Cinematography in Canada Since 1957

#matbarkley #AssociateMemberCSC @matjbarkley

Hey all! Mat Barkley here.

These CSC account takeovers have captivated me since they started and I’m extremely stoked to contribute my little slice. Our industry is a wildly weird and multifaceted one and to get such personal breakdowns of the workflows of so many people who I respect and admire has been invaluable.

I’m unsure exactly how I got so fascinated with this whole world but I believe it had something to do with a fairly limited amount of screen time as a child colliding head on with a huge influx of movie watching as a teenager after discovering I could access just about any film regardless of rating via the internet (sorry mum)

Team sports / activities have always been my interest as opposed to solo ones and I think filmmaking might be the most “team” centric pursuit possible. There have been so many people involved in every project I’ve shot as well as the progression of my career in general. It’ll be impossible to mention each individually but I’m going to do my best to attribute all of the good quotes and advice I’ve learned along the way to the right people.

I’ve got a format planned that’ll take us from my education at @novascotiacommunitycollege and the beginnings of my career in Halifax, through to my relocation to Toronto and international work. Along the way I’ll scatter in some highlights of projects + BTS that will hopefully keep everyone entertained.

(Also if you took any of these BTS and I’ve not properly credited you please let me know, I’ve done my best to keep track but I know I’ll miss something)

If at any point anyone has any questions please ask away in the comments, these things are always better with discussion.

Thank you to @canadiancinematographer and @416cw for the invitation!

@mantlreps.tv @ascentcreatives

📸
1 @ontario.peach
2 @stilllifewithandrew
3 @jackiechanismyfather
4 @shot_byben
5 @aaroncobb
8 @dmcphotog
9 @kierandaviesking
10 @dana.barkley

#SimonPierreGingrasCsc @spgspgspg

CHAPTER XI - QUESTIONS
- The longer I do this, the more there is to discover -

Cinematography isn’t a craft you master once. It’s a conversation you keep having for the rest of your life.

Every new project asks you to begin again. To question what you know. Trust your instincts, but doubt them just enough to leave room for discovery.

I think the feeling I know best is still wonder.

That quiet excitement of standing in an empty location before the crew arrives. Looking at the space. Watching the light. Knowing that somewhere in there is an image we haven’t discovered yet. That’s what keeps me coming back.

Through these eleven chapters, I’m reminded that a career isn’t defined only by the productions we’ve worked on or the images we’ve created. It’s also defined by the people we’ve met, the trust we’ve built and the stories we’ve been fortunate enough to help bring to life.

I’d like to thank the Canadian Society of Cinematographers for giving me the opportunity to share this small part of my journey. Thank to all of you who took the time to read, comment and share your own thoughts along the way. A special thank to @416cw for inviting me and making the CSC IG an important window for Canadian talent. Also, a very heartfelt shoutout to my 2 sponsors @pinkclaudinesauve and @ronaldplantecsc who endorsed my application to the CSC a few years ago.

This is the final chapter of the series.

But hopefully, it’s the beginning of new conversations, new collaborations and new stories.

Because if there’s one thing I know for certain after all these years behind the camera…

My favorite frame is still the one I haven’t photographed yet.

(carousel: BTS from prep and set of "Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend" making its world premiere at @tiff_net 2026 Closing Night Gala starring @remremgoulet and @rosaliebonenfant)

#SimonPierreGingrasCsc @spgspgspg

CHAPTER X - INSPIRATION //
- The films that quietly built my eye -

There are films that entertain you, films you admire and then there are the ones that quietly change the way you see.

Some taught me that darkness can be beautiful. Others showed me how much tension can exist in a camera that barely moves. Some made me understand the power of silence. Others showed me that a landscape could become a character or that a single look between two people could say more than an entire page of dialogue.

I don’t return to these films because I want to reproduce their images. I return to them because they remind me of what cinema can do.

Over time, those lessons become part of you. You stop thinking about where they came from. They mix with your own experiences, instincts, mistakes and discoveries until something personal begins to emerge.

The films and series in this carousel are some of the ones that have stayed with me because, in one way or another, they changed my eyes.

—
Which film or series permanently changed the way you see cinema?

#SimonPierreGingrasCsc @spgspgspg

CHAPTER IX - RANGE //
- One voice. Many worlds. -

One of the questions I’m asked often is whether I prefer shooting films, series or commercials. The honest answer is that I don’t really think about them as separate worlds. I see them as different challenges.

A commercial might demand precision and graphic simplicity. A series may require consistency over months of production. A feature often allows for a slower, more intuitive exploration of character.

The rhythm changes. The scale changes. The process changes. And I like that.

I’ve never wanted people to recognize my work because every project looks the same. I’d rather they recognize a certain way of approaching the work; how being attentive to what each story actually needs. To me, that’s what a visual voice really is.

Not a signature style. A consistent way of listening. Every story deserves its own visual identity. The challenge, and the privilege, is finding it. You have to discover the one that’s already waiting to be revealed.

(carousel // commercials i shot with the following directors @jp_chart @le_ged @olivierlabontelemoyne @rob.my.art @karimzariffa @sofecteau @benbenjaminmin )

#SimonPierreGingrasCsc @spgspgspg

CHAPTER VIII - LIGHT //
- The invisible storyteller -

Light was the first language I learned to observe.

Long before I stepped onto a film set, I was fascinated by the way morning light softened a room, how fog could erase a landscape or how the last rays of the day could transform an ordinary place into something unforgettable.

Light doesn’t just reveal. It suggests. It hides. It invites.

That’s why I rarely think of light as a purely technical element. I think of it as another presence in the story.

Sometimes it comforts us. Sometimes it isolates us. Sometimes it tells us that something isn’t quite right long before a character says a word.

One of my favorite parts is discovering what the light should feel like before deciding what it should look like. Once that emotion becomes clear, the technical choices usually follow naturally.

I love when cinematography softly dissolves into the screen to let us experience the story. The light is simply there, belonging to the world, quietly doing its work.

- When was the last time a film made you feel something because of its light?

#SimonPierreGingrasCsc @spgspgspg

CHAPTER VII - COLLABORATIONS //
- The best images are never created alone -

Every frame is the result of many people moving toward the same idea.

A director brings a vision. Production design gives it a world. Costume, light, movement, performance and countless other choices slowly give that world a life of its own.

As cinematographers, we often become a bridge between many of those creative voices. That responsibility has taught me something I never expected when I first stepped onto a film set:

Listening is just as important as seeing.

A suggestion from the 1st AD. An observation from an actor. A happy accident noticed by a focus puller. A question from a director that completely changes the way you look at a scene.

Trust isn’t built because everyone agrees. It’s built because everyone feels heard. When that happens, departments stop working beside one another and begin working with one another. That’s when filmmaking becomes more than the sum of its parts.

I don`t remember every lens we used. But I remember the conversations. The laughter after difficult days. The quiet confidence that grows when a crew begins finishing each other’s thoughts. Shedding tears with a director and a gaffer after the final wrap was called on the last day of principle photography….

The goal is to build enough trust that a group of people can create something none of them could have made alone.

Those are the moments that stay with me.

(carousel // The Detectives s3 with directors john l`ecuyer gabriel pelletier @jas_mozaffari anne de lean / Too Much Love with director @yveschristianfournier / La Faille s3 with director @realdanielroby

#SimonPierreGingrasCsc @spgspgspg

CHAPTER VI - CHALLENGES //
- Creativity often begins where certainty ends -

Every film begins with a plan. And every film eventually asks you to let go of it.

Preparation is one of my favorite parts of filmmaking. It’s where ideas are born, visual languages emerge and trust begins to grow between a director and the crew.

But no matter how carefully you prepare, the day will eventually ask a different question: “Now what?”

Maybe the weather changes. Maybe time disappears. Maybe the location isn’t what you imagined. Maybe the shot you’ve been thinking about for weeks suddenly becomes impossible.

On one film, we designed a scene where it called for water rippling on the characters. Instead of a complex visual-effects setup, we experimented with a simple projector, moving water footage and an ND filter to alter the projected image until the feeling was right.

On another project, an hospital sequence needed the audience to stay physically connected to a character moving quickly through chaos. We rigged the camera operator on a wheelchair directly to the stretcher. It wasn’t glamorous, but it gave us exactly what we needed: movement that felt intimate, human and alive.

Then there was a horror feature in which almost everything was written to happen at night. We simply couldn’t afford to shoot the entire film that way. During prep, we took the gamble of moving the horror into broad daylight. That limitation ended up giving the film an identity that was stronger than what we had originally imagined.

Experiences like these changed the way I think about limitations. They’re not necessarily the enemy. On the contrary, they force you to adjust, simplify, collaborate more closely and find an idea that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.

Preparation matters. But so does knowing when to let the plan go and recognize a better solution when it appears.
—

Can you think of a moment when letting go of the plan led to something even better? Give me your thoughts in the comments! :D

(slide 1: director @mariloupwolfe / slide 2: director @yveschristianfournier / slide 3-4-5 directors @baz33 & @seb__lc_ )

#SimonPierreGingrasCsc @spgspgspg

CHAPTER V - A FRAME //
- Every image is a series of invisible decisions -

The images I like the most aren`t necessarily the most technically ambitious or visually spectacular. Commonly, they’re the ones where everything aligned so completely that the audience stopped noticing the cinematography and simply experienced the moment.

Memorable images often have less to do with adding than with removing.

Removing distractions. Simplifying a composition. Letting darkness speak. Giving performance space. Trusting the audience to discover what isn’t immediately visible.

Restraint can be one of the hardest choices to make. There’s always another light you could add, another camera move you could design, another idea you could bring into the frame. But sometimes the best decision is knowing when you already have enough.

A single frame is never just a photograph. It’s the final expression of countless conversations, small decisions and a shared intention between everyone on set.

When all of those elements come together, the image feels inevitable.

And that’s always the frame I’m hoping to find.