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ROBERT
J.FINBOW
Mexican-Canadian artist and filmmaker studying in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
BIOgraphy
Robert James Finbow is a Mexican-Canadian filmmaker and aspiring writer/director from Halifax, Nova Scotia. As soon as he could maneuver a crayon he found himself obsessed with creating characters and stories like the ones which captivated him from behind the TV screen. By the sixth grade he was already jumping at every opportunity to participate in film work via workshops and summer programs at his local theatre. In high school he completed a three-semester IB certificate in film, graduating high honours, following it up with a 2-year diploma in Screen Arts at the Nova Scotia Community College Ivany Campus in Dartmouth. He is now continuing his studies in film at NSCAD University in downtown Halifax, where his most recent directorial effort, PERIPHERAL VISIONS, won the third place prize at the end-of-year film festival in 2025. In the long run, what he wants more than anything is to finally share the stories which have played on repeat in his head his whole life with the rest of the world.
Film Experience
John Brown's Body
A documentary passion project directed, shot, narrated, edited by me, and featuring animated sequences also done myself. Touches on a deeply personal topic that I have felt an urge to tell the story of through this medium for several years. The original concept for how I wanted to tell this story went through several passes before ultimately landing on something completely different that ultimately feels the right way. I'm very proud of the result and it was a greatly enriching experience to pour my creativity into something so personal, and to excercise my abilities in storytelling.
Documentary Short | 2024 | 16:9 | 8mins | dir. Robert J. Finbow
Student Short Film | 2024 | 16:9 | 8mins | dir. Sean Hickey
Krakl
For ‘Krakl’ I was asked to assist with Art Department, and ended up mostly on wall duty, clearing and formatting artwork to be printed off and hung up as posters for the lead characters’ bedroom, also designing posters from scratch as well as magazine covers and anything else that could be used to fill that space, changing from year to year as the character’s tastes mature with them. On set there were endless resets between every scene. Be it shuffling items around the room to make it look as though it were another day, or tearing everything down and replacing it to represent the years passing. As a duo, me and the art director made swift, organized work of these changes and functioned efficiently. It did involve me taking endless continuity photos of the items in the room, especially the placement of posters and other stuff on the walls, so that I could set those items back in their precise places when needed. I was later asked to do the colour grading for the film, which was a great experience getting to exercise what I’d learned in class on various lighting scenarios and times of day, as well as getting creative with some things like using vignettes to symbolize memories, shifting colour temperature to represent a sunset and time passing, etc. I was overall delighted to have a hand in this project and am happy with the results.
Music Video | 2024 | 16:9 | 4mins | dir. Branden McLean
All Good
After stepping into the position of Director of Photography for the first time for 'All Good' I overall felt like a far more competent camera operator than I did going in. After designed shots and setups based on the director's vision for their script and shooting the production using a variety of equipment for various shot types, I felt more familiar with the equipment and better understood the intricacies of how they operate. The production helped me become far more confident in setting up and operating the tripod, and taught me how to set up and use a slider, portable monitor, and full sized monitor. The production helped me to know a lot more about lighting setups and how to make them reach their highest potential, made me feel more confident in shooting on a film set, and gave me a much clearer understanding of the pre-production work that goes into cinematography. This includes creating a cohesive shot list, considering the number of set-ups you can feasibly have in one day, breaking a screenplay down into shots, and creating a shooting schedule that works best for everyone. It was also a great exercise of my skills as an editor, as I edited the footage we shot all together, did basic colour grading for the first time, and created a soundscape from stock sound effects and foley that I created from scratch, to accompany the recorded audio and dialogue that I also had to mix to the best of my ability.
Nocebo
On ‘Nocebo’ I was assigned the duties of Grip/Gaffer, and designed a number of different lighting set-ups for multiple locations, times of day, and unique scenarios. I faced a lot of challenges but I think I overcame them well. For instance, the shooting schedule was not organized primarily to consider the lighting setups, this meant constant lighting changes for almost every scene, some of which were improvised as plans changed mid-shoot (such as wanting bright overhead lighting for daytime scenes). For the sake of continuity and maintaining a smooth pace for the production I simplified these lighting setups by keeping the actual movement of lights to a minimum and instead changing the colour, temperature, and brightness of lights while keeping them in the same place, sometimes turning some off depending on the shot, changing height and angles occasionally, etc. I think I was twice as efficient in my role as grip/ gaff as the last time I filled that role. I had a lot more confidence in what I was doing, and I moved swiftly and safely through the shoot. I think my work was a necessary evolution of what I did on previous productions, and I feel that I functioned better as a team member, and overall communicated better with my crew than I have before. Everyone did a really great job on this production and I was lucky to have the help that I did.
'Nocebo'
rough lighting plans
Student Short Film | 2024 | 16:9 | 8mins | dir. Esme Reid
'Krakl'
wall arT,
posters, magazines,
etc.
Alien Woman
'Alien Woman' was a massive undertaking for me. Having only dabbled in Art Department beforehand I was asked to fulfill the role of Art Director for this production, which involved designing and constructing a sci-fi space nightclub set complete with a stage and various alien characters to inhabit it, including an elaborate and mysterious 'alien woman' who fuses mid-way through with our lead character. I took a huge amount of effort, constructing set pieces, crafting props, designing makeup and wardrobe, and ended up including a very difficult time crunch when a snowstorm knocked off three whole days of prep. It was a very stressful experience but I did feel like I learnt a lot and got to put my tangible creative skills to the test.
'Alien woman'
Art dept. paperwork
'Alien woman'
CONCEPT ART
Student Short Film | 2023 | 16:9 | 4mins | dir. Vander Stewart
'All good'
pitch deck &
camera paperwork
Film Experience (in-depth)
Student Short Film | 2025
dir. Al Newling
Key Camera Operator, Editor
Placeholder description
Student Short Film | 2025
dir. Willa Fisher
Cinematographer, Editor
Placeholder description
Student Short Film | 2025
dir. Chabinaa Ariette
Camera Operator
Placeholder description
Student Short Film | 2024
dir. Robert J. Finbow
Writer, Director, Editor, Sound Editor/Mixer, VFX Supervisor/Artist
Placeholder description
Student Short Film | 2024
dir. Willa Fisher
Grip
Assisted the cinematographer of the production with setting up, taking down, and moving lighting gear for various setups.
Student Short Film | 2024
dir. Charlie Jones
Key Camera Operator
Served as key camera operator on the production, using a variety of equipment for various shot types including combined spider dolly and jib setup, remote follow focus and more.
Student Short Film | 2024
dir. Jessie Moshenberg
Key Camera Operator, Editor
Designed shots and setups based on the director's vision for their script and served as key camera operator on the production. Edited the final product.
Documentary Short | 2024
dir. Robert J. Finbow
Music Video | 2024
dir. Nathan Duzak
Music Video | 2024
dir. Branden McLean
Student Short Film | 2023
dir. Sean Hickey
Student Short Film | 2023
dir. Esme Reid
Student Short Film | 2023
dir. Branden McLean
Student Short Film | 2023
dir. Amber Pickett
Student Short Film | 2023
dir. Vander Stewart
Music Video | 2023
dir. Evan George
Student Short Film | 2022
dir. Sean Hickey
Student Short Film | 2022
dir. Lindsay Jensen
Student Short Film | 2022
dir. Robert J. Finbow
Mini Series | 2021
dir. Erika Convey
Short Film | 2019
dir. Robert J. Finbow, Renaud Blais, Olivia Bagnald
Music Video | 2019
Writer, Director, Editor, Animator, etc.
A documentary passion project covering a deeply personal topic. Directed, shot, narrated, edited by me, and featuring an animated sequence also done myself.
Director of Photography
Filmed the video after collaborating with the director to design the best camera rig and shooting schedule. Also assisted with some set decoration/art department.
Art Director / Production Designer
Designed set, costumes, props, makeup, and managed all the tangible visual elements of the production.
Key Grip / Gaffer
Designed and managed all the lighting elements of the production, organised lighting for various environments and situations, and assisted with dolly, jib, and other multi-person camera equipment.
Asst. Art Dept. / Set Decorator / Colourist
Served as assistant to the art director and helped with various set change-ups, also designed and handled decoration for the walls of the set. Colour graded the final edit in post-production.
1st Assistant Director, Editor
Performed 1st AD and 3rd AD duties; Scheduling, managing safety, slating shots, fulfilling actors' needs, etc. Edited the film including sound design, colour correction, titles and credits, etc.
Key Grip / Gaffer
Designed and managed all the lighting elements of the production based on the director's vision, working with various lighting equipment, lots of gels, diffusers, etc.
Director of Photography, Editor
Designed shots and setups based on the director's vision for their script and shot the production using a variety of equipment for various shot types. Edited the film including sound design, colour correction, titles and credits, etc.
Producer Mentee
Shadowed the film's producer, Chris Reid, and got firsthand experience with the work that goes into managing a production of this scale.
Camera, Art Department
Short film/vignette shot as part of a group project to design and build a miniature set. Assisted with the design and construction of the set and shot the short.
Sound Recordist, Editor
Recorded sound for the production, performed boom operation and managed writing down of takes, etc. Edited the final product.
Writer, Director, Editor, etc.
Self-written, directed, shot, edited and starring film made for IB Film 12 final.
Director of Photography, Editor (1 Episode)
Mini series made as part of a 2-week course for aspiring youth actors and filmmakers. Planned and executed the cinematography for the 3 minisodes.
Co-Writer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Collaboratively devised the plot and concept of the film and ultimately ended up as the one behind the camera and directing the action most of the time.
Camera, Editor, Co-Director
Unofficial music video shot as a small one-day group project as part of a Film 101 summer course for youth.
résumé
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