Introduction
Robert Christopher Elswit, ASC (born April 22, 1950) is an American cinematographer. He has had multiple Oscar, BAFTA and Independent Spirit nominations for several films, including winning for There Will Be Blood (2007). Elswit has frequently collaborated with Paul Thomas Anderson.
Biography
Elswit was born in California. An early short film he worked on was the 1982 television adaptation for Ray Bradbury's short story All Summer in a Day. He began his career as a visual effects camera operator at John Dykstra's Apogee Productions Inc., working on films like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Empire Strikes Back and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, before shooting made-for-television films and shows.
Elswit is a fierce defender of shooting with film, and whenever possible refuses to use digital cameras. Images shot digitally, he says, have "no texture, no grain." He’d eventually start shooting in digital, starting with Nightcrawler.
Elswit has worked with George Clooney several times. He shot his black and white, multiple-Oscar nominated film Good Night, and Good Luck. Elswit shot the film in color, and converted the film into black and white in post production. According to Elswit, the technique preserved the subtlety of the colors (as complex shades of blacks and greys) and made the overall look much richer in the final film. Elswit was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Good Night, and Good Luck, but lost to Dion Beebe for Memoirs of a Geisha. Elswit won the award for There Will Be Blood in 2008.
Elswit has cited early independent filmmaker John Cassavetes as a major influence. Elswit is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and worked there as a teaching assistant in the 1970s.
Awards and nominations
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
- 2006: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
- 2008: There Will Be Blood (won)
American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
- 2006: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
- 2008: There Will Be Blood
Austin Film Critics Association for Best Cinematography
- 2007: There Will Be Blood
Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Cinematography
- 2007: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
- 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography
- 2008: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography
- 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck
British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography
- 2008: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
CableACE Award for Direction of Photography and/or Lighting Direction for a Dramatic or Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries
- 1988: Long Gone (nominated)
Camerimage Golden Frog Award
- 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
- 2006: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
- 2007: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
- 2014: Inherent Vice (nominated)
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
- 1986: CBS Schoolbreak Special (1984)
(For episode "The War Between The Classes")
Houston Film Critics Society for Best Cinematography
- 2014: Inherent Vice (nominated)
Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
- 2006: Good Night, and Good Luck
- 1998: Sydney (nominated)
International Online Cinema Awards for Best Cinematography
- 2008: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
International Online Film Critics' Poll Award for Best Cinematography
- 2009: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
- 2006: Good Night, and Good Luck
- 2007: There Will Be Blood (2nd place)
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography
- 2008: There Will Be Blood
- 2006: Good Night, and Good Luck (2nd place)
- 2003: Punch-Drunk Love (3rd place)
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer
- 2007: There Will Be Blood
- 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck (2nd place)
New York Film Critics Online for Best Cinematography
- 2007: There Will Be Blood
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography
- 2008: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
- 2006: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography
- 2014: Nightcrawler
- 2007: There Will Be Blood (2nd place)
Satellite Award for Best Cinematography
- 2015: Inherent Vice (nominated)
- 2010: Salt (nominated)
- 2007: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
- 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
St. Louis Film Critics Association
- 2014: Nightcrawler (nominated)
- 2007: There Will Be Blood (nominated)
- 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated)
Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
- 2014: Nightcrawler