Roy H. Wagner, A.S.C.

“Knowing what makes a person who they are and why they make the choices they make is critically important in the study of life’s journey and art. It matters very little where you put the light, or what technology you use if you can’t survive your personal journey in an Industry that has little patience for mistakes.

That’s why I’ve earnestly attempted to know and understand personally and professionally the best and least of our cinematographers. I voraciously read biographies as a child yearning to understand how a kid from a tiny town in the Midwest could overcome that isolation and become a successful filmmaker.

I was warned that once you get your chance you better be ready for there is no tolerance for mistakes. I studied every book, film, asked thousands of questions of master filmmakers who patiently answered in spite of their exhaustion after working six day weeks. When my opportunity came I discovered there was far more to cinematography than the art and craft. Survival could be at the foot of petulant decisions that could affect or destroy your career in an instant.

Throughout that journey, which I continue to this day, I’ve hoped that I might be able to help others to understand and survive more elegantly than I.

This is a culmination of thousands of hours of study, phone calls, interviews and over fifty years of standing on a soundstage knowing that I must find a solution to every problem brought before me.

A director of photography is not a blockade but a gateway to any and every crisis and problem brought before their cameras.

I hope this series will offer a safer and more reasonable solution to my learning the hard way.”