Jon Joffin, ASC is no stranger to the winners’ circle at the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Awards. But at the gala ceremony earlier this month, he made some history in the process, topping the inaugural music video category for Jon Bryant’s “At Home,” a clip which Joffin both shot and directed.

This marked the fourth career ASC Award win for Joffin, the first three being for his episodic television work for Beyond in 2019, Motherland: Fort Salem in 2021, and Titans in 2022. In all, he’s a seven-time ASC Award nominee. 

Joffin picked up two nominations this year--for the “At Home” music video, and the “Something Real” episode of Schmigadoon. The latter also earned Joffin a primetime Emmy nomination in 2023. He’s a two-time Emmy nominee--the first coming in 2008 for his work on the miniseries The Andromeda Strain (which also garnered the DP his very first ASC Award nomination).

Joffin grew up as part of the music video generation. And early on much of his work as a cinematographer was in that arena. Over time, he diversified into TV and features, doing fewer music videos. But when the opportunity emerged for him to take on “At Home,” he jumped at the chance to direct and shoot the project, drawn to its storyline of a man looking back on precious memories related to the ongoing romance of his life.

Given his roots in the discipline, winning the inaugural ASC Award for music video achievement is special for Joffin. Adding to the honor is the high regard he has for the other nominated work in the category--Cassie Martin’s “Tanto” shot by Andrey Nikoleav, and Little Simz’s “Gorilla” lensed by Scott Cunningham, ASC. Joffin said winning was “a shock and an honor,” particularly given that Cunningham is such a prolific creative stalwart in music videos.

“At Home” entailed shooting in Canada and Southern California, with Joffin deploying the Sony VENICE 2 and Rialto 2 Extension Unit. An ambitious skydiving sequence in fact used the VENICE--with grip and avid skydiver Chris Walsh holding the Rialto while diving. 

For the music video, Joffin tried to schedule as much golden hour lensing as possible, taking advantage of shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the light is optimal for capturing a beautiful aesthetic on camera. While this was tricky logistically at times, Joffin said he was blessed with a great crew who did everything they could to deliver the moments needed to drive the story visually. Joffin said he’s particularly proud that many people who watch the video told him they were emotionally moved, shedding a tear or two along the way. Joffin added that he feels attached to the story in that as he’s grown older, he too reflects on his life, the precious memories and wondering if he will get those moments again. To present a story with that theme, he affirmed, was a great experience on different levels.

Back in September 2023 when the ASC announced that it was adding a music video category to its awards competition, Society president Shelly Johnson said, “Since the emergence of music videos, they have made a profound impact on how we tell stories in contemporary times. We want to celebrate the cinematographers who set the bar so high, and show us new and innovative ways of storytelling year in and year out.”

While Joffin’s primary focus is cinematography for TV and features, he has enjoyed diversifying on occasion into directing shorter form projects such as “At Home” and a handful of promotional videos, including one recently for the new Zeiss Nano lenses which he directed while teaming with Brendan Steacy, ASC on the cinematography. “It was the first time I could sit back a little more in the directorial role,” having Steacy take on part of the lensing. The norm has otherwise been for Joffin to serve as the sole DP on the select projects he directs.

Schmigadoon
As for his other ASC Award nomination this year, for the aforementioned “Something Real” episode of Schmigadoon in the Episode of a Half-Hour Series category--which was ultimately won by Carl Herse for the “Tricky Legacies” installment of Barry--Joffin noted that music played an integral role, as it did for “At Home.”

After all, Schmigadoon is a musical comedy series created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. The first season was lensed by Todd Elyzen. Joffin came on board for season two. And while the engaging music carried over from the first to the second season, the series took a decidedly different turn. The parody of musicals took on a bit of a darker, edgier tone. Joffin embraced that change yet was still entrusted with maintaining the show’s delightful vibe, influenced by a Technicolor musical feel.

Joffin was able to venture into the edgy while preserving the lightness and the Technicolor music feel. The balancing act was in part advanced by realizing that a dark tone does not necessarily mean lighting dark. Joffin recalled early in his career a director telling him that in regard to lighting, you shouldn’t mistake blackness for darkness.

Like on the “At Home” music video, Joffin went with the Sony VENICE 2 for Schmigadoon. In an earlier interview with SHOOT, Joffin explained the choice of VENICE for the series, observing that while there’s the notion that the Technicolor look is color saturation, it really is “all about color separation...The [VENICE] camera has so much gorgeous color space,” which he credited colorist Jill Bogdanowicz with taking full advantage of by developing a LUT that made the reds more punchy, the blacks deeper. Joffin said that the VENICE was an ideal camera for delivering the desired color information and resolution, used in tandem with Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance lenses.

Joffin recently added that less can be more when shooting tour de force musical performances--which Schmigadoon has in abundance. He noted that the performances are so strong that a cinematographer first and foremost has to capture them from head to toe--the movement, the costumes, the production design, the choreography. You let each performance speak for itself, he observed.