6 out of 10 Best Picture nominations trusted ARRI equipment
These six films were: “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Poor Things.” In the end, the golden statue for Best Picture went to “Oppenheimer.” A well-deserved congratulations go out to the entire crew and cast. This milestone production is a credit to a great industry in which we are proud to be a part.
For “American Fiction,” cinematographer Cristina Dunlap chose to work with the ALEXA Mini LF. In an interview with ARRI, Dunlap discussed her technical choices and expressed her preference for the ALEXA camera for its skin tone rendering and reliability: “I love ARRI and shooting on an ARRI camera is always my first choice just because of the way that it renders skin tones.” She elaborated: “Additionally, because I knew we were going to be shooting a lot of different ranges of skin tones and often outside where I didn’t have that much control, it was important to have a versatile dynamic range that I knew. On any shoot, dependability is important.” The film’s crew also relied on ARRI lighting which included ARRI’s Daylight Fresnels which allowed for versatile setups in various locations.
DP Dunlap and “American Fiction” director Cord Jefferson connected on vision almost immediately
After winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes this past summer, “Anatomy of a Fall” secured five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. DP Simon Beaufils relied on the ALEXA Mini LF camera to capture this modern legal thriller. Surprising to many, the film was not selected by the French jury to represent France in the Best Foreign Film category; a category it would have been well-positioned to win. However, with its director/co-writer Justine Triet being nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, the French film has been enjoying international attention. This year marks only the ninth time that a woman has been nominated for a Best Director Oscar and Triet herself is only number eight (Jane Campion was nominated twice) in Academy history. In the end, Triet took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
DP Simon-Beaufils using the ALEXA Mini LF on “Anatomy of a Fall”
Possibly the most talked about movie of 2023, “Barbie” transported audiences into a whole new pink world that had to feel both artificial and authentic. To construct this alternate reality, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto ASC, AMC, employed ARRI Rental’s large-format ALEXA 65 camera. Prieto explained his process on creating the visual language of “Barbie”: “I had to figure out how to get the sensation of dimensionality and depth with color … we used a camera that has a big sensor, the ALEXA 65 … with a bigger sensor, you get a feeling of a more shallow depth of field. So that’s sort of the world we were navigating, trying to make it feel like a miniature but not exactly, try to make it feel like a daytime exterior but not exactly. So that was always that balance of artificial but feeling somehow authentic to that world.” Another challenge was how to distinguish the film’s two very distinct locations: the forever sunny Barbie Land and the “real world.” To aid in this, the production relied on ARRI SkyPanels for lighting for the scenes that took place in real life Los Angeles. ARRI Rental also serviced the picture with camera, lighting, and grip equipment.
“Barbie” was shot on ARRI Rental’s ALEXA 65 by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto
Another Best Picture nominee shot with ARRI that was in the running for four other Oscars is director Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers.” After testing various analog cameras Danish DP Eigil Bryld decided to shoot the film digitally with the ALEXA Mini which authentically captured the award-winning performances of Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Paul Giamatti.
Two other categories of mention where ARRI equipment and services were relied upon were Best International Feature Film and Live Action Short Film. Three out of five nominated films in the category Best International Feature Film were shot with ARRI. These were “Io Capitano” from Italy where cinematographer Paolo Carnera AIC, used ALEXA Mini LF with ARRI Signature Primes; “Society of the Snow” from Spain with Uruguayan DP Pedro Luque, SCU and ALEXA Mini LF; and finally, “The Teachers’ Lounge” from Germany with director of photography Judith Kaufmann BVK choosing to work with the ALEXA Mini.
Director Matteo Garrone looking through the ALEXA Mini LF with DP Paolo Carnera directly behind
In the category Live Action Short Film, two out of five contenders were shot on ARRI cameras. Netflix’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” with Director Wes Anderson won the category. The production, serviced by ARRI Rental, was shot on the 16 mm ARRIFLEX with 416 ARRI/Zeiss Ultra 16 and Master Prime lenses by Anderson’s go-to DP Robert Yeoman ASC. For “Red, White and Blue,” cinematographer Adam Suschitzky BSC chose to work with ARRI ALEXA 35, combining Signature lenses with Impression V Filters to enhance the narrative. In an interview with ARRI, he talks about his creative choices which can be watched here.
DP Robert Yeoman captured Wes Anderson’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” on film
ARRI congratulates all the winners and nominees of the 96th annual Academy Awards. We thank you for relying on ARRI cameras, lenses, lighting, and services to help bring your artistic visions to life.
Robert Downey Jr., Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Emma Stone, and Cillian Murphy pose backstage with the Oscar for Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role and the Oscar for Actor/Actress in a Leading Role
For a complete list of winners, along with their acceptance speeches, please see the Academy’s webpage.
Opening image: Al Seib / ©A.M.P.A.S.