On today’s episode of Creative Space, we have the pleasure of chatting with Christine Ng, a New York-based cinematographer who works on everything from commercials to music videos to documentaries to TV. The first commercial she ever shot aired during Super Bowl XLVI, her first full-length documentary was the Emmy nominated  Everything is Copy  for HBO, and she just wrapped Rian Johnson’s TV series, Poker Face, for Peacock. On top of all of this, Christine was also named a Rising Star of Cinematography by American Cinematographer in 2022.

We talk about how creativity manifests as a cinematographer and how Christine prepares for a project.  We also talk about what she learned from working with director Rian Johnson on the soon-to-be-released series, Poker Face.

For more on Christine, visit: christineng.com.

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SHOW NOTES:

0:00—Introduction

1:06—Sam Jones shoutout

2:50—Growing up in Queens with a stint in Hong Kong

4:50—The impact of ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’

6:43—Being inspired by Ellen Kuras

8:28—The film shoot that found her at 9 years old

10:00—Meeting her favorite Cantonese pop star

11:19—Christine’s definition of creativity

11:55—Working on ‘When They See Us’

12:00—Expressing emotion through the lens

14:14—How leadership influences creativity

16:50—Creativity is everywhere but are you open to receive it?

17:30—How Christine prepares for a film project

20:20—The double-edged sword of moodboards

22:00—Being intentional about what’s in the frame 

23:10—If you aren’t fluid, you won’t be happy

24:50—Preparing for ‘Poker Face’

27:00—Things will always go wrong but have the right mindset

29:07—The role of AD’s (assistant directors)

31:00—Building collaborative bonds quickly

34:33—What Christine learned starting out on the crew side

36:00—Making crazy camera movements happen on ‘Poker Face’

41:30—Where Christine sees film and TV going 

45:30—What Christine learned from ‘Poker Face’

50:00—Come grow over here

53:00—The importance of being kind

53:40—Advice for aspiring cinematographers

58:00—What’s next for Christine