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Christopher
Probst The Cinematographer Denis Lenoir, ASC, AFC promoted Probst to operator and exploited his talents for tabletop and insert work on such films as Uprising and the visually aggressive handheld NBC series Boomtown, where he served as the series A-camera operator. Probst is also the technical editor of American Cinematographer magazine, where he has been a writer since 1994. He is currently classified as a camera operator in the Cinematographers Guild. The Film The Night Before focuses on three boys, ages nine to fifteen, on the night before each is scheduled to undergo surgery. The film was directed by Probst’s former SCC classmate and longtime gaffer Jay Holben. The short was filmed in three-and-a-half days, but Probst says that because of his work history with Holben, “Jay trusted me completely with the visual execution of the film.” They recorded the images
in HD 24P video format, but Probst approached his work exactly the
same way he shoots film. “I light every
shot as if it’s the most important one in the film,” he
says. “I’m very protective of every element in the frame,
perhaps that comes from my background in tabletop. But it also creates
a definite visual unity to a project.”
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Christopher Probst was born
in Chicago and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where he attended a “fledgling” film
program at Scottsdale Community College (SCC). After relocating to Los
Angeles to pursue
a career in the film industry, he began working as an assistant on
independent features, music videos and commercials. He connected
with rising music video director Joseph Kahn who encouraged him to
shoot as much as possible. He had Probst pulling double duty as a
first assistant and second unit director of photography.