Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood) There Will Be Blood

Robert Elswit won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for There Will Be Blood — his fifth collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson, following Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love. The film's widescreen desert photography, lit to simulate oil lanterns and turn-of-the-century interiors, established the visual grammar of Anderson's late-period work.

Elswit and Anderson shot every film since Hard Eight in anamorphic

Anderson prefers anamorphic lenses to Super 35mm with an anamorphic release print. They shot Hard Eight in Super 35, but every film since has been true anamorphic. The format produces a distinctive shallow depth of field and elliptical bokeh that Anderson considers integral to his visual language. For There Will Be Blood, they used Panavision XL 35mm cameras with E series and C series anamorphic lenses, plus modified Panavision SP spherical 35mm and 55mm lenses with forty-year-old optics. (moviemaker)

"We shot about 80 percent of the film at a location that production designer Jack Fisk and Paul found the previous summer in Marfa, Texas, which doubled for Bakersfield, California at the turn of the 20th century." — Robert Elswit, MovieMaker (2008)

A 1910 Pathe camera lens gave certain shots a period aesthetic

For seven or eight transitional shots, Anderson and Elswit used an uncoated lens from a 1910 Pathe camera to achieve a vintage look with lower contrast and softer resolution.

"There were chromatic aberrations at the edges of the image circle and huge color shifts, but it was reasonably sharp." — Robert Elswit, MovieMaker (2008)

The vintage optics gave the transitional passages a quality distinct from the main cinematography — a visual texture that marks the film's temporal shifts without relying on title cards alone. (alltherightmovies)

Elswit lit interiors to simulate oil lanterns and candlelight

The period accuracy extended to the lighting design. Interior scenes were lit to simulate the sources available in early twentieth-century California: oil lanterns, candles, and natural window light. The approach gave the interiors a warm, amber quality that contrasts with the bleached, overexposed daylight exteriors — a visual metaphor for Plainview's transition from the cramped underground spaces where he begins to the wide-open landscapes he comes to dominate. (moviemaker)

The Marfa location gave Elswit unbroken horizons in every direction

Anderson had initially hoped to shoot in California, but modern development made it impossible to find a location that resembled the state at the turn of the twentieth century. The McGuire Ranch near Marfa, Texas offered something California could not: a landscape with no visible structures, roads, or power lines in any direction.

"There was a place where they could stand on top of a hill and look around a 360-degree arc and not see a single structure, road or power line." — Robert Elswit, MovieMaker (2008)

The opening mine sequences were filmed at the Presidio mine in Shafter, Texas — a town with only eleven residents at the time. The contrast between the claustrophobic mine shaft and the vast Texas landscapes gives the film its visual arc: Plainview begins underground and ends in a mansion, but the visual scale inverts — the wide-open spaces narrow as his world closes in. (alltherightmovies)

The derrick fire was a controlled disaster that went partially uncontrolled

The oil derrick explosion was the only fully storyboarded scene in the film, requiring military-precision planning. The fire burned hotter than anticipated and could not be fully controlled. The derrick collapsed before all desired shots were captured — notably a planned 200-foot overhead angle. The smoke was visible for miles, forcing the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men crew, shooting nearby, to shut down production for a day. (alltherightmovies)

Editor Dylan Tichenor constructed additional angles by punching into different takes, using repeated action cuts to add velocity where coverage was limited. (nofilmschool)

Elswit's working relationship with Anderson values spontaneity over control

"What I've learned from Paul is how much better it can be to let accidents happen rather than force everything." — Robert Elswit, Cinephilia & Beyond

"There are no marks on the ground... It's a very organic approach, and you have to be ready." — Robert Elswit, Cinephilia & Beyond

Anderson's approach — no conventional rehearsal, minimal storyboarding, a willingness to throw out the plan if the scene evolves — requires a cinematographer who can adapt on the fly. Elswit described the on-set ethos as one where every crew member had to be "a real filmmaker in addition to being technically competent," actively watching and listening rather than waiting for instructions. (moviemaker)

Elswit persuaded Anderson to redesign the bowling alley

Anderson's original concept for the bowling alley finale was an all-white space. Elswit argued the design would limit dramatic lighting possibilities and pushed for a darker, more menacing atmosphere. The revised design — shot at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills — created the claustrophobic, tomb-like quality that makes the final confrontation feel like it takes place underground, echoing the mine shaft where the film began. (alltherightmovies)