Julia and Alex | Short form film | Villa Ponti, Napa

Happy new year everyone!
I hope you had a great holiday season and that you are ready for what ever 2014 will bring us. I'm very excited with this new year as I see so many opportunities looming, and frankly, I have made my resolution to make 2014 my best year ever since I started cinematt.
One thing I've also promised myself for 2014 is to give more importance to the blog and to give you content you would like to read. It will have the usual and occasional films we shot of course. But I would like to also give you some tips to make your wedding a perfect day. So every now and then I will try my utmost to help you plan your day the best way possible.
Today I'm sharing a film that is dear to my heart as Alex and Julia are one of the nicest couple you could ever meet. Maybe it's the fact that Julia has spent sometime in France and can speak the language, but as soon as I met her it was an instant connection. To top it off my good friend Loic Nicolas was their photographer. Loic and I have been friends since 2009 and every time we shoot together we have a blast. I understand what he needs and he definitely knows what I'm looking for. Having such a chemistry is key to creating a great experience for the couple.
I knew that Julia and Alex wanted a film that doesn't feel scripted and per her own words "fake". It worked out perfectly and as I hope you can see, their personality shines throughout.
A big thanks to my team, Dennis, Miguel, and Jeremiah, you guys did a great job.

Liz and Eric | feature highlight | Healdsburg Gardens, California

As we are wrapping up the summer, and ready to leave to France on Monday for Valentine and Thibault's wedding in Bordeaux, I wanted to share with you Liz and Eric beautiful film. They got married in one of my favorite place, The Healdsburg Country Gardens. I have had the chance to film there a few years back alongside my good friend James, and was dying to do another one there.

This one is a bit particular to me as two weeks prior their wedding I had a scooter accident, and broke my Big Toe, which landed me in a walking boot for the next six weeks. Off course, I had six straight weddings to film to make things even better. So naturally I called Liz and Erick to let them know what had happened, but not to worry I will be there filming their wedding, and will also bring an extra cinematographer.
You see our community of cinematographers in San Francisco is really strong, and my Friend Luke Goodman stepped up to the plate to come help me and be "my legs" on that day. It turned out that the pain wasn't as bad as what I thought and I was able to film alongside Luke, and Dennis.

But I digress. From the moment I met Liz and Eric, I knew we were a great match. They were fun loving, and definitely my kind of couples. Liz had some great ideas to make her wedding as personal as possible, which included but was not limited to shot glasses for favor, Mexican tiles for table numbers, a fun Photo Booth and a dessert station to die for.
I really enjoyed their sunset photo session as those two are so natural and comfortable with each other. It's beautiful to see two people so much in love. Their vows to each other was just a perfect icing on the cake.
Please enjoy their film and don't hesitate to leave a comment or press the like button if you enjoyed it.
Merci et bonne journée


Venue: Healdsburg Country Gardens
Wedding coordinator: Elsa Vera
Photographer: Andrew Scott
Make up and Hair: Hair Artistry by Gabrielle
Caterer: Park Avenue Catering
Floral: Bud Stop
DJ: Diamond Dave
Cinematographer: cinematt

Another wonderful letter

I love my work, LOVE it. It's so rewarding to be there when 2 people say I do. You witness the most important of moment in their life and their love for each other. It's a milestone that I feel privilege to witness, 20 to 30 times a year. Each one is unique. Each story is different and my goal as a cinematographer is to be able to bring the day back to them, as authentic and candidly as possible.
So when I received the following email from Elisa and Michael, I felt like a million box!

hi Matthieu!

You have no idea how much times we watched it over and over again last night (or maybe you do)!

We love it!  It was really like re-living one of the happiest moment of our lives!  Thank you for capturing and putting it into a very personal and touching story.  Elisa and I wanted to properly write you a thank you email, but we watch the video till mid-night, and I have to go back to the lab and finish my work.  We still need to properly write you about how we felt about the video.  But for now, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Enjoy their story as much as I enjoyed seeing it unfloding.

Bonne journée.

Matthieu

Thank you to Jeremiah and Robb for doing such a great job on the day of, and a special thanks to Emma and Alfred Salom for referring me to Elisa and Michael. I love working with you guys, and hope we can do it again soon.

Photographer:

Alfred and Emma Salom 

Ceremony Location:

Bancroft Hotel

Caterer:

Hong Kong East Ocean Restaurant

Florist:

Virginia Ho, S&V Collections

DJ or Band:

ceremony: Frank Diaz, SF style string

reception: eone production

• 
  

Sarah and Michael |Vintners Inn, Sonoma | Highlight Film

Making a wedding film, takes every fiber of your body and soul. It is a draining process. You concentrate on the couple on their story and within 10 minutes you try to tell the most compelling story you can. It's not an easy process, and sometimes it takes days, even weeks to get you started. I've always think that strong beginning and strong ending were the key to a great film, as the beginning is the one to hook you into it, and the ending is what allows the film to really flourish.
In the case of Sarah and Michael, I felt that the best way to go at it was to start with Michael's vow, and finish with Sarah's vows. I felt they would carry their story well, and will help the audience understand who they were as individuals and a couple. I hope you will enjoy it, and as usual any feedback or comments is welcome. So without further ado I present to you Sarah and Michael's wedding film. Enjoy

music licensed through songfreedom.com and themusicbed.com

Teresa and Eric - Calistoga Ranch - Napa

Writing blog is not always easy. Even though I have a degree in journalism, well mostly sports writing, I often struggle with it. But when you have couples like Teresa and Eric to write about, the words come easy, and they just glide on the computer screen. When Eric contacted me to shoot their intimate gorgeous wedding at Calistoga Ranch, I was ecstatic. First, they contacted me because Gene Higa their photographer had told them about me. I always feel so honored when one of my fellow colleague recommends me as it proves that they appreciate working with me, so right off the bat I knew I would felt very comfortable. Moreover, Their wedding was at Calistoga Ranch, which is a beautiful venue in the Napa region, and a place where I had never shot before. I knew it would be fresh creativity juice flowing. Finally, Teresa is the most gorgeous bride with the most beaming smile you can ever imagine... Eric cleans up pretty good as well, but let's face it, the star of this wedding was Teresa.
I really loved spending time getting to know them and establish a relationship with them before the wedding, which makes all the difference in the world when you step in that hotel room, and start filming.
What made their wedding so special to me is that they kept it really intimate. Eric's dad was his best man, and you can see the love of the two shares as they were getting ready at Solage. It was obvious they had a special bound. Teresa had her mom, her sister and her dad alongside while getting ready. It was really great to see Teresa and her dad just giggling and laughing it out while they were getting ready. You can felt the warmth of a loving family. Their officiant was a family friend who had so much personal touches and elements to add to their emotional and fun ceremony. Finally, the attention to details, which I love, was very obvious with a small tea ceremony during the ceremony, which honored both Teresa Chinese and Eric's Japanese Heritage.
The result is this 5 minutes of pure joy with Huckleberry Flint absolute fantastic soundtrack. Please visit their website and/or like them on Facebook. They are amazing, and they know how to bring the party.
I need to give some special shut outs to my team, of Aaron Lee, Tashi Wangchuk and Jeremiah Williams who are all responsible for this piece. And that's another thing I'd like to mention, working with great professional and having exceptional collaboration allow to produce such amazing work. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help and participation.
Bonne journee et a bientot.

Heather's Farm - Walnut Creek - Sara and David

This past June I was lucky enough to take part in Sara and David's union. David is a pastor and found love a year and a half ago when he met the beautiful Sara.
In front of their friends, and their family, they professed their love for each other, and had an intimate reception following.
One of my favorite moment of the day was definitely when David and Sara saw each other for the first time. Sara was so cute, and so nervous at the same time as she walked toward David's who was just looking at her with gazing eyes and a cool demeanor, but shade a few tears as she turned the corner.
Another great moment was when their matron of honor actually addressed the crowed and asked for Pastor David's fellowship to welcome Sara as one of their own. That was a great moment and something i had never seen or heard before.
Congratulations to the beautiful couple and I will be following on your many adventures.
So without further do I would like to introduce to their beautiful wedding film.
I hope you will enjoy it and if you like it then just press the like button or leave a comment. Your inputs definitely help me to improve my craft.
Bonne journee et a bientot.

Matthieu

Garden Room Hotel - Oakland - Christina and Winfield

I always love cultural weddings. They are always rich in colors, tradition and fun. Christina and Winfield's was exactly that.

When they contacted me for their wedding I was ecstatic. I had shot Winfield sister's wedding the year before, so I knew it would be an occasion to meet their family again. It's always nice when family members refer me, and at the same time, it is a challenge because you want to make sure to deliver them with something unique and representing their personality well. And it wasn't to difficult to do in their instance.

From photo session at target to dancing on the bay in Emeryville, and including some funny vows, this film is a sure fire cracker, where both of Christina and Winfield fun personality shines.

Enjoy and merci for watching.
Matthieu