Cinematography in Canada Since 1957

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Shooting on Film!

Today I’ll be breaking down two projects: Eddie Benjamin’s “Driving” shot on 35mm for director @adrian.villagomez, and Movember’s “More Than Enough,” shot on S16mm for director @alexandersworik.

Both were an absolute thrill to be a part of.

“Driving” was shot 4-perf on the Arricam LT in the hot Malibu sun. We had about 7 rolls of 35mm, which felt like plenty - however, there were a number of sequences we wanted to shoot off-speed, which would have chewed through a lot of our stock. We also wanted to do a few underwater shots using housing I could operate myself, without needing a dedicated underwater operator. With that in mind, we brought in a Sony FX3 rig for these “specialty shots,” which we would then grade to match the 35mm.

Since most of the project was shot on film, our amazing colourist and close collaborator @clintonhomuth was able to use our 35mm footage as a reference for what the FX3 should look like. To my surprise, they both cut together incredibly seamlessly - to the extent that I couldn’t even tell which shots were which.

I’d done a similar process before on a project where we couldn’t afford to shoot on 35mm. I shot a single reference frame on 35mm just before each setup and graded the digital footage to match. It worked quite well.

For Movember, Alex and I knew we wanted to shoot on S16mm, but the budget was tight. When we did the math, we realized that shooting on S16mm meant we couldn’t afford a 1st AC. I know that seems a bit counter intuitive, but we both felt the story would really benefit from it, so we went for it and I’m glad we did. 

I handled camera prep, loaded my own film and pulled my own focus. It brought me back to my film school days and reminded us both why we got into this industry in the first place: to tell great stories visually, with friends, for the love of the art.

My process with shooting on film: I rarely shoot with an 85 filter, and didn’t use one on either of these projects. On “Driving,” I pushed our night scenes by 1 stop to increase saturation/contrast and overexposed our day scenes above 1 stop for a low-contrast look with lots of density.

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Today’s recap is music videos!

I’ve shot a fair bit of music videos, and feel like they’ve been coming back a bit.

In 2024, director @jonahaber and I we were fortunate enough to have our video for “Nasty” for artist @tinashenow nominated for an MTV VMA - under the “best trending video” category with @bt.studios.

Growing up watching the awards on TV, it felt surreal to see our video amongst some of the biggest videos of the year - but it feels even more special with a long time friend and collaborator.

We shot two music videos back to back in one weekend. One for “Nasty” and the other from “Getting No Sleep” - which I wanted to share a few moments from.

Shot on FLIR thermal camera + Alexa 35 w/ Cooke Speed Panchros.

1-10. “Nasty” music video frames.
11. Steadicam digital > thermal camera > back to digital (with selective frame by frame rotoscoping).
12. Digital > wipe transition to full thermal.
13. Flash thermal cuts > Body double used as Tinashe’s twin > thermal intercut.
14. More thermal intercuts.
15. Frame grab (Alexa 35).
16. Frame grab (Flir Thermal Camera).
17. Frame grab (Alexa 35).
18. BTS - camera prep testing out the side by side Alexa + FLIR thermal rig.
19. BTS - shooting Alexa 35/thermal simultaneously.
20. “Nasty” BTS video.

Had a blast shooting these two videos. “Getting No Sleep” was surely a technical challenge, experimenting with thermal imaging through a side by side dual cam steadicam setup where we ultimately shot simultaneously on the FLIR system and an Alexa 35.

#cinematographer #musicvideo #thermalcamera alexa35 cookepanchro flir flircamera

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Today’s recap is my 2nd feature film, “The Boy In The Woods” directed by the amazing @snowdocs.

I remember first reading the script and being profoundly moved. My grandmother at 16 was sent to a labour camp in Poland during WWII and with this film being based on the true story of Maxwell Smart, it felt like my calling to help bring this to life visually.

Rebecca, coming from docs, worked tirelessly on this film for 5+ years and truly wrote one of the most touching scripts I’ve ever read. Her guidance, talent and perseverance in bringing this story to life was incredible to witness and an honour to be a part of.

Filmed in North Bay Ontario and set as eastern Europe in the 40’s, this was a challenge that taught me that with creative framing, movie magic and teamwork, anything is possible.

Having my start in documentaries as well, we embraced that as an approach - being open to improvising and seeking natural moments on set. I asked my team to have a shoulder rig, easy rig and hip weighters ready at all times.

Even with leaning towards a doc approach, it still meant having a regimented plan. I created a full lighting mood board, lighting plans for each scene and we worked together on a detailed shot list as a guiding life line. We also went in open minded, open to improvising in moments where it felt right, to try to seek those natural moments on set. One of my favourite moments in the film, we caught in the last 10 minutes of our filming day - with just myself, Rebecca and our 1st AC exploring in the woods.

The lesson: don’t feel tied to the prep work, but use it as a guiding light. Things change on set, often for the better, and being able to pivot on a moments notice often creates some of the best images/storytelling.

I’m grateful to have worked with our incredible producing team, @robertbudreau, @joelreilly, @pdpatt, @planetofcraig, andrew_bronfman and am indebted to our cast @richardcarmitage, @jettklyne, @katherine_fog, @davidkohlsmith and my crew. Especially grateful for my keys @_adrian_anton_ and @spennicam.

The film premiered in the “Industry Selects” program at TIFF 2023.

@adammadrzyk #adammadrzyk #AssociateMemberCSC

In the spirit of celebrating movies and cinema with the Oscars lastnight, I wanted to throw it back with this piece from our Telefilm “Movie Memories” spot a few years back for director @leseanharris!

When @leseanharris originally approached me about this project, he already had the 1st person POV concept in mind. The idea was to start 1st person and then seamlessly transition to 3rd person at the end of the spot with our final reveal of @directorx.

We did a variety of tests to figure out which lens/focal length would match this perspective the best, be lightweight enough for our operator/photo double to wear all day, but also give us the right look that we were going for.

In the end we ended up modifying a custom helmet rig with the Sony Venice built in Rialto mode (early prototype rig seen in the last slide) with a combination of the Laowa 12mm zero D and K35 primes.

This one required a fair bit of testing to get the perspective right but that’s often one of my favourite parts of the process.

LeSean did an amazing job with visualizing this whole spot. Working through how we can best transition in camera between scenes/setups was definitely a highlight. I modified a special helmet cam rig to support a stripped down Sony Venice that was carefully operated by Fraser Collins (also doubling as young @directorx) who did an awesome job.

As always shout out to my crew and the whole team for having my back and working hard to pull off the vision.

Full credit list below!

@adammadrzyk #adammadrzyk #AssociateMemberCSC

Happy Oscars Sunday everyone!

Sharing my first feature film, titled “The Family” written, directed and produced by the brilliant @slaterverse.

I’m forever grateful for Dan and our producer, co-writer @_adam_booth_ for vouching for me to shoot this film. At the time I was in my early 20’s having never shot a feature and having only short film narrative experience but they believed in me anyway.

One of the biggest challenges as a cinematographer is landing the job you’ve never done before. It often feels like a catch-22: you can’t get the opportunity without the credit, and you can’t get the credit without the opportunity. Most of the time, someone has to take a leap of faith on you first and it’s so rare to find people who will.

Going into this film I had 2nd unit TV experience, short films, some notable commercials and music videos under my belt, but it still wasn’t enough on paper. What made the difference wasn’t my reel, it was people who advocated for me relentlessly. Find those people, work hard for them, show your appreciation, and show up for them every time you get the chance.

I remember having a conversation with my colourist, @clintonhomuth who was essential to building the look of this film. He not only guided me in my camera choice, going with the Sony Venice for its superior information in the green channel - but he also guided me with another major lesson. To not be afraid and to take your biggest creative swings on your first feature. On any project really.

We did extensive lens testing and landed on a beautifully rehoused set of Kowa Anamorphics from @sunbeltrentalsukifilmtv lenses that gave us the grit and texture I needed for this psychological thriller.

We shot 19 days, 1.5 hours outside the city, in the middle of fall during the first wave of the pandemic. We were one of the first productions to go back to shooting. Not only was it our first feature collectively, but we had to navigate the new landscape of what this all meant.

It was extremely hard, but it was a huge stepping stone all of us.

We went on to take home the 2022 Best-Non Theatrical Feature Film, an absolute dream come true!

@adammadrzyk #adammadrzyk #AssociateMemberCSC

Sharing another piece from the past, with a long time collaborator - the talented @leseanharris.

“Rebuild the World” was a doc we shot featuring Ekow Nimako (@ekownimako), shot for LEGO under the direction of Lesean Harris (@leseanharris).

For this project, I wanted to lean into natural light as much as possible.

Our primary location, Ekow’s home studio, was a real puzzle to solve. It was a basement room with a small window and a rain cover over the window well outside, which made for a less than ideal lighting environment. But that’s often the case for cinematographers. You don’t always get to choose your location, and learning to work with what you have is a huge part of the craft.

The approach: Knowing I wanted to rely primarily on windows and practicals, I placed a series of mirrors outside to redirect light through the window, giving me the quality and spread I was after. From there, we rigged a Litemat 4 above the table on an autopole and paired it with a practical on a dimmer, a combination that carried us through the majority of the shoot.

The lesson for emerging cinematographers: Constraints are creative tools. Tight spaces force simplicity, and simplicity often produces your most honest, intentional work. Before reaching for more gear, ask yourself what’s already available. Light from a window, a mirror, a practical lamp. Some of the most compelling images come from the least complicated setups.

It was a genuine privilege to hear Ekow’s story and help bring a piece of it to life visually. Blending Afrofuturism with LEGO bricks, Ekow Nimako is inspiring a new generation of artists and builders to imagine, create, and rebuild the world on their own terms.

Credits in comments below!