Last night at the 8oth Academy Awards Robert Elswit won an Oscar for his cinematographic work in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. Elswit is the original PTA collaborator: Punch-Drunk Love, Magnolia, Boogie Nights and Sydney; he also directed the photography for the Oscar-nominated Michael Clayton.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Oil Derrick Wreck

The extended outdoor tracking shot combined with the symphonic changes in lighting as the smoke blacks out the sky make this an incredible scene for camera work.

You Look Like a Fool

Outstanding lighting and frame composition. Notice how the soft outdoor lighting on Daniel’s son’s face transitions to tungsten lighting on Daniel’s face as he gets up to argue with Tillford. The camera is also sufficiently low throughout the scene, angled up, as if we were on the verge of receiving the Plainview wrath.

I See the Worst in People

Fireside chat between Daniel and his brother. Camera’s in close the entire time, just the faces turning one to the other in the shuddering orange glow.

The combination of far and close, tracking and static, bright and dim is what makes Elswit’s achievement outstanding. The film doesn’t have many changes in scenery, but the photography manages to affect the tone and mood so well there is never a slag moment.