While some casual moviegoers might write-off the task of a director of photography as one who simply points and shoots the camera, cinematographers are undoubtedly one of the most vital aspects of any production, and also one of the most misunderstood.  In a new installment of its series of roundtable interviews with this year’s Oscar contenders, THR has provided us with some fascinating insight into the world of cinematography with a few of the best DP’s working today.  Roger Deakins (Unbroken), Jeff Cronenweth (Gone Girl), Matthew Libatique (Noah), Dick Pope (Mr. Turner), Dion Beebe (Into the Woods), and Benoit Delhomme (The Theory of Everything) discuss everything from their long-standing collaborations with certain filmmakers (Cronenweth & David Fincher, Libatique & Darren Aronofsky) to anxiety on set in this fascinating roundtable discussion.  And yes, they dive deep into the film vs. digital debate, shooting in 6K, and more.  This thing is a must watch.

Check out the nearly 40-minute roundtable video after the jump.

You may notice one glaring omission from this collection of cinematographers, and that’s Birdman director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki.  He would have been a very welcome addition, but he’s currently busy filming The Revenant with Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu.  Regardless, the discussion that ensues is pretty insightful, and it’s interesting to see a legend like Roger Deakins admit that he still gets incredibly nervous sometimes while working on set.

Watch the video below via THR.