Journal
Director and cinematographer notes from inside the work: light, faces, movement, rooms, performance and the choices that still hold up.
Follow the journal by RSSLatest notes
Working notes on direction, cinematography, performance and the visual decisions inside selected projects.
Director Notes ·
In Mabel, I wanted to keep the camera still so the final pull-away would have more impact. Looking back at the short I wrote and directed in 2018–2021, that decision is a useful example of how I think about movement: work out what it means for the story before the shoot.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Jamie brings contemporary dance into a story told through social scenes and private exchanges. Directed and choreographed by Vienna Hank and Kensley Iwamoto, the 2026 short combines their lead performances with cinematography and colour by James Alton. These three frames show the shift from a warm group scene to a blue night exterior and a close performance shot.
Read note
Cinematography ·
This photograph was taken in 2017. Nine years later, it still speaks to my willingness to get the shot—and to how much experience can add to that willingness.
Read note
Cinematography ·
Before filming Last of a Dying Breed, I thought I wanted the softness and character of vintage lenses. We put Roark Critchlow on a couch and compared older glass, modern lenses and Black Pro-Mist in black and white. Watching the test changed my mind: I wanted a modern, sharp, crisp, high-contrast image, with diffusion added only where we wanted it.
Read note
Performance ·
CBC/Radio-Canada is accepting applications from Canadian musical artists who want to represent the country at the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest. Eligible singers and live performers in Kelowna, West Kelowna, the Okanagan, Vancouver, Victoria and across British Columbia can apply until September 9 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.
Read note
Director Notes ·
The first half of Team Deakins' conversation with Steven Soderbergh stayed with me because it kept returning to a practical question: what is this film trying to be, and what rules will help us make it that way? Vision is not separate from execution. It has to reach the actors, the camera, the room, the schedule and the edit.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Midlife Shuffle turns a self-help session into a surreal encounter with its participants' younger selves. Matt Che'z Forster directed the 2026 short for Northern Monkey Productions; James Alton served as producer, B-camera operator and assistant DP.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Trevor Ingram's Nothing Down That Road moves through a weathered cabin, an empty rural road and sunlit hills in British Columbia. Marie Ashwood directed the 2026 music video; James Alton produced and served as director of photography.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Kelowna and Kasugai are marking 45 years as sister cities in 2026. The City of Kelowna is sharing 40 Years of Friendship, the 2021 short documentary directed, photographed and edited by James Alton.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Colorado, Alexandra Wright's first official music video, placed third in Music Videos and received Best Song at the 2026 Okanagan Screen Awards. James Alton directed, produced, photographed, edited and coloured the film in Kelowna.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Open Road received two nominations at the 2026 Josie Music Awards: Song of the Year — Country Male for Kris Anders, and Best Actress in a Music Video for Giuliana Carbone. James Alton directed, produced and photographed the video across the Okanagan.
Read note
Director Notes ·
In 2020, I spent two days at Kingfisher Interpretive Centre filming a seven-part education series beside the Lower Shuswap River. I arrived with cameras. I left knowing far more about salmon, trees and watersheds than I expected.
Read note
Director Notes ·
Seeing Ginny Becker again at the 2026 BC Leo Awards brought me back to what Ginny's Story was actually about: seeing the human cost inside a system, helping tell it clearly, and staying connected to the people who trusted me with the work.
Read note Selected Work ·
An interview, a lesson beside a river and a destination film ask different things of a camera. Ginny’s Story, Kingfisher and Haida House bring people and place together in three different forms.
Read note Selected Work ·
A musician, a documentary subject and a fictional shopkeeper each bring a different kind of performance to the screen. These three films span music, documentary and narrative work.
Read note
Cinematography ·
The Older Bastard Brother brings a contemporary western into a wood-panelled interior. James Alton directed, produced, photographed and edited the short, written by Dave Kenneth MacKinnon.
Read note
Selected Work ·
A fast commercial, a music video and a dramatic short call for different work on set. Recent projects include directing and cinematography, as well as collaboration within another director’s camera team.
Read note
Performance ·
These dance films move between a theatre, a house and a pandemic-era screen production. Each brings choreography into a different physical setting.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Two estranged sisters return to their mother’s home at Christmas, where a final letter brings them together. Marie Ashwood and Shatille McInnes star in The Letter, a short directed by James Alton.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Blood Brothers follows Corky as he reunites with his long-lost brother, Roark. Corky McMechan and Roark Critchlow star in the dramatic short, filmed on an apartment set inside the former Kelowna Film Studios space.
Read note
Selected Work ·
A brush against a wall, a drawing over coffee, then a mural across a public building. Jomae — Mural Artists is a 2024 commercial featuring Liz Ranney and Dylan Ranney, directed, photographed and edited by James Alton. Watch the complete 91-second film below, followed by two frames from its painting and planning sequences.
Read note
Selected Work ·
Tennyson King's 2022 music video It Ain't Easy puts the singer inside a rough-edged arm-wrestling club, moving from improvised outdoor training to a final match. James Alton directed and photographed the one-day production.
Read note
Performance ·
A dancer stretches into a low lunge, another rolls across the foreground, and a duet brings two people close enough to see their hands meet. These moments from Ballet Kelowna’s One With (2021), photographed by James Alton, show how camera distance changes what a dance audience can see. Watch the official trailer below.
Read note
Selected Work ·
A masked figure in Naramata, a hillside above the lake and a guitar performance after dark. Autumn Sun is Sarah Osborne’s 2021 music video, directed, photographed and edited by James Alton. Watch the film below, followed by a closer look at its daylight scenes and night performance.
Read note
Performance ·
Kendra Hesketh performs alone beside a table laid for tea. In The Pink Unicorn, filmed for New Vintage Theatre in 2020, wide and closer views give different weight to her gestures, the props and the outdoor set. Watch the two-minute trailer, then compare the compositions below.
Read noteTags
Watch film