Cinematography in Canada Since 1957

@matjbarkley #matjbarkley #AssociateMemberCSC

I made the move from Halifax to Toronto in May of 2017 which puts me very close to a full decade in the city.

Nova Scotia provided me a few connections to Toronto but for the most part I spent my first year (or more) doing as much cold calling (emailing) as I could manage. It can be an uncomfortable part of our industry but I’m not sure there’s a better way to inject yourself into a new “market” than getting out and meeting people in person, even if it’s just for a 15m visit at their office.

At some point somebody very smart told me that no one would (or even could) help me with my goals unless they knew what those goals were. There’s a time and a place of course but communicating to folks what it is you want to be doing more of in the future seems to be one of the best ways to move ahead (and help narrow down your own dreams).

I’m not sure if it’s the film industries communal spirit but I’ve always found Toronto as a city much warmer and open than I was lead to believe before moving here. Even something that felt as intimidating as approaching agencies like @seslercompany and @mantlreps.tv wound up being very encouraging conversations that would go on to become invaluable professional (and thankfully also very familial) relationships.

There’s been so many incredible people and projects in the last 10 years that have made living and working in Toronto more than worth it. The east coast will always be home but I do feel like I have 2 of those now.

I really encourage anyone interested in the job to join / get in touch with the CSC as much as you can (in Toronto or anywhere else in Canada!). Having the mentorship programs, social events and technical support (the FB group is incredible for problem solving) etc has been indispensable to me and goes a long way towards making a somewhat competitive position feel a lot less lonely.

@matjbarkley #matjbarkley #AssociateMemberCSC

A quick post about some of the tools I find indispensable both on set and off. A lot of these have already been mentioned by previous hosts but I figure a little confirmation bias can’t hurt.

First up is a Segway. Prior to these I was using a pair of rollerblades for cheap and quick handheld operating and what an upgrade its been. I’ve had a lot of practice to get to the comfort level I’m at now but I strongly encourage anyone to give them a shot (maybe with a dumbbell instead of a camera at first), it’s really very intuitive once you get going.

Maybe a little less accessible but all my years of playing hockey have made my ice skates another really valuable tool for very specific jobs.

@scenario_app is my new absolute favourite tool for floor plans / mapping out location information to share with crew. It’s not free but the developers are constantly releasing new tools and taking feedback directly from the community of users.

@shotdeck has become the first place I go when I’m looking for inspiration. It’s so easy to burn hours flipping through reference to reference and I often wind up on a completely different genre than I started in with 5 new movies I want to watch.

@cadrageapp has been my go to digital viewfinder of late and I don’t think there’s any other app on my phone that has been more worth the cost.

This one is a bit of a luxury but I built myself out a “tree” covered in accessories that make my day on set easier and more organized. I can ask our VTR teams for a 17” monitor to work off, or even if I’m handheld operating that day it gives me a place to hang all of my personal items so that I don’t wind up asking the camera team if they’ve seen everything I’ve put down in dumb places over the day

@prismlensfx has been making some of the absolute best filters for adding some extra sauce to a shot but I’ve also been collecting a lot of much cheaper and easier to find pieces for years. If you’re on a budget the glass shelf at your local second hand store is a great place to start as well as the dollar store.

A pocket knife and a green laser go a long way towards making my life easier on set. Th

#MatBarkley #associatemembercsc @matjbarkley

For this OLG spot @alon_isocianu and I spent a lot of time in prepro talking about what he envisioned for the VFX and how those elements should interact with + light the set / talent. We had a few more experimental ideas (including lasers) but ultimately decided to “simplify” and I pitched him an overhead rig that would play anytime the “ThrillWave” was introduced.
My ideas were immensely improved once @kaython and Cliff got ahold of them with the final design consisting of a softbox with a Vortex Creamsource at the top, diffusion around the 3/4 mark and skirted all the way to the bottom where we lined the pipe w 8x titan tubes. All suspended via truss + st25s so we could tweak our position and height on the day.

Big thanks to @mjcherringtn for his help developing the techno dolly plans and incredible execution on the day and to @andrewhmorton + his team for the lovely sets and design.

Swipe to the end to see the spot in motion, these pieces really don’t do the VFX justice.

Every shot had to be done in 2 plates, a PRE ThrillWave (pictured here) and a ThrillWave version (previous and following slides)

With Board Op @samlebelwong we were able to use the vortex to augment our ambient night, cue it to a slow pink pulse and then trigger the tubes to run a blue chase sequence, giving us a great motion effect. We also added a @mossleddotcom panel to the tablet screens so we could “burst” from neutral white to “thrillwave” blue and then dial down to let the overhead effect spread through the room.

During prep @alon_isocianu builds some of the best camera / lens accurate previs I’ve ever seen. I’ll work with him via zoom to adjust lens / camera moves until we’ve found something he loves. The final product is absolutely priceless for communicating to crew what we’re after on set @cinema4drender

Pre vis materials, particularly @cinetracer @cinema4drender and Andrew’s incredible set designs, also allowed us to feel confident with our translite sizing which we used to reduce VFX load and encourage as many reflections as possible.

Enthusiastically we fully intended on solving the window reflection at 14s practically

#MatBarkley #associatemembercsc @matjbarkley

At first glance “Mattress Firm” might not sound like the kind of commercial to get excited about but director @marcus_tortorici pushed hard in his treatment and during prep to tackle each world with intention and style. Ultimately we got to shoot some really fun scenes and I thankfully took some decent notes.

In the next few slides I’ll break down the lighting for the 660fps football scene, the gel trick we used to shoot day4night INT without tenting and some general “video boarding” that always helps us figure out shots during prep.

Swipe all the way to the end for the finished product

@voyager.tv @alfredofilms @mantlreps.tv @ascentcreatives

We entertained going Phantom for 900fps but we due to budget constraints we would’ve had to use the Phantom for the regular speed stuff and that wasn’t an option. This was my first time pushing the Alexa35 Xtreme to the extent of its slow motion abilities and I was really impressed. Dropping resolution to 2k isn’t so much an issue for me as is the sensor crop. Realistically though, carrying a few extra really wide lenses for the chance to shoot 660fps on such a great camera is well worth it.

In order to light for 660 FPS @ 800ei (ideally @ t2.8 w 2 additional stops of wiggle room for close ups etc) we put 20x SpaceForces in a 15x15 soft box and hung 3x XT52 on truss for backlights about 20’ from the subject. On the floor we had 2x V24’s as front fill and 2x XT52s as side lights

(and by we I mean our amazing Gaffer @kaython and Key Grip Cliff)

We hit the mark right on the nose. We were maxed on the soft box but had a little wiggle room on the XTs. Since we wanted the world to fall off around our players we were lighting for a relatively small amount of space. As that size increased we would have needed more and more firepower.

We entertained going Phantom for 900fps but we due to budget constraints we would’ve had to use the Phantom for the regular speed stuff and that wasn’t an option. This was my first time pushing the Alexa35 Xtreme to the extent of its slow motion abilities and I was really impressed. Dropping resolution to 2k isn’t so much an issue for me as is

#MatBarkley #associatemembercsc @matjbarkley

Nova Scotia has such a wonderfully familial film industry. After graduating from @novascotiacommunitycollege I worked in what feels like every corner of it and was always met with open arms. Those same people that were hiring me to be an electric, an editor, a PA, an operator etc were the same folks lending me equipment and advice when I was stepping out on the weekends to produce / direct / shoot / edit music videos and anything else I could get my hands on. The mentorship I received then (and still do) from those people was directly related to the progression of my career.
There’s way too many photos and faces to include all of them here but I had a lot of fun digging through the archives for these.

Some of those people who hired me on my very first sets were folks I would work with when I went home to shoot my first feature as a DOP in 2021. As before, I was supported with all the warmth and expertise I could’ve hoped for.

Anyway the year is 2013, I’ve just graduated community college and armed with a Canon t3i and the burning desire to slap a 2.39 matte onto everything I shoot, I’m going to try and build a reel to rule all reels (for some reason I thought a shit hot reel, edited so fast that you could barely see the footage was the only way to get hired as a DOP…)

As much as I think many of us (myself included) would like to bury work that we feel is outdated it’s been a lot of fun to dig through and revisit some of the work that started my career. Swipe through for some “highlights”

@screen_ns @nscc.alumni

#MatBarkley #associatemembercsc @matjbarkley

Nova Scotia has such a wonderfully familial film industry. After graduating from NSCC I worked in what feels like every corner of it and was always met with open arms. Those same people that were hiring me to be an electric, an editor, a PA, an operator etc were the same folks lending me equipment and advice when I was stepping out on the weekends to produce / direct / shoot / edit music videos and anything else I could get my hands on. There’s way too many photos and faces to include all of them here but I had a lot of fun digging through the archives for

#MatBarkley #associatemembercsc @matjbarkley A special one with a special cast and crew for @safehavento and Director @rossallenfilm

***Following Slides - 8mm BTS, Camera List, Directors Treatment, Camera Mode Notes***

We armed ourselves with an array of options for cameras (Alexa, 8mm, HandyCam, “GoPro” + iPhone), lit (almost) everything from outside and @natashauhrig art team went all out on prepping each location so that we could let the kids lead us wherever they wanted.

I worked at a preschool for a few years prior to joining the film industry and while kids are super fun it was WAY more tiring than 12+1’s on set. I think this project might have been the perfect mix of the two

Full credits on my profile! Thank you to everyone involved

@revolverfilmsco

A special one with a special cast and crew for @safehavento and Director @rossallenfilm

***Following Slides - 8mm BTS, Camera List, Directors Treatment, Camera Mode Notes***

We armed ourselves with an array of options for cameras (Alexa, 8mm, HandyCam, “GoPro” + iPhone), lit (almost) everything from outside and @natashauhrig art team went all out on prepping each location so that we could let the kids lead us wherever they wanted.

I worked at a preschool for a few years prior to joining the film industry and while kids are super fun it was WAY more tiring than 12+1’s on set. I think this project might have been the perfect mix of the two

Full credits on my profile! Thank you to everyone involved

@revolverfilmsco

I think everyone had a bit of fun on this one

My camera list workflow is something that has evolved over time but the bones of it came from a version @peter_hadfield graciously provided me years ago. The template is built out much larger with every option noted so that I can quickly go through and reduce down to what is needed for this particular job.

My camera list workflow is something that has evolved over time but the bones of it came from a version @peter_hadfield graciously provided me years ago. The template is built out much larger with every option noted so that I can quickly go through and reduce down to what is needed for this particular job.

I’ve included pieces of @rossa

#MatBarkley #associatemembercsc @matjbarkley Bridge Bikes was a dream job in a lot of ways. Great client and creative and just enough resources to try to do it right (with a lot of help from WFW/Sunbelt Toronto, @animals.tv_ our amazing crew and a last minute saviour). Wildly enough the idea comes from an actual event in which @bridgebikeworks had a prototype bike stolen from their workshop. They hoped for its return but to my understanding it’s still out there roaming the streets at night.

I’ll talk more about this in later slides but director @by.chrisbrown is one of those people who’s creativity and drive inspires all of us to dive in as deep as possible. Hard to imagine surviving a shoot like this without him.

Then there were the setbacks. Our first camera E Bike (super integral to the concept) suffered mechanical failure the morning of our first day of shooting but we dialled a 911 in to guardian angel @vborrisondp who amazingly had his quad rig on set for us mere hours later to save the day (and entire shoot) 👼

Our fearless (and tireless) rider / actor / mechanic extraordinaire @nick_diniz3 literally bled and sweat (no tears) all over every piece of this project.

@nachzoftall @evoy.tr @mbujok @ontario.peach @alexclark.mp3 @jackgleahy auztenz + Orland were out there from dusk till dawn 3 days in a row and joined by our tech team headed by @kaython + @bromandudeson on the last night.

Also very lucky to have the post team of dreams including @izzydean pushing the cut in ways we never anticipated, @abewynen giving it the juice it needed via colour + @fortyorkvfx with the extra sauce and @osoaudio with a track and sound design to bring it all to life.

We shot on the Alexa35 with Hawk MiniHawks and couldn’t have been happier. Jammed a few streak filters in there at times for fun.

***continued on next slides***

***swipe all the way to the end for a surprise***

Despite me embarrassingly not having any BTS of him @jackgleahy was a HUGE part of making this project work the way it does. @by.chrisbrown and I realized we were going to need the support of a 2nd camera / bUnit DOP / emotional support buddy really early on and the only person who fit all of th

#matbarkley #AssociateMemberCSC @matjbarkley

Summers in high school were spent making horror trailers (we were all obsessed after local hero @jasoneisener made it big with Hobo with a Shotgun) which meant burying fake bodies (I drew the short straw and got bundled up and stuck in a trunk), filling condoms with beans and convincing a lot of dear friends to do things they probably shouldn’t have.

Thankfully @novascotiacommunitycollege Screen Arts was an incredible introduction to the real industry. Janet Hawkwood and the rest of the faculty had us get our hands dirty as much as possible and focused on teaching us skills that would be valuable on set. Most importantly the program was very looped into the local community (a large number of NS film folks are NSCC graduates) and we always had visits + conversations with some of the best working crew as well as work term placements on local shows + rental houses.

Dugald McLaren was one of those folks who visited and preached “Don’t Stand In Doorways”. I’m sure he had many other valuable things to say but 15 years on and it’s never done me wrong.

Slides 1-3 - “MEAT” trailer featuring the voice of cousin @doyle013 and some of my dearest childhood friends. God bless @yo.cheever for letting us duct tape Adam’s dad’s camera to his head for the POV.

Slides 4+5 - “How to Hunt a Christmas Tree with a Shotgun” - Unsure exactly how this idea came up but it did work, there was no camera trickery to the gag that’s all @fetridge_official

Slides 6-8 - an assortment of Screen Arts projects. Looking back at them there’s a lot of questions to ask but as long as we got all of the gear back to the @postbeckwith cage in good order I think we did right. I production managed the project on the last slide, went with a mashed potato bar, everyone was happy.