A Milestone Year for Cinematographers

6:00 AM PST 12/17/2011 by Todd McCarthy

A craft in transition saw bold moves -- black and white, hyper-realistic animation -- mingle with brilliant artistry within this season' impressive crop of standout lensmen.

There were many beautifully shot films in 2011 -- The Tree of Life, A Dangerous Method, The Artist, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, War Horse, Shame and Melancholia, just for starters -- but some of the greatest visual interest lay in the fusing of traditional camerawork with the interest of adventurous filmmakers to push into new technologies.