THOMAS BURSTYN

#1: From interview [2011]

THOMAS BURSTYN CSC/NZCS

Born: 1954, Montréal, Québec, Canada, as Thomas C. Burstyn.

Career: Started at age 15 as an apprentice at the National Film Board of Canada under the mentorship of ph Denis Gillson.

Member of the CSC and the NZCS and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts [New Zealand].

Owns the prod company Cloud South Films. Married to Barbara Sumner, a New Zealand journalist. Lives on an organic farm in Hastings, Hawkes Bay region, New Zealand.

Appeared in the doc (12m) 'Are We Alone?' [2006, Max Schonenburg].

Awards: CSC Award [1986] & Cable ACE Award [1986] for 'The Hitchhiker'; 'Genie' Award nom [1988] for 'La grenouille et la baleine'; 'Genie' Award nom [1993] & CSC Award nom [1993] for 'The Lotus Eaters'; CSC Award nom [1993] for 'Liar, Liar'; CSC Award nom [1995] for 'Andre'; 'Genie' Award [1995] & CSC Award nom [1995] for 'Magic in the Water'; ASC Award nom [1998] for 'When Trumpets Fade'; CSC Award [2002] for 'La première fois'; 'Emmy' Award nom [2004-05] for 'The 4400' [pilot, part 1].

Website: Tom Burstyn & Cloud South Films

'The 4400' [2004]: 'An astonishing 7.4 million American viewers watched the premiere episode of USA Network's sci-fi series 'The 4400' this past summer, a record for a basic cable premiere. 'The 4400' was a world first; the Thomson Viper HD Camera had never before been out in field production for episodic television.'

Thomas Burstyn: 'In my opinion the Viper qualitatively matches 35mm for television production with regard to latitude and sharpness. Certainly, the camera is head and shoulders above the Sony HDW-F900. The Viper has a delicacy of tone - a beautiful camera to work with.

Admittedly, the camera has obvious problems. First, the HD SDI cable marries the engineering station to the camera, creating logistical challenges. For example, in one scene we wanted a Steadicam "walk and talk" down a hall, transitioning to a 360-degree move as our characters reach the set to reveal the command center.

As a cinematographer, I do not want to have to break up a shot for this technical issue. Luckily, Bob Findley ['a' camera 1st AC] figured out a way we could work with Jim Van Dijk, the Steadicam operator, to hide the cable and get the shot. This is just one example because 'The 4400' was a two-camera shoot, sometimes three, and we shot with car rigs, cranes and helicopter mounts. With the car rig, you have to ask, "How do we stuff a huge Sony SR deck into the car and have the actor really drive?" In this case, we used a large battery, power conditioner, and inverter to power a 9" HD SDI monitor, waveform monitor, and the Sony SR deck, all of which we jammed into the trunk. There's always a solution.

The second major stumbling block has to do with the viewfinder. Camera operator Trig Singer put it simply when he said to me: "Tom, this camera makes it hard for me to appreciate the aesthetic of the image I'm composing, which curbs my creative drive." And Trig's right. With a 35mm camera, not only can you see the image beautifully, but you can see peripherally. In the current HD systems the operator can't tell if his picture is in focus, he can't see a microphone until it's too late and he's forced to look at a nasty black-and-white image for 12 hours. Obviously these are issues that must be rectified for the system to take hold.

Honestly, I find lighting much faster with High Def; the lighting process became more intuitive. In film, the old rule is expose for the shadows and light for the highlights. With HD, exposure is based on the highlights and you light the shadows. So now I light the set by eye, study the monitor, and then tweak. With film, I fiddle with my meters more and don't rely on my eye as much. If I think about it, with film I am too fastidious, forever trying to create that perfect negative, but with the Viper, I see the image so well and so quickly, it feels right and you move on. In my mind, a more intuitive course of action.

What is inevitable is that a High Definition system will overtake film, perhaps in a short span of time. Right now the Viper seems to be heading the pack. I know Dalsa/Clairmont, Arriflex and Panavision are all coming out with new cameras soon. An avalanche of new ideas. The motion picture camera and its attendant chemistry is a more romantic technology, but it's a 19th-century technology. As an acquisition medium, film is an ecologically unsound, highly polluting process. HD seems like an intelligent way to address this important issue.

Because of the small CCD chip, lens perspectives have altered. No longer can you make that 85mm romantic close-up with soft backgrounds that is such a cornerstone of our film language. You have to change your visual grammar to accommodate this. But if you want to do this in HD, the equivalent is a 40mm or 50mm lens and the background is in focus. So either you put the background further behind the actor to throw it out of focus or you go to a wide lens and shoot close, both of which are not exactly what we're used to.

Whatever we do, it won't look like 35mm film anymore. We need to move on and work up a new HD aesthetic. I think the new generation of cameras will all incorporate a 35mm-sized chip, so the perspective problem goes away.

So when you ask me about the future, to get into a new medium you have to embrace it. There seems to be a stigma attached to High Definition; people want to make it look more like 35mm. If you want 35mm, then shoot 35mm. In my opinion, you have to look for new ways. I found the Viper experience very exciting and intriguing.' [From article by Joshua Gollish on the CSC website, October 2004.]

FILMS
1975	Canoe extraordinaire [prod: Souren Hadjian] ?; doc/?m; prod Université Concordia (Civil Engineering Department)
1975	Puberty/Puberté [Alanis Obomsawin & Keith Packwood] b&w-c; 2-part doc/27m; cph: Philip Hersee
1976	If Brains Were Dynamite [You Wouldn't Have Enough to Blow Your Nose] - Mark Prent [Thomas Burstyn, John Laing, Julie Wildman & Peter Bors] 16mm/c; doc/28m
1978	Flash William [John Laing & Thom Burstyn] c; doc/20m; prod NFB of Canada
1979	Ski d'fond [Barbara Dunphy] ?; doc/?m
1980	You Could Save a Life [Mary Armstrong] ?; doc/10m
1981	The Head On Film [Eric Young] c; doc/29m
1981	The Lost Tribe [John Laing] c
1984	Harvest of Despair - The 1932-33 Man-made Famine in Ukraine [Slavko Nowytski] b&w-c; doc/55m; addph: S. Nowytski, Yuri Denysenko, Gary Donley, Thomas Ramsay, a.o.; for the Ukrainian Famine Research Committee
1984	Heavenly Bodies [Lawrence Dane] c
1985	Mr. Wrong/Dark of the Night [Gaylene Preston] 16mm-35bu/c
1985	Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird [Ken Kwapis] c; 2u sfx ph; ph: Curtis Clark
1986	Native Son [Jerrold Freedman] c; addph (finished film): Shelly Johnson
1987	The Tadpole and the Whale/La grenouille et la baleine [Jean-Claude Lord] c; Florida ph: Michel Brault; 'Tales for All #6'
1988	Cheetah [Jeff Blyth] c
1988	Cold Front [Paul Bnarbic] c
1990	Wisecracks [Gail Singer] b&w-c; doc (all-female stand-up comedy)/93m; co-addph; ph: Zoe Dirse (UK) & Robert Fresco (Canada)
1990	Toy Soldiers [Daniel Petrie Jr.] c; 2uc: Rexford Metz
1992	The Lotus Eaters [Paul Shapiro] c
1993	Arctic Blue [Peter Masterson] c
1993	Exquisite Tenderness/The Surgeon [Carl Schenkel] p/c
1994	Andre [George Miller] Clairmont-Scope/c; uwph: Pauline Heaton
1994	Magic in the Water/Glenorky [Rick Stevenson] c
1994	Crying Freeman [Christophe Gans] c; 2uc: William Gereghty; insert ph: Tony Westman & Russ Brandt
1996	City of Industry [John Irvin] c
1998	Where the Money Is [Marek Kanievska] c; 2uc: John S. Bartley
1998	Spooky House [William Sachs] c; 2uc: Dominique Ricard
2001	La première fois [Claude Paré] c; short/12m
2001	Kart Racer [Stuart Gillard] c; 2uc: Paul Birkett; uwph: Pauline Heaton
2002	Timeline [Richard Donner] s35/c; 2uc; ph: Caleb Deschanel
2002	Lost Junction [Peter Masterson] c
2002	The Boys from County Clare/The Boys & Girl from County Clare/The Great Ceili War [John Irvin] s35/c
2005	Population 436 [Michelle Maxwell MacLaren] HD/c; 2uc: Paul Suderman & Sylvaine Dufaux
*2006*	Oops, Ups & Downs: The Murder Mystery of Humpty Dumpty [Sheree Ali] announced; status unknown
2007	How to Save the World - One Man, One Cow, One Planet [Barbara & Thomas Burstyn] c; doc/56m (tv-version) & 99m; + co-prod
*2008*	Hollenbeck [Joe Heine] announced; status unknown
2009	This Way of Life [Thomas Burstyn] HD/c; doc/84m; addph: Dan Browne; filmed over a 4-year period
*2009*	Crimes of Opportunity [Peter Coyote] in development since 1996; status unknown

With dir Rosemary Riddell - "The Insatiable Moon"

2009	The Insatiable Moon [Rosemary Riddell] HD (Sony PMW-EX1)/c; 2uc: David Cawley; + co-assoc prod
2011	Strongman - The Tragedy [Paula McTaggart & (dram seq) Gaylene Preston] HD/c; doc + dram seq/73m; ph dram seq; doc ph: Chris Brokensha
*2012*	3 Mile Limit [Craig Newland] pre-production; announced as ph, but film was ph in November by D.J. Stipsen; a concept trailer ('Radio Pirates') was prod in 2008 with doph David Gribble

TELEVISION
1981	[Jack London's] Tales of the Klondike/Jack London's Klondike Tales [various] 6-part series
1981	Rock Mysteries [Peter Alves] 2-part doc/120m
1981	Second City Television/SC Television Network/SCTV Network 90/SCTV Network/SCTV Channel [ep #97 'The Great White North Palace' dir by Jim Drake (JD) & #98 'Pre-Teen World Telethon' dir by JD] 135-part series, 1976-1984; Series 4, Cycle 3, 1982 (9 ep)
1984	The Hitchhiker/Deadly Nightmares [ep #8 'Petty Thieves' dir by Christopher Leitch (CL), #9 'Videodate' dir by Richard Rothstein, #11 'Man at the Window' dir by CL & #13 'Murderous Feelings' dir by Mai Zetterling] 85-part series, 1983-91; 1st season, 1983, 1984 & 1985 (13 ep)
1985	The Ray Bradbury Theater [ep #1 'Marionettes, Inc.' dir by Paul Lynch & #3 'The Crowd' dir by Ralph L. Thomas] 65-part series, 1985-86, 1988-90 & 1992; 2uc (#1) + addph (#3): Paul Mitchnick
1985	Cowboys' Claim [Miranda Smith] doc/28m/16mm; addph: Nadine Humenick, C.L. Stewart & Gary Dymmek
1985	The Hitchhiker/Deadly Nightmares [ep #15 'Out of the Night' dir by Brian Grant (BG), #17 'W.G.O.D.' dir by Mike Hodges, #18 'Man's Best Friend' dir by Phillip Noyce (PN), #20 'O.D. Feelin'' dir by Richard Rothstein, #22 'The Curse' dir by PN, #23 'True Believer' dir by Carl Schenkel & #26 'One Last Prayer' dir by BG] 2nd season, 1985-86; see 1984
1986	The Hitchhiker/Deadly Nightmares [ep #27 'Perfect Order' dir by Daniel Vigne, #30 'Why Are You Here?' dir by Chris Thomson, #31 'Homebodies' dir by Carl Schenkel, #32 'Doctor's Orders' dir by Reynaldo Villalobos, #34 'In the Name of Love' dir by John Laing (JL), #36 'Joker' dir by Colin Bucksey & #37 'Best Shot' dir by JL] 3rd season, 1987; see 1984
1987	Ford - The Man and The Machine [Allan Eastman] 2-part tvm
1987	Foxfire [Jud Taylor] tvm; ep #268 'Hallmark Hall of Fame'-series
1987	Broken Vows [Jud Taylor] tvm
1988	Promised a Miracle [Stephen Gyllenhaal] tvm
1988	Liberace [William Hale] tvm
1988	Leap of Faith/Question of Faith [Stephen Gyllenhaal] tvm
1989	Night Walk [Jerrold Freedman] tvm
1989	The Edge [ep #1 'Black Pudding' dir by Carl Schenkel & #2 'Indian Poker' dir by Luis Mandoki] 3-part series; other ph: Bernd Heinl; for HBO-tv
1989	Booker [, P.I.] [10 ep dir by various] 22-part series, 1989-90; other ph (12 ep): John S. Bartley
1990	The Dreamer of Oz [Jack Bender] tvm/b&w-c; vfx superv: Sam Nicholson; ep NBC-tv 'Monday Night at the Movies'
1990	She Stood Alone [Jack Gold] tvm
1990	[Kurt Vonnegut's] Welcome to the Monkey House [Paul Shapiro (seg 'Next Door'), Gilbert Shilton (seg 'The Euphio Question') & Allan King (seg 'All the King's Men')] pilot, 1991; followed by 4-part series 'Monkey House', 1992-93
1991	Empire City [Mark Rosner] tvm
1991	The Perfect Tribute [Jack Bender] tvm
1991	Silent Motive [Lee Philips] tvm
1991	Blind Man's Bluff [James Quinn] tvm
1991	Criminal Behavior [Michael Miller] tvm
1992	Millennium - Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World [ep #1 'The Shock of the Other' dir by ?] 10-part doc series; other ph: Vic Sarin, Douglas Kiefer & Michael Boland
1992	Liar Liar [: Between Father and Daughter]/Daddy's Little Secret [Jorge Montesi] tvm
1992	Overkill [: The Aileen Wuornos Story] [Peter Levin] tvm
1992	A Child Lost Forever [: The Jerry Sherwood Story] [Claudia Weill] tvm
1993	Hush Little Baby/Mother of Pearl/The Stepmother [Jorge Montesi] tvm
1995	Crazy Horse [John Irvin] tvm
1995	[John Grisham's] The Client [pilot dir by Paul Shapiro] 21-part series, 1995-96; other ph: Lowell Peterson
1995	Deadly Love [Jorge Montesi] tvm
1995	Ebbie [George Kaczender] tvm
1995	Seduced by Madness [: The Diane Borchardt Story]/Murderous Passion [John Patterson] 2-part tvm
1996	Dead Silence [Daniel Petrie, Jr.] tvm
1997	Lost Treasure of Dos Santos [Jorge Montesi] tvm
1997	When Trumpets Fade/Hamburger Hill 2 [John Irvin] tvm
1997	Peter Benchley's Creature [Stuart Gillard] 2-part tvm; uwph (St. Lucia): Jordan Klein
1997	Four Corners [Kevin Dowling] 4-part series; addph; ph: Lowell Peterson
1997	The Magnificent Seven [various] 23-part (4 unaired) series; other ph: Jack Conroy (pilot), Gordon Lonsdale, William Wages & Brian Sullivan
1998	The Girl Next Door [David Greene] tvm
1998	A Marriage of Convenience [James Keach] tvm
1998	Cupid [pilot dir by Scott Winant] 15-part series, 1998-99; other ph: Robert Hudecek
1999	Deadlocked [Michael W. Watkins] tvm
1999	Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story/Winter's Tale [Michael Switzer] tvm
2000	Race Against Time [Geoff Murphy] tvm
2000	First Target [Armand Mastroianni] tvm; 2uc: Randal Platt
2000	All Souls [pilot dir by Stuart Gillard (SG) + 5 ep dir by SG & Rick Rosenthal] 6-part series, 2001
2001	Walking Shadow [Po-Chih Leong] tvm
2001	Within These Walls/Their Last Chance [Mike Robe] tvm
2002	The Funkhousers [Frank Oz] pilot; for ABC-tv
2003	Full-Court Miracle/Lamont's Maccabees [Stuart Gillard] tvm
2003	Going to the Mat [Stuart Gillard] tvm
2004	The 4400 [2-hour pilot 'The Return' dir by Yves Simoneau, ep #2 'The New & Improved Carl Morrissey' dir by Helen Shaver, #3 'Becoming' dir by David Straiton, #4 'Trial By Fire' dir by Nick Gomez & #5 'White Light' dir by Tim Hunter] 45-part series/HD (Thomson Viper), 2004-07; 1st season, 2004 (5 ep); see above
2005	Terminal City [Rachel Talalay, Lynne Stopkewich, Kari Skogland & Stephen Surjik] 10-part series/HD (Thomson Viper)
2005	Final Days of Planet Earth [Robert Lieberman] 3-hour tvm/HD & 2-part tvm (in UK)
2005	Sex, Love & Secrets [various] 8-part (4 unaired) series/HD; other ph: Crescenzo Notarile
2006	Son of the Dragon [David Wu] 2-part tvm; 2uc: Kam Shing & Jimmy Wong; 'Son of the Dragon' & 'Marco Polo' were filmed back-to-back during Spring and Summer in China & Mongolia
2006	Marco Polo [Kevin Connor] 2-part tvm; 2uc: Jimmy Wong; 'Son of the Dragon' & 'Marco Polo' were filmed back-to-back during Spring and Summer in China & Mongolia

With actress Kathleen Robertson - "Tin Man"

2007	Tin Man [Nick Willing] 3-part miniseries/HD (ARRI D-20)
2008	The Last Templar [Paolo Barzman] 2-part tvm/HD; sfx ph: Mario Janelle
2009	Riverworld [Stuart Gillard] 2-part tvm; hph: A.J. Vesak; uwph: Pauline Heaton; for Syfy-tv
2010	Avalon High [Stuart Gillard] tvm; for Disney Channel
2012	Girl vs. Monster [Stuart Gillard] tvm/HD; for Disney Channel
2012	Defiance [11 ep dir by various] 38-part series/RED Epic, 2013-15; 1st season, 2013 (13 ep); other ph (2-part pilot): Attila Szalay

MISCELLANEOUS
1972	The Huntsman [Douglas Jackson; short] prod asst; ph: Denis Gillson

FILMS AS DIRECTOR
1976	If Brains Were Dynamite [You Wouldn't Have Enough to Blow Your Nose] - Mark Prent [co-dir; doc; + ph] see Films
1978	Flash William [co-dir; doc; + ph] see Films
2007	How to Save the World - One Man, One Cow, One Planet [doc; + co-prod/ph] see Films
2007	Divine Water [doc] in production (2007-present); a funding trailer (8m) was edited in October 2008; prod for the Healing Water Institute
2009	This Way of Life [doc; + ph] see Films
2012	Land of the Free, Except for Me [feature] pre-production (as of June 2012, funding and casting is still ongoing); ph: Steven Fierberg