist-like bokeh for hallucinations and dreams. The UHS lenses are very fast (T1.1) and allow for real candlelight work on film.
Nosferatu 2025 is a remake of the original 1922 silent German Expressionist vampire film, directed by F. W. Murnau with a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It features Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys upon the wife of his estate agent, played by Greta Schröder and Gustav von Wangenheim respectively, ultimately bringing the plague to their town.
A thrilling mystery masterpiece - a chilling psycho-drama of blood-lust.
Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
Original title: Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
AKA:Nosferatu, a Symphony of Terror, Terror of Dracula
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writers: Henrik Galeen, Bram Stoker
Stars: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Silent Film
EMILIA PEREZ
Cinematographer: Paul Guilhaume, AFC
Format: Sony XOCN XT 8k
Camera: Sony Venice 2, ALEXA Mini (some scenes in Mexico), RED Komodo (some scenes in Mexico)
Lenses: Blackwing Tribe 7 T-Tuned (Main set). Arri Signature Prime 12mm, Angenieux Ultra 12x, Angenieux EZ-1, and EZ-2 Arri T2.1 (some scenes)
The Look: “The film is hybrid in the ways it’s built and also in the way it’s shot. So, we mixed formats, technologies, and lenses (from 12mm to 800mm). Eighty percent of the time, we were shooting in a studio, and some scenes required a lot of light. Being able to film at 3200 ISO means needing only half as much light. I knew the Venice sensor and had seen what my colorist, Arthur Paux, was able to do with it. During our grading, we mainly focused on creating an organic texture”.
“For the lenses, we compared anamorphic (on a Super 35 sensor to stay light) and the spherical Blackwings T-Tuned on a large sensor. Those tests showed that anamorphic was too prominent for that project. The Blackwings had a modern yet organic look. We loved their unique blue/yellow fringing and the flares they can produce when needed. I also had a single 47 X-tuned in the set for more expressivity when necessary”.
Which film deserves to win the 97th Academy Awards for Best Cinematography?
