The American Society Of Cinematographers’ feature film nominees unveiled today include Roger Deakins for Skyfall, marking his 11th ASC Award nomination after he was given the group’s lifetime achievement honor in 2011. Aside from the ethereal Life Of Pi by Claudio Miranda the noms today singled out period movies: Seamus McGarvey for Anna Karenina, Danny Cohen for Les Miserables and Janusz Kaminski for Lincoln. The 27th annual ASC Awards will be handed out February 10 at Hollywood & Highland. Here’s the full release:
LOS ANGELES, January 9, 2013 — Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC (Anna Karenina), Danny Cohen, BSC (Les Miserables), Claudio Miranda, ASC (Life of Pi), Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln) and Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (Skyfall) have been nominated in the feature film category of the 27th Annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Awards for Outstanding Achievement. The winner will be announced at the ASC Awards celebration on February 10 at the Hollywood & Highland Grand Ballroom.
“The films our members have nominated are visually distinctive, and very diverse: a theatrical epic, a grand musical, an imaginative 3-D fable, a sweeping biographical drama, and a stylish spy thriller,” notes ASC President Stephen Lighthill. “What they all have in common is that each project’s cinematographer contributed captivating visuals that enhanced and elevated the storytelling.”
This year’s nod brings Deakins’ total to 11. He won ASC Awards for The Shawshank Redemption (1995) and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2002). His other nominations were for Fargo (1997), Kundun (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001), No Country for Old Men (2008), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2008), Revolutionary Road (2009), The Reader (2009) and True Grit (2011). He was also the recipient of the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.
This is Kaminski’s fifth nomination. His prior nominations were for Schindler’s List (1994), Amistad (1998), Saving Private Ryan (1999) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2008).
Cohen, McGarvey and Miranda have all been recognized once previously – Cohen for The King’s Speech (2011); McGarvey for Atonement (2008); and Miranda for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009).



Where the heck is Mihai Malaimare Jr. for The Master?!
Just feel the need to add a voice to the chorus…the fact that The Master wasn’t nominated makes these awards completely irrelevant. I would even say that The Master is OBJECTIVELY the best shot film of 2012 and will be influential and copied for the next several years at least. There must be some weird DP politics involved here.
Old timers awarding themselves.
Playing safe probes to be good formula.
The Master had the best cinematography by far. OUTRAGEOUS:
How can Mihai Malaimaire not have been nominated for “The Master”? Incredible lighting and photography — hypnotic and unique. All due respect to Deakins who is great, but Skyfall has no more than typical state-of-the art action cinematography — nothing distinct about it. No comparison to Malaimare’s work.
Why is Robert Richardson not nominated?
I think the list is good. No a fan of anything about the Master,so I don’t think it deserves any praise . Glad Skyfall got recognized.
If you didn’t like the movie fine but it is impossible to deny how great that movie looked. Open your eyes!
Maybe the ASC doesn’t nominate based just on the prettiness of the pictures — and the prettiness of the pictures were one of two things that “The Master” had going for it (the other being the performances) — and nominates, also, on how well the pictures tell a story. Because “The Master” didn’t have a story, being just a bunch of scenes strung together, maybe the ASC didn’t think Malaimare’s work qualified.
rob, Skyfall stole from Wally Pfister’s great cinematography in those Chris Nolan films- to be fair everybody is doing that.
Rob, If you think The Master does not deserve any praise, do yourself a favor and screen it again (In a quality theater) with a deliberate focus on the cinematography. I think you might be surprised. It is pretty remarkable work.
Seamus!
I hate to be mockingbird here but this is total b.s. THE MASTER had a fresh, creative, brilliant approach to cinematography – something far more innovative than the standard fare. Even Deakins was a bit off his game in SKYFALL. Love Cohen’s work but LES MIS’ cinematography was disjointed, erratic and ill-fitting to the rest of the film. I guess the Old Boy’s Club still exists!
Deakins stealing from Wally Pfister? Whatever! Deakins is the greatest D.P. alive, and has made a bigger impact on cinema than Wally can even dream. As for The Master… extreme close-ups of great acting doesn’t equate great cinematography.
I agree with M.D. about The Master. It was technically very well done but I don’t think Mihai Malaimare Jr. served the story as well as it could have. I’m sure close-ups were intended to keep focus on the the characters and acting but I felt it needed more coverage. Maybe the camera size was a big issue. Roger Deakins is my favorite cinematographer of the nominees but I think Claudio Miranda deserves it this year.