Cinematographer

(b. August 7, 1950 Toronto, Ontario)

Once described as the boy wonder of Canadian cinematographers, Mark Irwin had shot scores of feature films and documentaries (and sported a full head of silver grey hair) by the time he reached his mid-twenties. One of Canada’s most respected and gifted cinematographers, he worked on everything from horror movies to children’s films and made a name for himself primarily through his naturalistic, low-light shooting style and his close collaboration with David Cronenberg – factors which led director Ed Hunt to dub him “the prince of darkness.”

While studying kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, Irwin took a film course that would prove to be a turning point in his life. After leaving university he went to London, England for nine months, where he worked as a television studio assistant. Upon returning to Toronto, he attended York University’s film programme for three years and, while still a film student, joined the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC) in 1970.

Irwin moved to Los Angeles in 1987 and since then has primarily shot big-budget Hollywood films. Some of his more notable credits include: Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983), The Dead Zone (1983) and The Fly (1986); William Fruet’s Funeral Home (1980), Trapped (1982) and Spasms (1983); Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) and Scream (1996); and the Farrelly brothers’ Dumb and Dumber (1994), Kingpin (1996), There’s Something About Mary (1998) and Me, Myself & Irene (2000).

Film and video work includes

Being First, 1973 (cinematographer)
For the Love of a Horse, 1973 (cinematographer)
Reunion, 1973 (cinematographer; co-producer with Murray Battle)
Diary of a Sinner, 1974 (focus-puller)
Airplanes, Men and Memories, 1976 (cinematographer)
The Duel, 1976 (cinematographer)
The Opening, 1976 (cinematographer)
Point of No Return, 1976 (cinematographer)
Whole Body Manual, 1976 (cinematographer)
Ice Flight, 1977 (co-cinematographer with Michael Fuller)
Starship Invasions, 1977 (cinematographer)
Storytelling, 1983 (cinematographer)
Blood and Guts, 1978 (cinematographer)
Fast Company, 1979 (cinematographer)
The Final Ingredient, 1979 (cinematographer)
Jack Bush, 1979 (cinematographer)
Jimmy Playing with Time, 1979 (cinematographer; TV)
The Newcomers series, 1979 (cinematographer; TV, 2 episodes)
A Path of His Own: The Story of David B. Milne, 1979 (co-cinematographer with Paul Caulfield)
Plague, 1979 (cinematographer)
The World According to Nicholas series, 1979 (cinematographer;TV)
Beneath the Streets, 1980 (cinematographer)
Bike Busters, 1980 (co-cinematographer with John Walker, Barry Stone)
Funeral Home, 1980 (cinematographer)
The Guild, 1980 (cinematographer)
Shipyard, 1980 (cinematographer)
The View from Vinegar Hill, 1980 (cinematographer)
Viola, 1980 (cinematographer)
Bix, 1981 (co-cinematographer with Edmund Long, Vic Sarin)
Crisis in the Rain, 1981 (cinematographer)
Images of Ireland, 1981 (co-cinematographer with Paddy Baron, Michael Savoie)
Leonard Oesterele, 1981 (co-cinematographer with Doug Munroe)
Night School, 1981 (cinematographer)
Our Children are Our Future, 1981 (co-cinematographer with Robert Nichol)
Tanya's Island, 1981 (cinematographer)
A Time to Mourn: A Time to Dance, 1981 (cinematographer)
We Are the World, 1981 (cinematographer)
Energy for the Future, 1982 (cinematographer)
John Doe, 1982 (cinematographer)
K.C.I.: Beyond the Three R's, 1982 (cinematographer)
Taxi!, 1982 (cinematographer)
Trapped, a.k.a. Baker County, USA, 1982 (co-cinematographer with Matthew Patrick)
An Ounce of Cure, 1983 (cinematographer)
The Dead Zone, 1983 (cinematographer)
Prisoners of Debt: Inside the Global Banking Crisis, 1983 (co-cinematographer with René Ohashi)
Spasms, 1983 (cinematographer)
When We First Met, 1983 (cinematographer)
And Time Passes in a Flash of Lightning, 1984 (cinematographer)
Cornet at Night, 1984 (cinematographer; TV)
The Edit, 1984 (cinematographer)
Full of Sound and Fury: Living with Schizophrenia, 1984 (cinematographer)
Give and Take, 1984 (cinematographer)
Pulling Flowers, 1984 (cinematographer)
Special People: A True Story, 1984 (cinematographer; TV)
By Our Own Hands, 1985 (cinematographer)
The Hospital, Finding Our Way series, 1985 (cinematographer)
Left Out, Finding Our Way series, 1985 (cinematographer)
Neon, an Electric Memoir, 1985 (co-cinematographer with Rudy Buttignol, Chris Terry, John Walker, René Ohashi)
October Stranger, 1985 (cinematographer)
Pitchmen, 1985 (cinematographer)
The Playground, The Ray Bradbury Theater series, 1985 (cinematographer; TV)
The Protector, 1985 (cinematographer) Banshee,
The Ray Bradbury Theater series, 1986 (cinematographer; TV)
The Fly, 1986 (cinematographer)
The Screaming Woman, The Ray Bradbury Theater series, 1986 (cinematographer; TV)
Spearfield's Daughter, 1986 (co-cinematographer with John R. McLean; TV)
The Town Where No One Got Off, The Ray Bradbury Theater series, 1986 (cinematographer; TV)
Youngblood, 1986 (cinematographer)
The Hanoi Hilton, 1987 (cinematographer)
Really Weird Tales, 1987 (cinematographer; TV)
Those Roos Boys and Friends, 1987 (cinematographer)
Bat 21, 1988 (cinematographer)
Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, 1988 (co-cinematographer with Tony Impey; TV)
Fright Night Part II, 1988 (cinematographer)
The Blob, 1988 (cinematographer)
My First Love, 1988 (co-cinematographer with Tom Houghton; TV)
Pass the Ammo, 1988 (cinematographer)
Do You Know the Muffin Man?, 1989 (cinematographer; TV)
Paint it Black, 1989 (cinematographer)
Terror Eyes, 1989 (co-cinematographer with Robert Grant)
Call Me Anna, 1990 (cinematographer; TV)
Class of 1999, 1990 (cinematographer)
Heat Wave, 1990 (cinematographer; TV)
I Come in Peace, 1990 (cinematographer)
Paint it Black, 1990 (cinematographer)
Robocop 2, 1990 (cinematographer)
So Proudly We Hail, 1990 (cinematographer; TV)
Tales From the Crypt series, 1990 (cinematographer; TV, 1 episode)
Absolute Strangers, 1991 (cinematographer)
Backfield in Motion, 1991 (cinematographer; TV)
Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace, 1991 (cinematographer; TV)
Not of this World, 1991 (cinematographer; TV)
Showdown in Little Tokyo, 1991 (cinematographer)
Keep the Change, 1992 (cinematographer; TV)
Nightmare Cafe series, 1992 (co-cinematographer with Rodney Charters; TV)
Passenger 57, 1992 (cinematographer)
April One, 1993 (cinematographer)
Extreme Justice, 1993 (cinematographer)
Man's Best Friend, 1993 (cinematographer)
Miracle Child, 1993 (cinematographer; TV)
Slaughter of the Innocents, 1993 (cinematographer)
Dumb & Dumber, 1994 (cinematographer)
The Last Good Time, 1994 (producer)
The Mask, 1994 (additional photography)
The Mighty Ducks, 1994 (cinematographer)
New Nightmare, 1994 (cinematographer)
Night of the Running Man, 1994 (cinematographer)
Avenging Angel, 1995 (cinematographer; TV)
Vampire in Brooklyn, 1995 (cinematographer)
Don't Look Back, 1996 (cinematographer; camera operator; TV)
Innocent Victims, 1996 (cinematographer; TV)
Kingpin, 1996 (cinematographer)
Robin of Locksley, 1996 (cinematographer; camera operator; TV)
Scream, 1996 (cinematographer)
Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way, 1997 (cinematographer; TV)
Misbegotten, 1997 (cinematographer)
Steel, 1997 (cinematographer)
Tidal Wave: No Escape, 1997 (cinematographer; TV)
Buckeye and Blue, 1988 (cinematographer)
There's Something About Mary, 1998 (cinematographer)
Zack and Reba, 1998 (cinematographer)
10 Things I Hate About You, 1999 (cinematographer)
Can of Worms, 1999 (cinematographer; TV)
Me, Myself & Irene, 2000 (cinematographer)
Road Trip, 2000 (cinematographer)
American Pie 2, 2001 (cinematographer)
Freddy Got Fingered, 2001 (cinematographer)
Osmosis Jones, 2001 (cinematographer)
Say it isn't So, 2001 (cinematographer)
Malibu's Most Wanted, 2003 (cinematographer)
The Next Big Thing (Part 3: Los Angeles),
The View from Here series, 2003 (co-cinematographer with Ali Kazimi, Alister Bell, Don Spence, et al.)
Old School, 2003 (cinematographer)
Scary Movie 3, 2003 (cinematographer)