Cinematography in Canada Since 1957

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop

Ta-ta for now colleagues. Your Alberta rep is signing off. Come visit us, the prairie skies you’ve heard about are no joke… you might just like it! Becoming an associate member of the CSC has changed my perspective of our industry. It helped me come out of a very comfortable hole and granted me access to like-minded community. Friends who I could nerd out about the quality of light with. A reminder that we are our own worst critics- we don’t have to be. We can celebrate ourselves and each other. For getting to be the people who pick up a camera everyday and find beauty in every moment.

Thank you for reading. I leave you with a few final frames from Dawson City, YT and some celebratory BTS on a few sets. Have fun out there team. I believe in you.

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop

Every meme has its story. @skoden.film is an impactful and important documentary that I’ll always be proud of participating in as a cinematographer. Director Damien Eagle Bear is patient, caring and informed, so it makes sense that this piece shares all of those same traits. A worthwhile watch and a perpetually relevant story.

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop

The Sash Maker 2020 Filmed in Amiskwacîwâskahikan | Treaty No. 6 Territory
@resadowski brought me on to co-create a film adaptation of a continuously evolving stage performance that she and Naomi Mcllwraith had been collaborating on for years. With the help of @favacommunity we were able to light this massive facility filled with pieces of Edmonton’s colonial history. Our greatest challenge was adapting an originally linear performance into something that allowed our viewers an opportunity to experience much more emotion and intimacy up close. Both the original and the experimental film are both solidified with Rebecca’s ability to communicate so much through her stunning sporadic movement. Today, we have both grown so much as artists and as people. I look back on our first work together as collaborators and am proud of what we were able to accomplish together.

Новоприбулі | Newcomers 2024

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop

Scroll to the next slide for the full trailer. Sony Fx9 / primary lens Canon 70-200 F2.8. No story from me for this post - just theirs.

@telusoriginals @stephenrobinson.52

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop Today a post with a bit more bts than actual work. We have all heard it before, “travel is so glamorous“. But we know better don’t we? Cinematography has allowed me to travel around the world, sometimes it looks like beautiful hotels but most of the time it looks like shared dorms in university research stations. @frickilovenature is a comedy nature series on @cbcgem that will always stick with me. Travelling across the country with a film family just to crack jokes and perform ‘bits’ all for the love of science? The answer will always be yes from me. Midway through the trip, our team traversed across an island with the wonderful folks from @bamfieldmsc to film at the beach on the other side. Our host had hours of makeup done on his body for an animal comparison joke in the script. Well, rules are rules. And if you’re going to get a torso full of fake tattoos and trek through a forest- it might as well also be in the pouring rain. The care it took to keep this bit fresh on such a shit day meant our day going longer than expected. When we got back to the boat on the other side, the tide had changed and took our boat just far enough that we would have to call the coast guard to come give it a tow back to us. After a 13 hour day in the rain carrying heavy equipment, I decided waiting another hour would be less than ideal. One small walk into the inlet and a slow but steady tug did the trick. Frick, I Love Nature will always be one of the best shows I’ve ever had the privilege of working on as a DoP. At that time, I had done one offs, shorts, tv episodes but never an entire series. Most of the time, we couldn’t carry more than a couple Astera titans with pigeon on top of two cameras and accessories. Every show has unique challenges. Frick gave me the opportunity to lean into our natural environments for motivating light that I could emphasize with the gear we had on hand.

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop A couple years back I got the opportunity to work with the @albertaballetcanada in a very intimate capacity. Alongside @joemediagroup , @_aerialballerina and I created a piece entirely our own with their incredible roster of performers. In concept, the idea was to mirror challenges we’d both been navigating in our personal lives which I think we achieved in some truly unique ways. We had one day to shoot this ambitious piece and I am grateful our team brought everything they could to it. @chrischowcamera absolutely nailed it on steadicam, allowing me to actually watch the piece come to life at video village. A rare luxury that made the making of this piece feel like a milestone moment. 10 second clip on the final slide.

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop

“We know these bitches, let’s fuck them up” Over time, I learned that hours spent with our film participants; both with and without my camera, was a vital piece of the process. Vulnerability is something I think we earn as cinematographers. You spend hours in tight spaces with people figuring out how to ‘dance together’ Real life can be a bit tight when you are 5’11 so the EZRig might have to stay in the car on this one you know? It’s hard for any human to be authentic, emotionally regulated, and vulnerable if they are in a room with a stranger. Let alone a stranger with a camera in front of their face. @onf_nfb does what so many don’t these days, they gave us time. Three extended blocs in Dawson City, YT filming women in the darkest depths of winter ride their skidoos across the frozen river in -40 just to get to hockey. Women who are as aggressive on the ice as they are gentle and accepting of each other off the ice. Who take a sport seriously and not for the sake of pursuing it professionally. After the second bloc I started practicing my skating. I bought a bright green helmet, despite my niece telling me that I would look like a ‘total duster’ if I wasn’t wearing a black one. Before we wrapped, some of the women asked me If I thought this film would matter to people. We all think our own story is less impactful when we compare it to the rest of the worlds. After the third bloc I came home and signed up for a 10 week hockey class. Trying something brand new to me at 33 years old. I told them I didn’t just think it would, I knew it.

Some grabs and raw clips from our final bloc early this year. I’m absolutely in love with the handheld even in the moments I’m moving into position. Shot on both Canon FD and Contax Zeiss. Sony Fx3

The A team
@classicyas_
@micah__henry
Michael Toledano
@frederique.conradi
@marieguerrette
Arielle Freoa
Gabe Ng