RICHARD BURMAN is primarily a moving image photographer with a full roster of equipment.
He takes on a variety of shooting assignments with a special interest in documentary storytelling.
He has, over the years, expanded his skills to include editing (AVID), animation & graphics (After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator), website creation (Dreamweaver), DVD authoring (Encore), book layout (InDesign) and subtitling. He also makes his own documentaries and short videos.

October 2015: Last night I was at CAMMAC invited as a guest for a special screening of Building in Harmony and a Thanksgiving banquet. CAMMAC is a centre for amateur music making (in the Harrington/Laurentian area of Québec) and 10 years ago, right after the summer program, construction was started on a new main building. It was built with guidelines specified by LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) which is a green building certification program. I had been participating in the music program and decided it would be fun to film the various stages of construction. The roads were very tricky to travel in the winter but it was worth seeing the building take shape against a beautiful natural background. You can learn more about it and see the trailer or the complete production on the Documentary page.

June 2015: I don't usually highlight a video where my only contribution was filming two talking heads. What was interesting about this shoot though was the marriage of the Panasonic GH4 (all the straight on shots) with the Sony EX1 (the shot done from a side angle). The first feature to note is the time I have spent adjusting the settings for a fairly close match between the two cameras. The second feature is having the GH4 shoot in 4K. Since this is twice the resolution of HD the editor was able to crop the image which gave him three framings to choose from. You can see those framings and the side shot if you click the picture. You can see the full video as well: Pan American Games Security Briefing
The ability to crop in post production opens up many possibilities especially with a small crew. You could leave the GH4 unmanned getting a wide straight-on shot of a performance or interview and operate the other camera from a different position. The GH4 image could still be recroped as a cut or with a pan/zoom effect.

January 2015: This past October I was hired to film a concert put on by the accomplished Barbara Lewis. It was just me. I set up two cameras with a wide framing on each side of the performing area. I operated the central camera. Two high quality mics on a tall stand came into that camera and an audio recorder took audio off the sound system. I adjusted the theatrical lights and added one back light. She just wanted a simple edit of each song but for my own experience I decided to edit a demo piece. I wanted to see how everything matched and cut together. It turned out well and I would love to do more recordings of live performances. I now have 4 quite good cameras, a GoPro and two audio recorders. The documentary I did on Handel's Messiah got me interested in this type of work (see December 2012). I can't embed the demo for copyright reasons but can send people a link upon request. Meanwhile you can click the picture to see some of the screen grabs.

November 2014: A Day in the Life of SSA was a video I shot on for about three days. Solomon Schechter Academy is a private elementary age Jewish school. I was impressed by the school and I love being brought into worlds I would probably never see. It was produced by Picture This Productions.

October 2014: I got called to a shoot for Tel-Écoute which provides a listening service for those in need. An easy shoot you would think but in fact it was a challenging one considering there is not much visually going on. Two cameras for the interview and judicial use of a slider helped a lot. Some special image treatment in post-production worked very well. Click the logo and see for yourself. It was produced by Altimage.

September 2014: I was the DOP on a one day shoot for the non-profit Partenairesanté-Québec to create their powerful new promotional video Do You Know Anyone?. Using only words and music, the video reminds viewers that all of us know someone, or indeed are someone, with critical health issues. It was a good concept and my job was make the visuals powerful enough to complement the script. I got to use my slider which helped bring life to a wall of pictures. Sometimes the seemingly straight forward shoots can be the trickiest. It was produced by Picture This Productions.

August 2014: I decided to enter a production into the Toronto Urban Film Festival. They were looking for one minute silent videos that would play in subway systems and shopping areas. It was an interesting challenge and a learning experience but alas my efforts were in vain. There was a lot of competition as I found out. At least I can now play it on this website. So turn down your speakers, click the picture and ENJOY.

July 2014: Last night was the premiere of In the Key of Claire. I have been working for the last 4 years as the cinematographer for this 52 minute documentary. It is a great story about Claire Duchesneau who is a social worker for refugees with HIV, a singer with a severe hearing impairment, a cancer survivor and a woman of great compassion and enthusiasm. Veteran filmmaker Anne Henderson did a great job bringing this story to life. You will soon be able to see the broadcast version on the CBC website.

December 2013: I occasionally get to be a journalist (and still do camera and sound at the same time). In that capacity I had the privilege to interview Romeo Dallaire, not just once but twice. I also recorded a voiceover with Jane Goodall. But what she might remember more is that I fixed her computer. Your got to be versatile in the media business. Click the image and you will see what I mean.

November 2013: When I brought the documentary More than a BOX with Windows to Hot Docs in 2012, I had no idea who would take notice. After returning I was contacted by a representative of Films Media Group who said this documentary would be of great interest to the architectural and engineering schools they sell to. We signed a deal and they now distribute the film both as a chaptered DVD and streaming video. It is also cool that the online content is searchable. Here is the catalogue listing: More than a BOX with Windows.

September 2013: If you read the News Item two boxes below you may think I am trying to develop a niche market filming farm animals. I am not really. It just happens that Agribrands Purina wanted some footage shot on the dairy farm Ferme Drapeau & Bélanger which is one of the largest in Québec with over 500 milking cows. It was a fun shoot especially in learning how such a large operation is managed. But farming as a retirement project.. I don't think so (it is a lot of work!!). Check out some screen grabs by clicking the thumbnail.

July 2013: I certainly knew about Joan Rivers when I got booked for a job at Just for Laughs. I learned a lot more after shooting with her backstage at the gala she was hosting. We did quick interviews with the various comedians who were performing that evening. This is footage she wants to have to use in a future show or on the web. She seems to garner a lot of respect and admiration among the comics. Despite her caustic humour on stage she was quite polite with me and was always making sure I had something to eat. If you click the thumbnail you will see screen grabs from the interviews we conducted. These comedians were all very excited to be performing at Just for Laughs as well as getting to meet Joan Rivers.

July 2013: You may have thought that Purina only makes pet food. I just completed the forth day of shooting for this company and it turns out they make farm animal food as well. In addition to visiting their factories we did some of the shooting days at horse ranches in Ontario and Québec. Horses are quite beautiful to look at and a joy to film. They can't be told to do an action in exactly the way you want it, but they do give you beautiful images to capture. You just have to pay close attention to know what they will do next. Click the thumbnail to see a short gallery of screen grabs. This is being produced by Altimage.

March 2013: This was a fun assignment; doing DOP work for two days in the Concordia Music Department. We shot all the interviews with two cameras. Performances or classes were mostly captured on a separate audio recorder so we had a continuous sound track even if the camera was turned on and off. We got to hear some of the students perform at the Upstairs Jazz Bar. We captured part of a recording session being done in their main concert hall. There were courses in electroacoustic music along with choir and ensembles of varied combinations. There were a number of older students and some of them I knew from amateur groups that I have played in. UPDATE: Concordia has put up the videos we shot on their YouTube Channel. For your interest there is: Music, Jazz Studies & Electroacoustic Studies. These clips were produced by Picture This Productions.

December 2012: This was the busiest shoot day in my life. There were just two of us to capture a sing-along performance of Handel's Messiah, do interviews and shoot B-roll for what became a hour-long documentary. For the concert we placed two GoPros behind the orchestra giving us a great of view of the audience/singers. We had one DSLR focused on the soloists. My colleague was on the balcony and I moved around getting different angles. Knowing how busy we would be, I did interviews beforehand on the phone. The nine interviews that afternoon went very smoothly with a setup of two fixed-framed cameras (so no mid-interview adjustments were needed). I knew my questions and what to expect. It was very efficient and I got great answers. You can read about how it turned out and see the trailer or the complete piece if you go to the Documentary page.

February 2012: I got to see the inside of Place des Arts' new concert hall and not as an audience member (or musician). I was hired to tape the performance of a talented young pianist. Her name is Alina Israilian, 16 years old and she is performing with the McGill Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maestro Boris Brott. Her father operated a camera of his own and I provided the other one. I decided to throw in my DSLR into the mix which remained fixed on the pianist. I was given a feed from the sound board which was configured specifically for recording. It was sweet to be provided great audio. I was then asked to edit everything together and here is the result; Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3.

October 2011: The documentary I have done about Schluter Systems' sustainable energy efficient office building had a screening at the Greenbuild Expo in Toronto on Oct. 5th. This is my second documentary on the subject matter and I think we are at the point where these great technologies will become common place. If you go to the Documentary page you can learn more, see the trailer or watch the complete documentary.

February 2011: For quite a number of years in the summer I have been going to CAMMAC, an organization which promotes amateur music making. It is a great place to go if you sing or play an instrument or just love music. I have recorded a number of the concerts along with some general footage. As a personal exercise I edited the material together into a piece called The CAMMAC Sounds of Summer.

November 2010: In 2003 my documentary on Griffintown spawned a coffee table book. After 600 copies sold, it went out of print because of the laborious home-based printing workflow. Because of renewed interest. I created a third edition (with help from Adobe Indesign). I put in more pictures and had 200 copies professional printed. No more collating around the kitchen table. More info at: griffintown.rjburman.com. UPDATE: All 200 books have been sold and I decided to convert my printing file into an electronic pdf book which I now include with the DVD purchase. Griffintown is a story that still resonates with many interested in local history.

January 2010: I am not really into music videos but I got called and I came. It turn out they needed someone to direct it as well. To see the fruit of our labours click this link Panic Now . I didn't edit it but love how they treated the image.