Reel and Roll Awards (5): Best Cinematography/Visual Effects/Production Design 2017

Reel and Roll's BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Oscar-nominated The Shape of Water, Dunkirk and especially Blade Runner 2049 are all beautifully shot films, among the best of the decade. See here for more.

• The egregiously snubbed Phantom Thread also features some absolutely spellbinding cinematography (just any of the tracking shots alone would make it deserving of a nomination) that makes the beautiful look even beautiful-er; in the same vein of the grand, The Lost City of Z. 

• The Florida Project and Good Time both capture such a unique beauty within the ugly, the former through creating this certain majesty in is combinations of colours and natural lighting, the latter through the clever use of low level lighting that often reflects off of characters faces, and the use of extreme close-ups that first time round I found a bit distracting, but on re-watch actually work extremely well. 

• Foxtrot and Columbus both make the seemingly mundane and upper-class feel so vibrantly unique in their aesthetic tones, with Foxtrot's surrealist touches to the suburban setting and the war zone, and Columbus' deep affection for its titular setting, both crafting such beautiful shots.

• Finally, Logan. There may have been other films with more standout individual shots, but I think Logan's combination of terrific action setpiece camerawork, and stylish shots, makes for one of the most consistently visually engaging films of the year. 

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. Dunkirk
3. Phantom Thread
4. The Shape of Water
5. The Florida Project
6. A Fantastic Woman 
7. Good Time
8. Foxtrot 
9. Columbus 
10. The Lost City of Z

Reel and Roll's BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Blade Runner, War for the Planet of the Apes and The Shape of Water were all very deservedly nominated, and The Last Jedi to a lesser extent, for their visual effects,.

• After watching behind-the-scenes footage, I've surmised that I should put Loving Vincent in this category, it's partially the work of the cinematographers of course, but the visual artists over five years with nearly 67,000 individual paintings who help render the live action into such stunning representations of Vincent van Gogh's paintings in motion. Phenomenal work that was a huge undertaking that should be praised, and hasn't gotten the credit it deserves for quite literally making every frame a painting. 

• The entire Sakaar itself is thoroughly amazing in its detail in Thor Ragnarok, as this Flash Gordon-esque trash planet is truly one of the more stunning creations in the MCU, while the mo-cap visuals used for the characters of Hela and Korg are brilliant. Everything else is fine, but these are the obvious highlights. Meanwhile, the digital doubling in Logan as well as other little touches like Pierce's robotic arm are all fantastic, though I must say that the minimalist fashion in which VFX is used only benefits the film. 

• I love how subtle the visual effects are in Dunkirk, as Mark Weingartner describes here, if you don't notice it there it's done the job. The visual effects in Dunkirk seamlessly create an amplify the realistic, immersive feeling of the war front, and all the little touches do so much for the film. Equally, in Stronger the visual effects used to render convincingly render Jeff Bauman's physical condition are impeccable, and near unnoticeable. 

• The visual effects for Paddington are great as ever, so well done on that front. 

• Finally, while the titular superpig in Okja is an obvious CGI creation, I nevertheless thought that it was very well rendered and convincing as this manifestation of a heightened reality creation in terms of how it moves and interacts with the actors, and credits to Netflix for giving Bong the budget to work with this sort of VFX. 

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. Loving Vincent 
3. War for the Planet of the Apes
4. The Shape of Water
5. Thor Ragnarok 
6. Dunkirk
7. Paddington 2
8. Okja 
9. Logan 
10. Stronger

Reel and Roll's BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Once again, The Shape of Water and Blade Runner 2049 very deservedly being nominated in this category at the Oscars, same with Dunkirk. 

• But how on earth was Phantom Thread snubbed in this category? It's arguably the most beautiful film of the decade and the stunning production design, from the Woodcocks' household to the otherhouseholds they visit to the streets of London to Woodcocks' countryside retreat to the New Year's Eve ball, the kitchen, the living room etc. Oh, never mind.  

• Paddington 2's production design is also marvelous, taking everything that was established in the first film and just adding on to it with more of the same, in the most beautiful way possible, with the pop-up book at its centre being particularly worthy of note. 

• The motel at its centre is one of the many stars of The Florida Project, but really each and every location, colour of the location, and the various little details on these locations, that create the vibrant anti-Disney atmosphere of it. Read here for an interview with Sean Baker's sister, Stephonik Youth who was production designer on the film.

• Thor Ragnarok, The Death of Stalin, and The Lost City of Z go for the jugular in terms of vast, epic grandeur for such different purposes and thoroughly excel in doing so. 

• Maudie does the live-action equivalent of a painting in motion as every frame of its scenery just feels like a vividly realized painting, quite literally when Maud Lewis begins painting all over the household, low-key beautiful work like that in Call Me By Your Name where the luxurious Italian houses and scenic landscapes may be visuals you've seen similar variations of before, but gosh are they gorgeous. 

1. The Shape of Water
2. Phantom Thread
3. Blade Runner 2049
4. Paddington 2
5. The Florida Project
6. Thor Ragnarok 
7. Maudie 
8. The Lost City of Z 
9. The Death of Stalin 
10. Call Me By Your Name