I took this photo in Tong-Li, China during a location scout for the trailer "The Grand Canal"  voice-over by Don LaFontaine a.k.a. "the Voice of God"

As a reflection of his enthusiasm and dedication, cinematography encompasses much more than Ruurd’s passion, art and vocation; it is his way of seeing, moving through the world -- his entire way of being.

RUURD M. FENENGA – was “born into” and raised in the film industry in The Netherlands.  His father,
Ruurd M. Fenenga, Sr. , writer, producer, cinematographer and Award winning director, was his first mentor.
(Sitting behind the camera, please click to enlarge any of these images).

By an opportune chance at the age of twenty-one, Ruurd went to Los Angeles and began working as a 1st assistant-cameraman.
Worked on features like “The Hidden” and the tv-series of “Twin Peaks” (1990).  He was able to work with such well-known cinematographers as Stuart Dryburgh, ASC, NZCS, ("Boardwalk Empire", "The Piano"), Jim Weisiger, V.F, ("Titanic"), Bojan Bazelli, ASC, ("The Rapture", "Pete's Dragon"),
Bill Wages, ASC  ("Into the West") -  and gained vast experience assisting on more than thirty-five feature films.
Ruurd also worked on music video's with Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and MC Hammer ("U Can't Touch This"), last video lensed by cinematographer Roger Tonry.
He was the 1st. assistant-cameraman to Sam Bayer on his music video's -  just to name a few;  The Cranberries, Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins.

As a cinematographer, Ruurd got a chance to shoot his first feature film in Black & White.  In order to shape the light, he used many flags.
(One of the grips on the project noticed a resemblance to “Betsy Ross.”).

He worked on the short film "Pennyweight", which won a total of six Awards at various film festivals across the United States, and was also listed to be nominated for an Academy Award.

He also worked on a feature film called "Paradise", directed by Swiss born Roger Steinmann,  starring Dee Wallace Stone ("E.T."), Barbara Carrera ("Never Say Never Again") and Timothy Bottoms ("Elephant").

Besides feature films, Ruurd’s experience has included commercials, corporate videos and current affair programs, such as "1 - Vandaag",  in The Netherlands.
Commercials include "Nike" commercials  "Nike Federation", "Nike PO 3", and "Nike PO 3" trailer,  all shot in various locations - Barcelona, Madrid and Blackburn (UK). These commercials featured soccer stars Ronaldinho, Rooney, Ronaldo, Henry and van Nistelrooij.

Corporate videos which Ruurd has worked on include "Friesland Bank", working with well-known Dutch director Henk van Mierlo.

He lensed the corporate film, "Imaging Technology,  Girl with a Pearl Earring", for Canon / Océ Worldwide, for Japanese director Naohiro Aida which was shown at fairs in New York, Tokyo, Paris and Shanghai.
In addition to these projects, Ruurd worked with BAFTA winner and multi-Webby award winning director Martin Percy on the 2nd unit of "Mercy and Justice". 

Ruurd loves to share his rich experience as a filmmaker, and gives Workshops & Masterclasses all over the world. He also gives
one-on-one workshops in Composition, Negative Fill and Lighting.

In 2019 he attended the Cinematography-in-Progress Convention in Brussels and spoke to many fellow cinematographers / instructors, who attended this conference,  from all over the world.

In 2020,  he gave several workshops to the ENG cameramen of the Ministry of Defence of The Netherlands in The Hague.

Part 1 - Students Favourite Lighting Workshop

Part  1:  Teaching students the 11-Lighting Set-Ups
Part  2:  Students are bringing in their favourite screenshot
Part  3:  Students are bringing in a screenshot from a Film Noir movie

For more detail, please view the "Re-Creating a Screenshot" on the  Students page

Part 2 - Re-Creating a screenshot

     Original

                              Student

Various images made by SAE students

Royal Television Society London

The banner below was present at The Royal Television Society event in London in 2020.
Ruurd received an invitation to be one of the exhibitors at the RTS Futures Career Affair 2020, 2021 and again in 2022 where he exposed
his large diversity of Masterclasses and Workshops to more then 1600 students, who were attending this annual event.

Workshop Lighting by Ruurd M. Fenenga, NSC at the RTS Futures Career Affair 2022

"Le Pain"

At the end of 2021, he shot the short film “Le Pain” for one of his ex-students, 26-year old Pepijn Tebrunsvelt, who wrote and directed the Award-winning short film "Le Pain", which is a historical film that follows a house search during the 2nd World War.
A German soldier investigates whether a Jewish family is hiding in a dilapidated farmhouse that only seems to be inhabited by a French speaking Belgian girl. 
Selected out of 10.000 short films from all of the world and ending up at the 2022 Aesthetic Short Film Festival in York with the last 20 films selected!
“Le Pain” ended up winning 4 awards!

(Don't forget to watch the Making Of!).

Member

Various links