2024 Academy Award winners and nominees rely on ARRI equipment and services
At the 2024 Oscars®, ARRI technology and services were behind the scenes in 6 out of 10 Best Picture nominees while 3 of 5 Best Cinematography nominated films were captured with ARRI cameras.
Mar. 11, 2024
Celebrating a year full of cinematic artistry and handicraft, the Academy Awards recognize remarkable achievement across 24 categories. At the 96th installment of this glamourous event, which took place on March 10, in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honored films released in 2023. And what a year it was with many ups and downs. 2023 was a difficult year for the film industry, with many productions being put on hold during the Hollywood strikes. Despite these uncertainties, many memorable moments were brought to the screen and ARRI is honored to have played a supporting role.
3 out of 5 nominated films for Best Cinematography captured with ARRI cameras
As a camera designer and manufacturer, ARRI always pays very close attention to the Achievement in Cinematography award. This year, three out of the five contenders in this category chose to capture their masterpieces, at least partially, with ARRI cameras. These films were “El Conde,” filmed by DP Edward Lachman, ASC; “Killers of the Flower Moon” lensed by Rodrigo Prieto ASC, AMC; and “Poor Things” shot by Robbie Ryan BSC, ISC. Congratulations go to cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema NSC FSF, ASC, who was awarded the Oscar this year for his outstanding work on “Oppenheimer.”
There were a couple of interesting similarities this year amongst the Best Cinematography nominees. The first being that four out of the five contenders were shot on film. In fact, ARRI’s analog ARRICAM ST (Studio) and ARRICAM LT (Light) cameras were among this year’s Oscars most trusted tools. In addition, all five used a combination of color and black-and-white imagery, all to varying degrees. “El Conde,” the only contender that was captured digitally, is entirely monochromatic until its final colorful sequence. “Oppenheimer,” “Maestro,” and “Poor Things” all use black and white to signal different timeframes or to heighten states of mind. “Killers of the Flower Moon” offers the least amount of monochrome imagery with authentically simulated black-and-white newsreel footage of the Osage Nation (shot with Martin Scorsese’s 1917 Bell & Howell 2709 camera).
DP Robbie Ryan shot “Poor Things” on ARRI’s analog ARRICAM cameras which were trusted tools at the 2024 Oscars
Nominated for Best Cinematography and the lone film in the category to be shot digitally was Pablo Larraín’s black comedy/horror film “El Conde.” Two-time Oscar winning cinematographer Edward Lachman, ASC, chose to work with ALEXA Mini LF Monochrome supplied by ARRI Rental. Even though Lachman has earned recognition for certain projects that were shot on analog film, this time he opted for digital due to the lack of film labs near the location shoot in Chile. Most of the film was also in black and white. In an interview with ARRI Rental, Lachman explains: “The abstract and distant nature of black-and-white cinematography seemed right. The film uses the vampire genre as a literal and metaphorical way of telling a story about political upheaval in Chile in the 1970s.” ARRI Rental was able to provide two prototype ALEXA Mini LF Monochrome cameras to the production just in time for the start of principal photography. The success of the project led ARRI Rental to roll out the model more widely, and it can now be rented from facilities worldwide, alongside the existing ALEXA XT Monochrome and ALEXA 65 Monochrome models.
The next two films shot on ARRI and nominated for Best Cinematography were also up for Best Picture and Best Director: “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things.” In fact, three out of five nominated films in the category Best Directing also relied on ARRI.
From plastic, fantastical Barbie Land to an authentic recreation of a 1920s Osage reservation in Oklahoma, the shooting canvases couldn’t have been more different for director of photography Rodrigo Prieto ASC, AMC who lensed both “Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” For the latter, veteran director Martin Scorsese together with Prieto chose to use various, mostly analog, cameras. The epic retelling of this true-crime western utilized a combination of analog and digital cameras but was primarily shot on 35 mm film using the ARRICAM ST and LT. In an interview with “British Cinematographer” Magazine, Prieto mentioned how the ARRICAM conveyed the right color palette for the film. He commented: “I try not to influence the director and just see what feels right for the movie. In this case, we felt shooting on film with the ARRICAM captured the colors in the best way.” ARRI Lighting was also behind the scenes on “Killers” with the18K ARRIMAX used when more intensity was needed while interior lighting relied partially on SkyPanel S360 and S60s.
Rodrigo Prieto who chose mostly analog cameras for Scorsese’s epic “Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Poor Things,” the second film to come out of the creative collaboration between director Yorgos Lanthimos and Robbie Ryan BSC, ISC, premiered at the Venice Film Festival days before winning the event’s Golden Lion. At the Academy Awards, “Poor Things” was nominated in eleven categories and won four, including Best Actress and Best Production Design. Shooting on 35 mm film, Ryan worked with camera, lighting, and grip equipment supplied by ARRI Rental for “Poor Things.” Extensive lens testing was also facilitated by ARRI Rental. The film’s main camera was the analog ARRICAM ST which was sometimes augmented by an ARRICAM LT as a second camera. Much like the film’s main characters, Ryan’s camerawork is audacious. There are plenty of extreme wide-angle shots, impressive zooms, and unique vignetted “porthole” effects which never let the audience forget their role of voyeur, peering into another world. The film’s visuals mirror the fantastical story, and its cinematographer played with these various looks to heighten key moments. ARRI Lighting was also instrumental on the film’s various sets including SkyPanel S360 and S60 as well as BrikLoks. In an interview with ARRI Rental, gaffer Andy Cole spoke about how he and his colleague, gaffer Gromek Molnar Jr., lit the dramatic scenes at sea: “We had the LED wall on the ship set at Origo Studios in Budapest. We surrounded the ship with around 100 SkyPanel S60s and used 15 or 20 of the bigger S360 SkyPanels to light the glass roof and large back window.” For the Lisbon set, mainly SkyPanels were used, 800 pieces to be exact.
Robbie Ryan capturing Emma Stone’s Best Actress performance for “Poor Things” with the ARRICAM ST
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.
