Meet Yijun wang | Director of Photography

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yijun wang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yijun, why did you pursue a creative career?
I like to use the camera to observe the events and things that happen in and around me in my life, and many ordinary things become alive in the camera. The way in which images are recorded in my life has inspired me in my cinematography. The way in which images are recorded in my life has inspired the way in which I approach photography in my film-making. It is because of these conscious observations in daily life that when I get a new script, many ways of visualizing it are unconsciously presented in my mind. It also allows me to use more possibilities to make the screen have layers and meanings. In my opinion, cinematography is not just an aesthetic game of exploring ways to make each frame more dynamic and interesting, but more importantly, how to use the camera’s movement, the illumination of different textures of light, and the brightness of different colors to help the director complete the narrative. This is a responsibility to yourself, to the audience and to the market.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My name is Yijun Wang, I named myself Edream because his pronunciation is close to my real name and and easier to remember. I am a cinematographer and a picture photographer. My work revolves around images. My interest in photography was born in high school, when I was studying painting, which was a very good teacher for me, especially when I saw the works of a Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer, the composition of the picture, the proportion of perspective, and the real sense of light and shadow, I looked up some information, and learned that he used a technique called Camera Obscura. So I started to get in touch with the camera as a matter of course. Later, I was fascinated by a photographer named Bresson for a long time, whose decisive moments captured a lot of interesting images. Initially, I found that the camera was able to quickly freeze and preserve what really happened, so I chose to major in photojournalism during my undergraduate years, which coincidentally laid a solid foundation for my subsequent film studies and creations. After graduation, I had the chance to work on a film crew shooting bts, and in the process discovered that moving images have a much greater appeal, that 24 frames per second carry more variations of light and shadow, and that the camera is not just a freeze frame but a moving image. During my research and development, I met some wonderful mentors, including renowned director and cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond (BSC, ASC). David A. Armstrong, the famous cinematographer, and Jacek Laskus (ASC, PSC), the famous Polish cinematographer. While studying with these famous filmmakers, I gained a clearer understanding of images and had the opportunity to participate in the more standardized Hollywood film industry system, sharpening my skills and quickly becoming a producer of nearly two dozen short films and two films, and joining the American Society of Camera Operators.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Venice beach getty center

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am very grateful to the Asian International Film Festival for being able to award Best Cinematography in 2022, it is one of the highest recognitions I have received so far in my studies of cinematography and in my work, and it has been very encouraging to me. I also met a lot of great filmmakers at the festival, and after talking to each other a lot of us became friends and had the opportunity to create something afterwards. It was a great honor to meet Daniel Wu, whose films I have enjoyed very much, and it was an unforgettable experience for me to meet him in person at the festival.

Website: edreampicture.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edream__wang?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edream.wang.31?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
yijun wang asian world film festival