Rising Stars: Meet Shih-Hsuan Kuo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shih-Hsuan Kuo.

Hi Shih-Hsuan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Although filmmaking has been a part of my life since I was at a very young age. It took me a long time to find my real passion in cinematography and decide to pursue a career as a cinematographer. I was born and raised in Taiwan. As a typical Asian kid, expressing emotions verbally is not easy for me. However, I found that I was comfortable behind the lens and could project my feeling onto images. Joining in the volunteer media team in our local church, I began learning various filmmaking techniques from fellow volunteer professionals. As a high school student, I started making my own short films. Through the process, I picked up how to work with a single camera and the process of filmmaking. I majored in Turkish Language and Culture at university but I went on shooting several short films during that period. I worked as the director of photography on a thesis short film named The Delicacy in my senior year of university. The short film was nominated as Outstanding Short Film in the Golden Harvest Awards, one of the most prestigious short film festivals in Taiwan. This honor cast a favorable semicolon on my journey in cinematography but has also made me as eager as ever to become an excellent storyteller.

After graduating from university, I started working as a cinematographer, mainly shooting documentaries, music videos, and commercials, especially documenting events and live concerts. Although I wished to focus on narrative storytelling and often felt upset about how my job didn’t fit my anticipation, I later understood that those experiences provided me with opportunities to find my cultural roots and also increased my cultural awareness. For example, I worked on several projects documenting Taiwanese aboriginal artists and I never had a chance to learn about their cultures before. Carrying this attitude, I decided to move to Los Angeles where I’m pursuing my MFA in cinematography at Chapman University under the guidance of some of the best Cinematographers in the industry.

Moving to LA is the most rewarding decision for me. Being able to work with the most talented filmmakers from around the world and the collaborative atmosphere inspires me every day to become a better artist.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Because I didn’t go to a film school in college, it’s hard to build connections with other filmmakers as well as to work in the film industry in Taiwan. Although I’m lucky enough to work as a camera assistant or camera operator, as I mentioned, I can only work on some very low-budget gigs and the opportunity is extremely limited. It took me a long time to finally leave the country where I grew up and the people I worked with for a very long time.

Before moving to LA, I wasn’t confident enough to pursue a bigger dream. I always felt embarrassed to share my work because they were never perfect enough for me. Being able to be accepted by one of the prestige film production programs in the world encouraged me to think and dream bigger. Looking back I’m grateful for all the friends and family that support me along the way.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a cinematographer. Cinematography is about recreating a reality that can deliver authentic real-life experiences to audiences in order to make a strong emotional impact and it has always been what I want to express through my lens. My first priority as a cinematographer is to convey the director’s vision and present the best visual approach for that certain story. In the filmmaking process, I’m obsessed with pre-production. I’ll always prepare a lookbook or mood board before my first meeting with the director. I love the process of preparing a shoot. I will always think of various possibilities or options for the director, so we can be flexible during the shoot in case of any unpredicted incidents.

As an artist, I like to use strong colors to express emotions. For me, among all the visual elements, color is the most important one. I’m strongly influenced by Nicolas Winding Refn and Robby Müller who are not afraid to use strong colors in their work. Their works inspired me to be bold and to take risks in order to explore the balance between authenticity and visual style.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
My personal background always surprises the people who become knowing me better. At the age of 18, instead of entering a film school, I decided to enroll in the department of Turkish Language and Culture. I wanted to come out of my comfort zone and explore different real-life experiences. This decision became the most transformative one in my life. Four years of learning in this department have greatly widened my horizons and have also given me the opportunity to go to Turkey and work with local students and professors in the department of Radio, Television, and Film at Ankara University in 2016. This experience made me understand that it is important to be empathetic to people from different backgrounds and to be respectful. Immersed in a totally different country and culture, I learned to use a different perspective to observe the world and try to listen to others’ stories. With this experience, I later realized I can approach a story from a different perspective than the director might not have thought about it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vimeo.com/shenochkuo
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kuo.s.h/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kuo.enoch/

Image Credits
Mallory Siegenthaler, Micheal Ji, Kanishka Aggarwal, Evey Yu, Charlotte Huang