Cinematographer Kirk Bennett

“Passionate about everything I do.”

 

G aining a combination of on the job experience in film and television production both live and studio, and industry training, I have held positions allowing and requiring me to exercise a great deal of valuable formal training in my fields of expertise.  I am driven by my love of theater and cinema in the vein of Directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Francis Ford Coppola (among others). Artists also have inspired me as well such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Yves Trudeau, Michelangelo, and in particular H.R. Giger. While my preference is for colour film productions I am also deeply inspired by film-noire and European film, from the earliest days of film to the mid-1980s, as well as film from France, Africa, the Orient, and Asia.  In my writing I strive for psychological excellence and invest hardily in developing solid characters the audience can empathize with.

Following my 2021 establishment of a YouTube channel entitled “Canadian Heritage Trek”, and my 2016 historical documentary release “Flight of Le Scarabée”, I am about to release my second full length feature historical documentary entitled “EXPO67-17”.  To date my own productions have been principally Quebec historical documentaries.

Currently I work as a freelance Cinematographer / DOP & Field Sound Recordist, I also compose/record music for film, television and radio, and host a seasonal radio show about the evolution of music. In 2021 I began writing for my own dramatic productions.  I also specialize in writing / developing shooting scripts and treatments. Most recently I am mastering compositing and DFX in Adobe After Effects and other software, and am moving into stunt coverage and coordination support.

Expertise:

Cinematographer/Independent Filmmaker & Producer, Communications Consultant, Television Producer and Researcher, Interviewer, Photographer, Musician, Freelance Journalist, Freelance Researcher, Technician, Writer, and Producer.  Extensive experience in covering press-conferences and interviews. I am also a multidisciplinary artist working in a wide variety of mediums including (but not limited to) wood, steel, glass, plastics, and stone.

Membership: 

  • International Association of Independent Journalists 
  • (Quebec) English Language Arts Network
  • Montreal Aviation Center
  • Dorval Historical Society

Interests and Hobbies:

Nature; sciences; aviation; still and motion photography/filmography; architecture; 17th Century Canadian history; war history; film history; optical technology; music; social issues; democracy; medicine; wood and metal work; inventing; computer & other technologies; archaeology; animals; the sea; weather; the arts; psychology; business practices and management; television broadcasting; stereo and 3D film; IMAX technologies. To relax I cycle, practice nature  and creative photography, and I'm a voracious reader of mainly non-fiction.

Overview:

In 1988 I began television broadcasting as an Interviewer and Technician. Becoming Producer for the English Language Programming of TVL-9 and a half-hour news-magazine weekly broadcast I soon moved into freelance film and industrial video while offering sideline services in the commercial graphic-arts industry. In 1992 I traveled to Toronto for formal training in computer platforms at APPLE and Microsoft/IBM Canada in preparation for a contract representing APPLE. Then I began working as a freelance film crew member mainly as DOP or Principle Camera Operator and began working as a freelance journalist and researcher to major broadcasters CTV and CBC and smaller private broadcasters and media-outlets. Eventually I gained extensive experience in silicon technologies, post-production for film and broadcast, and then moved into film production proper as Principle Camera Operator and Lighting Technician.  Other various positions I have held have been Energy Inspector for Hydro Quebec, digital communications provider for Montreal Urban Ecology Center; and support coordinator for ASIC engineering to both consumer and military contracts.