Cinematography is an art form that can be as bold as a gong crashing after a moment of silence, or as subtle as the tide coming in. It elevates a film to the heights of accolade or turns a movie into a frustrating mess when it misfires.

While at the heart of cinematography is the Director of Photography or Cinematographer, to get something from the script to the final shot takes a whole team of professionals, and it is their talent that we champion today.

So without further ado, these are the moments of cinematography that took our breaths away in 2020. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, click on the banners to be taken to the full reviews.

1917

Running through a warscape in one* take

Directed by – Sam Mendes
Cinematography by – Roger Deakins

Black is King

An experimental exploration of iconography, music, and style.  

Directed by – Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Kwasi Fordjour with Emmanuel Adjei, Blitz Bazawule, Pierre Debusschere, Jenn Nkiru, Ibra Ake, Dikayl Rimmasch, Jake Nava, Dafe Oboro & Julian Klincewicz.
Cinematography by – Ryan Marie Helfant, Santiago Gonzalez, Mohammaed Atta Ahmed, David Boanuh, Michael Fernandez, Erik Henriksson, Danny Hiele, Laura Merians, Nicolai Niermann, Kenechukwu Obiajulu, Malik Sayeed & Benoit Soler

Emma

A film that frames its characters as if they were in the paintings on the walls of the mansions they live in.  

Directed by – Autumn de Wilde
Cinematography by – Christopher Blauvelt

Let Him Go

A film that shows its bleakness in every frame.

Directed by – Thomas Bezucha
Cinematography by – Guy Godfree

Little Women

Happiness and despair shown through the lens of the camera.

Directed by – Greta Gerwig
Cinematography by – Yorick Le Saux

And the Winner is!!!!! – 1917

While the first thing you see with 1917 is that the whole film is presented as if it was in real-time in two different takes and the production design to pull that off is extraordinary. That alone would not be enough for it to win this category. But Roger Deakins takes every moment to make this film shine. Using real lights to illuminate a computer-generated fire gives the warmth you can’t recreate. It helps bring you into this world and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole runtime.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

What are your favourite cinematic moments from 2020?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images used were created by the respective studio and artist of each film