Christina Ienna: Chasing Movement in Ordinary Places with the Sony FX5

Editor Note: This post was written by Sony Influencer, Director and Cinematographer Christina Ienna, all text and accompanying images have been used with permission.

The way someone moves through a space, light changing across a face, wind catching fabric or the environment shifting around a subject are the kinds of small, unpredictable moments I’m always looking for through a camera.

When Sony lent me the new FX5 to take out into the field, I wanted to test it in a way that felt true to how I like to shoot. Instead of creating something controlled, I took the camera outside with a dancer and gave ourselves the freedom to explore.

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There is something I really enjoy about working this way. You can have a general idea of what you want to capture, but the environment and artist inevitably give you something you didn’t plan for and that’s often where the magic happens.

I have spent two decades working across documentary, narrative and commercial projects, from intimate stories to large-scale productions. That range of experience has shaped an approach that is adaptable yet grounded in strong visual storytelling. For me, cinematography is as much about instinct and curiosity as it is intention and technical craft.

Finding Frames

When a dancer is improvising, you know each movement will happen a little differently every time. I responded to what Tyler chose to express, moving with him, finding a rhythm between us being very present in the moment. It became less about creating a traditional shot list and more about observation, anticipation and reaction.

This is where the FX5’s AI-based autofocus became particularly useful. Having focus stay locked onto my subject meant I could put more of my attention toward his movement and how I wanted to frame it. The larger rotating LCD screen gave me the freedom to quickly change my own position, particularly when getting the camera lower or moving through the environment with him. These practical features can have a large creative impact when they allow you to work more instinctively.

A Little Room For Change

I also approached this shoot knowing that the final images weren’t necessarily going to live in one format. We are creating for so many different screens nowadays that I find myself thinking beyond a single aspect ratio more and more.

Filming in Open Gate gave me a larger canvas to compose with more possibilities in mind, not limiting me in deciding exactly where every frame would ultimately live while filming.

Being outside also meant working almost entirely with what was presented to us. Clouds moved. The direction and quality of the light changed. Tyler moved between open areas and pockets of shade. Instead of fighting those changes, I embraced them.

Having three base ISO options gave me more dynamic range to adapt to those conditions, while recording 16-bit X-OCN RAW leaving plenty of information in the image in the grade. I want to make deliberate choices on set, but I also don’t want to lock myself out of choices later.

Keeping It Simple

Another thing I wanted to explore was how simply I could work. There are productions where I’m surrounded by a full camera department, monitors, audio and everything else that comes with a larger set. Then there are times when filmmaking is just you, a camera and the person in front of it.

For this shoot, keeping things small, allowed Tyler and me to move effortlessly through the location without overcomplicating the process. I appreciated that same simplicity in the FX5’s monitoring options and user friendly the menu system is. I could keep the information I needed in front of me while controlling what was being sent to an external monitor. It’s a small workflow detail, but one that helps keep things moving without interrupting the creative flow.

Staying Present

When I’m behind a camera, I want my attention on what is unfolding in front of me. The best images often happen in the moment when given more time and space to notice. There will always be technical decisions happening in the background, but I don’t want those decisions to pull me away from the reason I picked up the camera in the first place. Sometimes the most interesting thing you can do is simply staying present and patient to what is unfolding in front of the lens.