We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jonathan Wang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jonathan below.

Jonathan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned the bulk of my cinematography through spending my time on set and learning from other DPs. Of course, I gleaned a significant amount of technical knowledge through my studies at Chapman University, but practically there was nothing better than learning hands on. That said, because I was a focused First Assistant Camera for quite a while, there wasn’t much opportunity to put my hands literally on lighting, but watching far more experienced DPs, Gaffers, and Key Grips than I set up lighting and rigs, jotting down plots and making notes on how individual setups behaved and what the intentions were really helped me to understand why and how things were done. Being able to witness how things were set up and how the results looked really allowed me to see what techniques I liked and disliked, and allowed me to develop my own personal style.

In hindsight, focusing on studying techniques at an earlier age could have sped up my process a bit, but I think my natural progression has been for the best, both in terms of mental maturity and the evolution of my craft. I was definitely a bit naive and immature in the beginning, thinking I knew everything about anything, but as I got on more and more sets, I realized the game was ever changing, and there was always something more to learn.

Jonathan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

So, I’m a cinematographer based here in Los Angeles. Right now, I’ve got a steady niche in commercial work, with a healthy bit of documentary and music video on the side, but I’ve also recently been putting heavy effort into shooting narrative work as well. I’d say I’m rather diverse with my shooting style, and I adapt to each project’s differing needs. However, my ethos is that every choice should have purpose; for example, when lighting a character in a certain way, there must be a logical reason as to why that light is doing what it is doing. It shouldn’t be for the sake of looking cool, it should exemplify some aspect of the story and surroundings.

I’m always really excited about what each day brings on set. Each job is different, and it just keeps everything lively. I’m constantly thinking on my feet, and overcoming challenges is just the best feeling. Whether I’m in a Camera Car chasing down sports cars, or boots on the ground documenting a companies polluting misconduct, I honestly can’t imagine myself in any other career.

Here’s a link to some of my work: www.kingjwang.com

Any advice for managing a team?

It’s important to surround yourself with people you trust. Filmmaking is 100% a team effort, and each of your crew has a job to do, so if they can complete their jobs without you doubting their choices or having to micromanage, then you’re already off to a great start. Sometimes people can have different ideas that might conflict with yours, and it’s imperative that you accept their advice, whether you choose to implement them or not, without disparaging or condescending them. Being transparent with issues and concerns and not to throwing anyone under the bus really helps to maintain unity in the crew.
Also, a good mood being brought to set does absolute wonders for morale.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

My favorite video series on filmmaking is a popular one – Every Frame a Painting on Youtube. It is an absolute masterclass in film technique by editors Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou. My favorite of the series, Memories of Murder – Ensemble Staging, is a consistent rewatch whenever I have trouble with blocking in pre-production.
It’s truly a shame the series ended, although I absolutely understand why the creators have since moved on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kingjwang.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kingjwang