5 Things to Know Before the ASC Awards

The 27th annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards will be presented Feb. 10 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland. Here’s five things to know before the ceremony:

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The feature nominees are Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina), Danny Cohen (Les Miserables), Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi), Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln) and Roger Deakins (Skyfall).

Deakins  earned his eleventh ASC nomination this year; he previously won for The Shawshank Redemption and The Man Who Wasn’t There. Skyfall also marks his 10th Oscar nomination. In 2011, Deakins received the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award. Kaminski received his fifth ASC nomination this year. Lincoln also resulted in his sixth Academy Award nomination; he won Oscars for Schinder’s List and Saving Private Ryan. McGarvey has one previous ASC and one previous Oscar nomination, both for Atonement. Miranda has one previous ASC and one previous Oscar nomination, both for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Cohen has one previous ASC nomination for The King’s Speech; he also received an Oscar nomination for King’s Speech.

Four of the five ASC nominees also have Oscar nominations in cinematography.

The cinematographers behind Anna Karenina, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln and Skyfall are all nominated for the Oscar for cinematography. The Academy additionally nominated Robert Richardson for Django Unchained, and the ASC nominated Cohen for Les Mis.

Five of the past 10 feature winners have gone on to win the Oscar.

During the past 10 ASC Awards, the winner in the feature competition mirrored the Oscar winner. Most notably: in 2002, when Conrad Hall was posthumously honored for Road to Perdition, as well as in 2005 (Memoirs of a Geisha), 2007 (There Will Be Blood) 2008 (Slumdog Millionaire), and 2010 (Inception).

However in 2003, Seabiscuit won the ASC Award while Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World claimed the Oscar. In 2004 A Very Long Engagement tops the ASC competition but The Aviator won the Oscar. Children of Men won the ASC Award in 2006 and Pan’s Labyrinth won the Oscar that year. In 2009 The White Ribbon won the ASC trophy and Avatar took home the Academy Award; and one year ago The Tree of Life won the ASC Award, but Hugo claimed the Oscar.

Among the television category nominees are Michael Goi, a double nominee this year; and two past winners, David Moxness and David Stockton.

This year's nominees in the one-hour episodic television series category are Balazs Bolygo for Hunted, Chris Manley for Mad Men, Kramer Morgenthau for Game of Thrones, David Moxness for Fringe, Mike Spragg for Strike Back, and David Stockton for the pilot of Alcatraz. The finalists in the television movie/miniseries category are Michael Goi for American Horror Story: Asylum, Florian Hoffmeister for Great Expectations, Arthur Reinhart for Hatfields & McCoys, and Rogier Stoffers for Hemingway & Gellhorn. Nominees for a half-hour episodic series are Ken Glassing for Ben and Kate, Michael Goi for the pilot of The New Normal, Peter Levy for House of Lies, Bradford Lipson for Wilfred, and Michael Price for Happy Endings.

Dean Semler, Rodney Charters, Robby Muller and Curtis Clark will receive special awards.

Semler (Dances With Wolves) will receive the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award. Rodney Charters (24) will be honored with the Career Achievement in Television Award. The International Achievement Award will be presented to Robby Müller (Paris, Texas), and Curtis Clark (The Draughtsman’s Contract) will be honored with the Presidents Award.