Christopher Probst, ASC Curates Society’s Instagram
Be sure to check in as the cinematographer discusses his inspirations and experiences throughout the month of March.
Christopher Probst, ASC will be curating the Society's Instagram account through the month of March, as introduced by Eric Steelberg, ASC — who coordinates the page and invites a new ASC member to take over the account each month to discuss their inspirations and experiences.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” Probst announced in his first post.
Probst has been a full-time director of photography for the past 15 years and a member of Local 600 for more than 20 years. Entering the guild as a first assistant, he worked several years as an AC and then camera operator for ASC members including Steven Poster, John Newby and Denis Lenoir before moving up to shoot commercials and music videos.
Over the past decade, Probst has shot music videos for Taylor Swift, Eminem, Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Kelly Clarkson, Rhianna, 50 Cent and Muse. His work on the video for Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” currently logs in over 2.2 billion views on YouTube. Additionally, his video for Swift’s track “Bad Blood” broke the YouTube record for most views in a single day with more that 21 million on its premiere day and also logs more than 1 billion views as well.
Probst shoots commercials ranging from high-end car spots to tabletop work to glossy beauty/fashion ads. His credits include the recently Ad Week-named “Ad of the Decade” for Turkish Airlines, and such clients as Lexus, Mercedes, Infiniti, BMW, Lincoln, Samsung, McDonalds, Johnnie Walker and Adidas.
Probst most recently photographed the pilot and 2nd episode of director David Fincher’s Netflix series Mindhunter, earning an ASC Award nomination for the former.
Probst has also shot the feature films Detention, Fire With Fire and Beyond Skyline. His narrative experience stretches back to working several years as a 2nd unit director of photography on such projects as the ASC Award-winning mini-series Uprising, the NBC series Boomtown, the pilot for the CBS drama Limitless, and the features Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.
His work on the viral video sensation Power/Rangers registered 15 million views in a single day, a staggering feat for an independent short with no marketing.
Probst has also been giving back to the cinematography community as a teacher for several years at Vilmos Zsigmond ASC, HSC's Global Cinematography Institute, as well as giving lectures at such venues as the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland.
Long before becoming an ASC member, Probst established a long-standing association with American Cinematographer magazine as a key contributor and has served as the publication’s Technical Editor since 1998.
Probst recently joined the Lens Committee of the ASC’s Motion Imaging Technology Council and hosted a rehoused/vintage lens presentation at the recent “Spherical Lens Day” event at the Clubhouse.
Recently, the ASC Instgram page has been moderated by members Dana Gonzales, David Klein, Dan Mindel, Reed Morano, Rachel Morrison, Phedon Papamichel, James Neihouse and Jo Willems.
