Today we’d like to introduce you to Shun Man “Jacky” Cheung.
Hi Shun Man “Jacky”, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hello, thank you for inviting me for this interview. My name is Shun Man Cheung and I usually go by “Jacky”. I am currently a freelance director of photography based in Los Angeles. I was born in Hong Kong, and I live in both Hong Kong and Macau growing up. I love watching films since when I was a kid. When I was studying in high school, I was quite lost for a while, didn’t know what career I would like to pursue in the future. One day, I joined the multi-media group in my high school and started shooting some short films and event videos with a Canon 5D. That was how I fell in love with filmmaking in the beginning. After high school, I decided to come to the US to learn more about filmmaking and learn to be a cinematographer. I first started with a two years film production degree at Santa Monica College. During that period. I would go back to Macacu every half or once a year and work there as a freelance 1st AC or cinematographer.
After two years, I transferred to Chapman University Dodge College with a film production cinematography emphasis major. Before Covid, we used to go to set almost every week and I met a lot of great friends and talented filmmakers there. I am still working with a lot of these people in the film industry now. Also, I am so grateful to have some amazing professors such as Johnny Jensen, ASC to be my mentor and improve my visual storytelling skills as a cinematographer.
Recently, I joined the ASC Masterclass 2023 and trained under some prominent ASC cinematographers. I will keep learning and improving my skill as a cinematographer and tell more beautiful and meaningful stories through moving images.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I think I am lucky to have found my career and goal at an early age. However, it was not easy along the way. I think one of the challenges that I encountered in the beginning was language. When I first came to the US. It was difficult for me to speak English fast, and I had a hard time understanding people when they speak fast. However, on a film set, communication is everything. Everything moves quickly on set, while communication needs to be on point and accurate. I practiced English by talking to people in college and my host family at that time. It took me a while to finally get through the language barrier.
However, the biggest challenge for me as a cinematographer or a filmmaker is definitely to maintain a work-life balance and try to keep myself healthy. As a cinematographer, whenever I started a project, it’s easy for me to drown myself in work for hours and hours and forget about life and the people around me. Learning to balance work and life was never an easy job for me. But the more I grow as a cinematographer, the more I understand that film is a way to express life and memories with moving pictures and a cinematographer would never be a complete cinematographer without living life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a freelance director of photography based in LA, and I also take Camera Operator and 1st Assistant Camera work. As a director of photography or a cinematographer, I would be in charge of the lighting, grip, and camera department to create the look of the film. By the end of 2022, I have shot around 23 projects including short films, commercials, and music videos in the US, Macau, and Vietnam and I am shooting a feature film in 2024.
I have worked in different places around the world and worked with filmmakers from various countries. That gave me the opportunity to see their ways to work on a film set and learn from them and I believe that is the thing that I am most proud of.
What makes you happy?
As a cinematographer, the process of making a film, from pre-production to production, to post-production, and seeing it come out on the big screen, makes me happy and gave me a great sense of achievement. But what makes it more meaningful is being able to share it with friends and family.
In my leisure time, I also enjoy listening to classical music and watching movies.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jackyshunmancheung.com/
- Instagram: @jackycheung_cine
Image Credits
Benny Wu, Sam Lo, Sit Chan Seng, Michael Zhang, Michael Placenti, Frank Xu
