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) and using Adobe software to do simple animation, graphic production, website creation, DVD authoring, book layout and subtitling. He also makes his own documentaries both long and short. If you go to Working Hands you can learn about a large documentary project he is presently developing.

October 2016: Composer André Pappathomas brought together 250 voices from a dozen Quebec cultural communities (Latin America, Congo, Madagascar, Nunavik, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Syria, Ukraine and Quebec) for a concert entitled Souffles. The result was a sublime and contemporary sound inspired by the consonance of voices and the musical character and sonority of various languages. I filmed the event and edited a demo for grant applications. I operated one camera and had a fixed 4k camera focused on the large stage at Place des Arts. Click the picture to see the results.

March 2016: Sometimes I make a short film because I have an affinity for the story. I also get to practise techniques which help me in the future. I decided to do a short doc about a couple who for the last 26 years have staged an Irish Ceili for family and friends. I had shot some footage last year and had access to lots of photographs and home movies. Since I was alone shooting the interview with "Harold and Helen", it was great to have a 4K camera so I could concentrate on the questions and do re-framing in post. I used Photoshop and Avid's pan and zoom effect to bring life to the still pictures. And thanks to their son who is a musician I had a sound track which was improvised practically in real time. You can watch the result of my labour of love by clicking the picture.

February 2016: During the pass eight months I have been working on and off as a cameraman for the documentary series Mohawk Ironworkers. It is produced by Mushkeg Media for APTN. The camera I used throughout was the Sony PXW-FS7. This was a very interesting shoot. The pride these generations of Mohawks have for their work is inspiring. I didn't see as much construction as I would have wanted, but seeing the Cornwall bridge‎ being dismantled was pretty exciting. It seems to take as much planning and know-how to take a large structure down as it does to build something up. Click the picture on the left and you'll see what I mean. If you have missed the broadcasts you can see the episodes online at Mohawk Ironworkers.

October 2015: Last night I was at CAMMAC at their Thanksgiving banquet for a special screening of a documentary I made called Building in Harmony. CAMMAC is a centre for amateur music making (of which I am a participant). Ten years ago, when the summer program finished, the very old main building was demolished and a new one constructed. I thought it would be very exciting to film this as it was being built to LEED guidelines which is a green building certification program. Visuals of the building rising up within the beauty of the Laurentians married very well with the participants' music that I recorded. You can see the trailer if you click the picture. Note that it was shot in 1995 in standard definition. If you go to the Documentary page you can see the complete production.

January 2015: I just finished the edit of a concert put on by the accomplished Barbara Lewis. Working alone, I set up two cameras with a wide framing on each side of the performing area and 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. You can also click the picture to see some of the screen grabs. UPDATE I did a second Barbara Lewis concert in April 2016. This time I made use of my new camera that shoots 4K along with two other cameras. I put the 4K right in the middle, set a nice composition of the three musicians. While editing I could change the framing of this unmanned camera at will. In the link provided you will see an example of a very slow and smooth zoom created in post. Lullaby for a deep sleep is a song performed and written by Barbara Lewis.

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?. The video's purpose was to remind viewers that all of us know someone, or indeed are someone, with critical health issues. My slider was very usefull to bring life to a wall of pictures but most of it was people speaking directly to camera. Sometimes a straight forward script with a simple concept can be the trickiest to pull off successfully. 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. Contact me if you would like to see the completed documentary.

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 voice over 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.

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 a very busy day as there were only 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 I did that afternoon went very smoothly with a setup of two fixed-framed cameras. I was able to concentrate on my questions. You can see the trailer by clicking the picture or you can see the completed 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 film the performance of a talented young pianist. Her name is Alina Israilian, 16 years old and she was performing with the McGill Chamber Orchestra. We used three cameras. Her father operated his own and I used my camera from the back of the hall. I placed my DSLR in a position to give a nice shot of the pianist. I was given a feed from the sound board which was mixed especially for recording. Click the picture and you will hear her perform Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3 (Mov.3).

October 2011: I did a documentary More than a BOX with Windows which is about the construction of Schluter Systems' sustainable energy efficient office building and it had a screening at the Greenbuild Expo in Toronto on Oct. 5th. It is my second documentary on this subject matter and you can see the trailer if you click the picture. UPDATE When I brought the documentary to Hot Docs in 2012, I was very pleased that a representative of Films Media Group said this 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.

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. Click the picture and enjoy the music.

January 2010: I showed up at this abandoned warehouse with the understanding that I was going do camera. It turn out they needed someone to direct it as well, so I obliged. To see the fruit of our labours click the picture and watch Panic Now . I didn't edit it but love how they treated the image.