My ASC Master Class: ByongHoon Jo

Program participants discuss the impact of attending this intensive five-day program in the art and science of cinematography.

“We had working cinematographers who taught us in the ASC Technology Master Class — including [ASC members] Patrick Cady, Steven Fierberg and Jaron Presant — and their emphasis on prep and testing was huge because, in Korea, the culture of testing cameras is not as specific as what it is in America. And the things that Steven taught us — how different lenses can act differently, even in the same camera — and the things that Jaron taught us — how different [lighting] formats can have different factors and that there are way more factors to consider than what the camera specification says — were both very surprising to me. Also, with Curtis Clark, [ASC], we learned technical topics such as ACES and HDR and what they can do for us as filmmakers [and also what they] can do for viewers. That was also surprising.

There are dozens of topics we touched on in this course, but I think in the core of it, we were able to realize that we have to make choices with all of the technical development available and all of the options we have. We shouldn’t just let those choices be random. We should be conscious of what we’re doing. For instance, what kind of camera we’re using. What kind of lenses, resolution, workflow, lights, pipeline and everything. We have to make those choices — be artistic — in order to be an artist and call our work a piece of art. So, that was the biggest takeaway for me.” ­— ByongHoon Jo 

You’ll find Jo’s personal site here. His reel can be found here.   

Click here for complete ASC Master Class course details.