We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Piehl a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us 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.

Working in the fields of lighting and cameras, there are certainly many aspects, both technological and creative, that need to be understood. There are certainly a great deal of available resources out there, but the best teacher by far is experience.

I first began my journey into cinematography about 8 years ago, shooting short films in a variety of different styles and genres. Though I had been shooting shorts for roughly 4 years before that, I was more invested in filmmaking from the directorial and editorial side of things. I wasn’t really considering how different elements of composition, shot size, lighting, and other aspects of cinematography affected the image. It was not until I began first taking film classes at my middle school when I began to dive into and embrace these different elements.

After taking three years of film classes there and shooting shorts, I transitioned into high school and operated as a freelance filmmaker while taking online filmmaking and in-person photography classes which dove deeper into aspects of cinematography as well as all other areas of the craft. This really helped me to create a strong foundation overall as I constantly applied this knowledge into what I made. During this process, I invested more money into my own equipment which helped me to learn the ins and outs of tools I use every day. I also began to study films more carefully and take note of different techniques that were being used to tell the story effectively as well as other pieces of artwork.

Today, I am continuing to constantly study the work of other cinematographers, photographers, and painters. I am majoring in cinematography at my university and am enrolled in numerous film courses both in person and online. I take notes on behind the scenes work to see others’ processes and build up knowledge on different techniques and tools. Most importantly, I am applying these skills constantly. I am on set almost every week as a cinematographer or gaffer putting into practice the things I have learned. You don’t always get things right on the first try, but after awhile you begin to get the hang of it!

Knowing what I know now, I think a way to have sped up my learning was to start the process of getting inspiration sooner. Starting out, I looked to myself and my own ideas to try to figure out how to get an image to look the way I wanted. It wasn’t until I started looking for others’ guidance that I began to understand the key elements that were missing. I am still very much in that learning process, but studying others’ work and asking for help has certainly brought me a long way from where I started.

The most essential skills I had in this learning process was A) the desire to learn and B) the determination to learn. I’ve been taking film classes for 8 years now and photography classes for 5 years, and without either one of those aspects I don’t know how I would have survived! You have to first put any ego you have aside and humbly accept the direction of others and continuously seek out that direction. That’s how you get the best understanding.

To the point of ego, I think that was one of my biggest obstacles. Sometimes when someone tells you something you think “Yeah, well I know that already and what can you possibly have to teach me?” In 8 years of studying there’s bound to be a lot of repeat, but I’ve always learned something new from everyone. Everyone has valuable insight and it’s worth listening to.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Michael Piehl and I am an upcoming cinematographer and gaffer from Los Angeles. My job as a cinematographer is essentially to oversee and create the visual experience of a film from start to finish through elements such as the camera, lighting, and color grade. I work closely with the director to capture the story and the emotion of the characters as well as create beautiful, memorable imagery through these elements. On set, I oversee the camera, grip, and electric departments and give directions as to how the film will be lit and shot. I also coordinate with other departments like art and costumes, making sure that everything falls into the look and style of the film which I established with the director in prep. Then in post I work with a colorist to develop the color grade, further enhancing these elements.

I also operate as a gaffer (also known as a chief lighting technician) which is essentially the person in charge of the electrical department who works closely with the cinematographer to develop the lighting of the scene and bring it to execution on the day.

I did not start out in filmmaking wanting to be a cinematographer. I first began making films about 12 years ago when I wanted to become an actor. I would watch big action stars like Harrison Ford and I wanted to be just like them, so I started creating my own short films where I was the main actor. Along the way, I discovered that I preferred being behind the camera so I then transitioned to directing. After directing projects for several more years, which included everything from live action to animation, this desire within me to experiment with lighting and trying to create better looking images that created a mood grew. I began diving into lighting and became very invested in it. I still was very fondly attached to being behind the camera, but I slowly morphed from wanting to be a director to wanting to be a director of photography.

The question of what sets me apart from others is a very important one in such a highly competitive field. What I strive to achieve goes beyond the technical side of things. Yes, I invest myself deeply into all the gear and know all the most popular camera systems and am studying all the different lighting and camera techniques out there inside and out. Many people in this industry know these things, many a lot better than I do. Yet, that’s in reality not the entire basis of my job. As a team leader, I have to have strong character and bring my team together. I try to be someone who is encouraging, energetic yet calm and collected, very determined, and very caring for the people around me. I do my best to make sure everyone on my team is doing okay and support those who are not. Sure, I’m a perfectionist who gets picky with the little details and likes to meter every light and really finesse things (and which DP isn’t!), but I don’t let that affect my attitude or the way I treat others. Regardless of the circumstances, I strive to treat everyone with love, kindness, and respect while delivering work with excellence and resilience. All of those qualities together are unfortunately not very commonly found in many work fields, so that is what I would say sets me apart the most.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I very much have a goal driving my journey in film. Storytelling, particularly in the visual medium, is one of the most powerful and influential assets that any person can have. We have seen how movies, television, and the media has shaped culture and the world ever since their inventions. My goal is to play an influential role in visual mediums that truly seek to inspire positive change in the world. That could be anything on the personal to global scale, I just want to be a part of the process of benefitting society through my work. Sure, awards and accolades are nice, but to leave a lasting positive impact on others is what I think is truly important.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

A lot of what you hear and see from creatives are their victories, the things that worked for them that they are proud of and want others to know about. What others don’t see is all of the failure that surrounds those victories. The strangest thing is that some of those failures are real, external things that others can witness, but I would say a good part of that failure is internal. Creatives are often very self-judgmental and criticize themselves constantly, even when no one else is critiquing them. This is one of my biggest struggles. I am rarely fully satisfied with the work that I have done and I always hyper analyze every little mistake and beat myself up for the things I did wrong. Even little things like “oh, this was a little underexposed” or “this camera move could’ve been better” or “I could’ve lit this scene better” all start to quickly build up and suddenly I find myself just bashing the work I did (and certainly no one else’s work on the film, just my own) and I feel like I failed even if I have people telling me that they really enjoyed it. Creatives are so self-critical that many of us can often struggle with things like major anxiety and depression. These are things that we can let slowly eat away at us and they are career killers. A lot of people drop out of the creative fields because of them. The few that continue on are either the ones that are thriving because they learned to control their self-doubt and can celebrate their wins, or they are merely the survivors swallowed up by these negative emotions. I would encourage any non-creatives reading this to make sure that you provide extra support and assurance for the creatives in your life. Let them know they are doing well, help them to celebrate their victories, and if their work left an impact on you, tell them that too. Many of us are creating not just for ourselves, but for you, the audience. It’s when we hear how our work has had the positive effect on the people we intended to reach that we know we have really succeeded.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Piehlpictures.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piehl_pictures_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PiehlPictures/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-piehl-filmmaker/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Piehl_Pictures?app=desktop

Image Credits

1) Gianleonard Martinez
2-4) Eliana Henry
5-6) Taylor Johnson
7-8) Lucas Angelone