Best movie shots of 2022: Nine cinematographers pick their favorites

Happy accidents on set to visual effects complementing daytime night shot directors photography from "Elvis" to "Nope" to "The Fabelmans" composed some of the best shots of the year.

As voters sit down during the holiday season to rewatch movies or catch up, variety sat down with nine cinematographers behind films up for awards to tell us the stories behind their favorite shots.

"All is quiet on the Western Front" - James Friend

The first is a photo of Stanislaus Katczinsky (Albrecht Schuch) outside the farmer's door waiting for Paul (Felix Kammerer) to return with his loot.

It was the second day of shooting. The team was still working together and we were shooting in a remote location. 30 minutes after the roll call, it started snowing heavily. This sent production into a tailspin and decisions were made on whether we should continue the day.

For me, the snow bought a beautiful calm and clarity and offered a poetic prelude to what was to come get to Kat in the next scene. I found a frame and offered it to Ed Berger, our director. He embraced it and it crystallized the tone of the scene going forward. It was a very happy accident and one shot me and Ed wouldn't be without.

The snow blaze impacted the next shoot. There was no more snow and it created huge continuity decisions. The team shipped fake snow from all over Europe and we were able to keep going.

“Bardo: false chronicle of a handful of truths” – Darius Khondji

Bardo: false chronicle of a handful of truths. Park SeoJu/Netflix © 2022

This movie was made up of several chapters and the California Dancing Club is one of the biggest. Weeks before, we were scouting. It was this old club in Mexico and you could feel the atmosphere and the ghosts and the music of what it was like back then. You could feel the bodies dancing and the lights that were in the room.

The scene shows this couple passing, questioned by the journalists then they enter this room. It is this beautiful monster where Silverio (Daniel Giménez Ca...