Martin Christ

Over a career spanning 25 years, cinematographer and Canon Ambassador Martin Christ has traversed the globe, garnering accolades from Der Deutscher Fernsehpreis, the Panda Awards and the Blue Ocean Film Festival, among others. He has worked on everything from high-end TV commercials for leading car manufacturers and goods suppliers to behind-the-scenes documentaries, his passion for discovery adding the fuel to his creative fire.

"I like to travel, meet new people and discover new worlds," says Martin. "My profession has taken me to all continents. I've met new people everywhere and I want to continue this physical, but also spiritual journey. I have accompanied tea pickers in Vietnam and eaten with them in the poorest huts; filmed in the slums of Mumbai [for Dabbawala – The Lunchbox Miracle], but also in the noblest lofts in Manhattan. Even after all these years, it's always exciting to see the images condensed on TV or on the big screen."

Since 1996, Martin has been working as a DoP, his projects having received a multitude of awards. Yet his biggest achievement, he says, has come in the form of being able to work in a variety of environments. "I think that in my long career, I've learned to cope very well both on big sets with a big lighting crew, grip, etc, and on small documentaries, where I'm sometimes alone with a small camera. I can adapt very flexibly to situations. I believe that I have learned to remain calm even in stressful scenarios, and at the very least not to pass on this stress," he explains.

Challenging situations in Martin's work have included shooting in difficult conditions for the three-part series Universe of the Oceans, which took him to Spitsbergen in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, among other places, in freezing temperatures.

"You meet different cultures, have crews on location with whom you have to communicate, and you have local problems. In Spitsbergen, for example, we were not allowed to move during our filming without an armed ranger, who would have intervened in case of polar bear attacks."

On the other end of the scale, hotter climes in Australia while he was shooting Australia's Passion, about kangaroos in New South Wales, meant soaring temperatures that impacted filming. "I've shot at 45°C in Australia, which is of course exhausting for man and material. It was during an extreme heatwave and bushfires were in the region. This meant that we could only shoot in the early morning and late evening. The equipment also got so hot that I couldn't hold the camera for very long."

Die Mannschaft (The Team), a 90-minute feature film that went behind the scenes of Germany's 2014 win at a major football tournament in Brazil, was a project that Martin directed and used his Canon EOS C300 (now succeeded by the Canon EOS C300 Mark III) to shoot. And it was a body of work that posed a different sort of test.

"Emotionally, that film was certainly the biggest challenge," he says. "I am a football fan and I was with the team for the whole six weeks, shooting every day. I suffered and feared with them. After the end of the final in the Maracanã Stadium, there was of course huge jubilation, but I also had to concentrate to get the right shots."

You studied film and cinematography at university. What were some of your favourite films that inspired you?

"Apart from many music videos, I found the silent film era and German Expressionism exciting. I got to know this world in my studies. For example, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Robert Wiene) and The Last Laugh (1924, F.W. Murnau)."

You've been in this industry for a long time now. What have been some of the happiest moments of your career? 

"Documenting Germany winning the World Cup, watching the first feature film I shot on the big screen [2006, Armageddon], the first premiere in a big cinema [2012, Adenauer] and when a difficult shot planned in advance works out. There have been so many happy moments, though, it's hard to pick out highlights."

What else do you hope to accomplish? 

"To continue learning every day."

What advice would you give to your younger self, which could help students in a similar situation?

"Keep friends and contacts outside of the film business. I believe that it is important to always look at the industry from the outside, and perhaps not to take everything too seriously. Also, be less 'cerebral' and follow your intuition more."

"It's important not to focus too much on the technology, but to pay attention to other influences as well. For film projects, you have to remember that the camera technology is only one of many parts. Let the other departments do their work."

Website: www.mcpictures.de