Today we’d like to introduce you to John Kim.
Thanks for sharing your story with us John. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I picked up my first point and shoot digital camera in 2005 when I was in the fourth grade after watching the entire Star Wars saga (at the time). I began with stopmotion. As time progressed with the evolving stages of vimeo and YouTube, I played with childish shorts and skits with friends throughout middle school and high school.
As a son of Korean immigrant parents, my family and relatives proactively discouraged me from pursuing film/videography as a career. It was a never ending hell for about six years. One day, my dad passed away due to a physical altercation, which was extremely unfortunate (but a story for another time). I honestly believe that if he didn’t pass away, I wouldn’t be doing what I love right now, which is freelance film.
Eventually, my mother gave up trying to push me away from film, and I dropped out of junior college to pursue what I loved. It’s the second best decision in my life.
I was also involved with dance for 12 years of my life. I became heavily invested in the urban/hiphop scene in southern California. Dance media grew larger and larger with the inception of America’s Best Dance Crew and YouTube, and currently, there’s nothing more that I love in film than DANCE CINEMATOGRAPHY.
Although I take many kinds of jobs (e.g., weddings, corporate, fashion lookbooks, music videos, etc.), I specialize in dance. As a dancer, I believe that movement and its relation to the camera is a powerful and beautiful medium for the world. I’m still trying to grasp all the principles and theories that encompass dance cinematography as I have so much more to discover and learn. I honestly don’t have a long-term goal with this. I’m not sure if I ever will. All I know is that I love dance, and I love film. It would be dishonest of me to say that I have everything figured out.
However, with the emerging presence of dance in social media, I see problems in how movement is captured. Honestly, dance cinematography is such a niche field, and it’s not the most valuable art form in the world in terms of marketplace and creativity. However, I believe if these problems were addressed and tackled scientifically, we would all be doing a service of presenting dance in the most beautiful way possible. I hope I can share my knowledge with those whom it concern.
Has it been a smooth road?
Budget. Money. Time.
Again, dance cinematography doesn’t hold a sustainable place in the market. Most clients aren’t able to pay industry-standard rates as dancers generally don’t have strong finances.
The challenge is to continue creating beautiful pieces of work with constricted budgets and making my life sustainable through other means to make this possible.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I specialize in camera movement (and lack of, too). Typically, the gimbal is an essential tool for dance cinematography, and I believe I’m strongly adept in knowing how and when to operate the gimbal in capturing movement.
I’m mostly known as that “dance video guy”, but I believe I’m also known for being genuine and personal. As a freelancer, it naturally follows that I build relationships with my clients, and I can’t simply just show up on set, shoot, go home, give deliverables, and say peace to the client. I do my best to get to know my clients’ backgrounds, their styles, favorite choreographers, favorite food, what are their goals. Although I have a general creative thumbprint in my videos, knowing my clients helps me create more organic products that are suitable for them.
I’m proud of my gimbal operational abilities. I’m not talented by any means. I sucked and still suck at a lot of things. Experience and friends helped me get where I am. But I am truly proud of my abilities to operate a gimbal, specifically the Ronin M.
I’m not too sure what sets me apart, but according to friends and clients, my aesthetics and stylistic choices seem to differentiate my work.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Even though I dislike it, I believe dance media will be presented in “fast-food” format.
With the speedy nature of social media, most people aren’t willing to sit down and spend 2 minutes of their time watching a dance video, much less watching through a 10 second Instagram story all the way.
I think the challenge is to create dance media in a way where cinematography principles aren’t compromised yet delivered in a short time.
Dance itself is definitely evolving in all sorts of directions every month, and it follows that dance cinematography evolves with it. My personal opinion is that dance will flourish and be a commonly recognized art form amongst the public but will degrade in quality and fundamentals. In a similar way, dance cinematography will become more prevalent but lack in cinematic quality.
Pricing:
- Dance $300-$3000 depending on the scope of work
Contact Info:
- Website: johnkimfilm.com
- Phone: 9092228997
- Email: johnkim147@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellojohnkim
Image Credit:
Stella Sim, Jed Kim
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