How to "Make it" as a Cinematographer without Film School | Noah Lee

Welcome to episode 21 of The First Act Break podcast, the show where we dive into the art, business, and hustle of breaking into the film industry, and help you build a career doing what you love. Today, we bring on Noah Lee, a LA based freelance cinematographer and assistant camera, who shares his insights on building a career in cinematography. We discuss his thoughts on film school, and why he chose not to go, and advice on having a freelance career in this fast changing industry.

Timecode:

(0:00) - Intro

(1:25) - How He Got Started

(4:14) - Not Going to Film School

(19:39) - How to Choose Projects

(29:23) - What Makes a Well-Runned Set?

(42:16) - Should an Aspiring DP Move to La?

(49:15) - Vertical Content

(59:08) - Future Career Plans

(1:03:07) - Being Proud of Your Work

(1:05:09) - Thoughts on AI

(1:11:39) - Thought Experiment

(1:13:41) - Improving as a DP

(1:19:27) - Shot listing