In award contenders "Nightcrawler" and "Inherent Vice," cinematographer Robert Elswit redefines L.A. as millennial noir and '70s counter-culture haven for first-time director Dan Gilroy and frequent collaborator Paul Thomas Anderson, grabbing snapshots of who we are and the way we were. Gilroy's low-budget indie (made for $4.5 million and shot in five weeks) captures a nighttime Los Angeles we've not seen before.