{"id":8443,"date":"2020-03-28T01:48:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T01:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=8443"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:08:21","slug":"i-believe-every-skilful-cinematographer-has-a-director-in-the-stomach-kristoffer-engholm-aabo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=8443","title":{"rendered":"“I believe every skilful cinematographer has a director in the stomach.”- Kristoffer Engholm Aabo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kristoffer Engholm Aabo is a danish cinematographer living and working in Copenhagen. Kristoffer\u2019s career began as an camera assistant. He worked his way as a camera operator thru documentaries to director of photography on short films earning him Best Cinematography<\/em> awards for short films \u201cLulu\u2019s first time\u201d<\/em> (2016) and \u201cSlanging\u201d<\/em> (2019).
Being the cinematographer on more than 60 music videos Kristoffer keeps challenging conformity in order to connect camera and story.
In recent years he has used his capacity as a director of photography to tell visual stories on longer fictional projects such as TV series. His recent film \u201cSlanging\u201d (2019) (directed by Svend Colding) is on the program of IFFNY 2020 – International Filmmaker Festival of New York 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exclusive Interview with Kristoffer Engholm Aabo – Cinematographer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nHow did you get started in your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nstarted my career assisting on feature films while shooting music videos and\nshort films on weekends. It proved incredibly educational drawing inspiration\nand asking questions on the big productions while testing things out on my\nspare time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhat is your experience shooting with different tools? What are you to go to\ngadgets?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I carry a bag of multiple gadgets: lightmeter, spotmeter, contrast glass etc. But\nI find nothing more resourceful than studying a ton of films – new as well as\nold – breaking down storytelling and lighting techniques. The outcome is\neducational and inspirational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhich specific requirements did you have to take care of when choosing your\nequipment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nbelieve in the freedom it provides knowing the basics of my craft. I build\ncreatively on top of that. At the moment I do not rely on fancy new gadgets or\napps but on simple lightmeter readings and creative choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhat are you currently working on?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\noverseeing color grading of two commercials I have photographed and\npreproduction on three upcoming short films I enjoy the festival life and\nattention my most recent film \u201cSlanging\u201d is getting at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nDid you like the script?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nscript of Slanging has a cool grittiness to it. It is situated in Copenhagen,\nDenmark where I grew up and I could feel the urban scape of the scenes. The\ncharacters struggle spoke to me so I got involved right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nDid you have a particular shooting approach when making this film?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was important for me to create a rough and raw look for Slanging while depicting my love for my hometown of Copenhagen. Director Svend Colding and I scouted locations outside of postcard Copenhagen and I came up with a LUT that brought together colors to minimize confusing elements in the backgrounds. Combined with the softness of the Kowa anamorphic lenses it helped me to isolate the raw action while adding a touch of nostalgic warmth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWas there a scene in the film that was particularly challenging from\nconception to actual execution?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For an exterior night scene gaffer David Sizemore and I had planned lighting extensively.  We ended up turning off the fully rigged light setup. The real location lighting simply gave us the sincerity we were looking for. On most locations we opted shooting in existing street lights (occasionally adding exposure from boomed China balls or 1×1 LED\u2019s)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo_Mads Dam Christensen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What was the atmosphere like on\nthe set?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shooting at night gave us the benefit of\nempty streets and crisp air. We had a small team and everyone had a positive\nenergy while being amazingly professional. I feel privileged to work with such\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> How do you define the role of\ncinematographer?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see the cinematographer as the directors facilitator of solutions in time and space. It sounds fancy but all I do\nis making sure that the director gets what he\/she desires without having to\nworry how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What have been some of your\nrecent\/other projects?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently shot a world wide commercial for high end car brand Porsche. Directing photography for\nprojects of that size is always fun. The creativity meets (almost) no\nlimitations.
\nAs an example an idea of seeing a\nrace horse running evolved into the director and I sitting at a monitor in a\nvehicle racing thru mud to keep track with an ATV (with a remote controlled\nstabilised camera head) in front of a prize winning racing stallion running en\npurring rain.
\nThe idea was crazy and ambitious but\nthe shoot was fun and the footage looks amazing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> How do you choose your movies\nthat you want to shoot?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The script needs to be\nmoving and have relatable characters. If the director and I communicate well\nand the producer understand my ambitions I\u2019m in.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What are your preferred shooting\nlocations?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been privileged to\nshoot all over the world. From big cities thru small villages to rain forests\nand deserts. It has been incredibly inspirational and fun but at the end of the\nday the best location is the one that support and lifts the script.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> Is there a film or film maker\nthat inspired you to pick up a camera?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amazing work of\ncinematographer Ellen Kuras on \u201cEternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind\u201d is the\nperfect example of moving and powerful cinematography. It continuously inspires\nme to pick up the camera.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> Describe your biggest\naccomplishment to date?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overcoming the doubts of choosing to work as an artist and everything that comes with it has been my biggest accomplishment. I haven\u2019t regretted it for\nat second.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> Do you ever think about directing\nsomeday?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe every skilful cinematographer has a director in the stomach. It is important to know how to direct when we operate the camera and are isolated with the actors. But seeing talented directors at work it is obvious to me\nthat my place is behind the camera. A position and role i simply love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong>\nWhat are some of the projects that you are\nworking next? Who are you working with?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Svend Colding and I are conversing on our next fictional project. We are both excited to collaborate on another film.
I am shooting a few comedies in the foreseeable future, a genre I haven’t worked with for a long time. I already enjoy the preproduction of those projects and look forward to capture their energy on camera soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kristoffer Engholm Aabo is a danish cinematographer living and working in Copenhagen. Kristoffer\u2019s career began as an camera assistant. He worked his way as a camera operator thru documentaries to director of photography on short films earning him Best Cinematography awards for short films \u201cLulu\u2019s first time\u201d (2016) and \u201cSlanging\u201d (2019). Being the cinematographer on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19286,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8443\/revisions\/19286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}