Cinematographer Hao Yu Continues His Passion for Filmmaking and Showcasing Actors in Their Best Light
I heard a film teacher once tell a student that if you like a film, it’s most likely based on emotional observations and your feelings. He went on to say that to judge a film whether it is good or bad from an objective point of view you would have to ask yourself: Could you hear the dialogue? Was the film in focus? Could you see the actors’ faces? Those are things that can be stated in an objective manner and two of those things involve cinematography while one is concerned with sound. He might have left a few things out of what he told that student, but basically, he was right.
Hao Yu is a cinematographer and looking at his show reel we can see that everything is in focus, and we can clearly see the actors’ faces and they are lit beautifully (Lighting is also part of the cinematographer’s job). So, we can safely say that Hao Yu is at the very least, a competent cinematographer. Seeing the artistic and unique camera movements, however, and the different mood lighting that lets us gaze at the character in a different light, so to speak, gives us a hint that Hao Yu just might be many, many steps beyond competent and we think he is in a category of excellence and high artistic ability.
He has been the cinematographer on countless short films, which are incredibly and lusciously shot and lit. He has also shot and worked on projects for large corporations and international companies such as: Netflix, Honey by PayPal, Roku, About Face, Adobe — Frame.io, College Humor, JED (The Jed Foundation), OnDemand-Korea, Season 11 of Robot Chicken, among others.
Hao Yu is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild — ICG600. And if you think you can just waltz up to the Cinematographers Guild and automatically become a member, it just isn’t that easy. In order to be a member of the ICG, you must first join Local 600. You must have been paid for at least 100 days of work in a specific classification — such as camera operator — in a union or non-union project in the three years preceding your membership application.
You can also join if you have proof of 30 days paid work on an organized production in a one-year period. The one-time initiation fee typically starts around $5,000 rising to $15,000 depending on your job description. Hao Yu has a great deal of experience, and he is a professional who is in high demand as a cinematographer.
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