Rain

Well, summer is over and fall is here. You know that time of year in LA when the days get shorter and the sun light is a little angled in the sky… that’s about it. I had an amazing summer which is why I haven’t blogged in a while, but I am finally back. It’s funny... at the beginning of the summer I couldn’t wait to post this video and then I got caught up in Comic Con, my 8 year wedding anniversary, my cousin Brent wedding, Family Reunion, Adden’s 2nd Birthday, and an 8-day camping trip in Big Sur. I promise that before the end of the year I will share video from all of these great adventures. It was an amazing summer, and I am enjoying the Fall season, Holidays and such. Before all of the wonderful summer events got under way I shot a very cool music video with all of my wonderful friends at Sony. Here are the Credits:

Music video for Thee-O & Huggie, with amazing vocals by Erin Powers!
Producer: Dan Rizzotto
Director: Nick Lovell - nicklovell.com
Executive Producer: Allison Foust
Cinematographer: Matthew Griffith
Editor: Michael Carreño
Visual Effects: Dan Rizzotto

I am very proud to present “Rain” By Thee-O and Erin Powers. Enjoy!

Rain from Matthew Griffith on Vimeo.

Where ever you go, there you are.

This week I find myself in a wonderfully creative space. I have been editing a really fun piece at work that has been very well received and I started story boarding my plans for our Big Sur video for this September’s camping trip. This week I wanted to share with you the main inspiration for these family videos and I will also re-post the Big Sur video from last year.

Sometime last year, in late spring, early summer I stumbled upon a few commercials directed by, Bruno Aveillan. http://www.quad.fr/commercials/directors/bruno-aveillan/ . He blew me away! His imagery was breath taking and they inspired me to creat a project that would intimately convey my love for my wife Carrie, my son Adden, and the outdoors. One of the things I love and hate about art is that no matter who inspires you or what you are trying to emulate, in the end you are you and your style, and abilities come through in the end. I think that the mood I am in right now loves this fact more than my ego hates it.

One of my favorite Bruno Aveillan pieces is a commercial he did for Louis Vitton. So I want to share that with you now.

LOUIS VUITTON from Israel Greenshines on Vimeo.

What started out as a "I wish I was Bruno Aveillan" piece took on a life of it own and became a love letter to Carrie, showcasing Carrie and Adden's relationship. Enjoy!

a love letter from Matthew Griffith on Vimeo.

The Song "Hands To Feet" was writen and performed by Matt Hopper

High Five!

Hello Everyone! This week I wanted to share a few behind the scenes photos from the last music video I shot. All of the photos were taken by my friend and collaborator Dan Rizzotto. Dan was the Creative Producer, Nick Lovell Directed, and I was the Directer of Photography. We shot this video on the 5D Mark ii with Canon glass, Schneider matte box and follow focus, and Supermist Black filters 1, and 2. I can't wait to show you the final video, but until it's finished you'll just have to enjoy these photos.

I have a special video to share with you. As many of you know I have a 2 year old son named Adden (add-en). He is a a wonderful little boy and is very smart. This video is one of the time were I know he is listening to me when I go on and on about movies and cinematography. Enjoy!

Comic-Con

Happy Thursday Everyone! As many of you know, last week was the San Diego Comic-Con. Every year I go down to San Diego and I spend Comic-Con weekend with my very good friend Matthew Shirk. This weekend always makes me nostalgic. Before I became a filmmaker, I, with all my heart, wanted to be a comic book artist. So the Con is a great way to remember that beloved genre and my first story telling love. Secondly, when I made the transition from comic books to filmmaking, Matt Shirk was a huge support, and was in every film I made for about a year or so. In the weeks leading up to Comic-Con I started remembering what it was like starting out as a filmmaker. The first little film I made was a Kung Fu short with my little sisters Brianna and Callie. We shot it on 8mm with a camera from the Community College, and stole the soundtrack from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The biggest influence for me to go into filmmaking was Jackie Chan movies. His films had an amazing focus, and the time they took making the fight scenes perfect was so fascinating to me, I wanted to be a part of that. I recently heard a quote from Joshua Jackson of Fringe; he said, “I would rather strive for the best and not quite get there than strive for mediocrity and achieve it.” So in full on nostalgia mode, I started looking at some of my old projects and thought about what it was like to be out in an alleyway, in San Luis Obispo, in the rain with all my friends making a Batman movie. Or choreographing a fight scene with Matt or Brianna. It was a satisfying moment when I came to the conclusion that filmmaking it is just as fun and inspiring as it was back then. The cameras are better, there is more equipment, maybe more people, but it is still just as fun.
So with all of these thoughts about where I started and the joy of filmmaking, I decided to share with you my BATMAN MOVIE. Out of respect for my younger self I will show you the project as-is, grainy footage, bad edits, music dropping out at the wrong moment, and all. I had to fight myself not to take it all a re-edit a new version for you and maybe some day I will. But until then I am proud to present Batman First Knight. Enjoy!

Absolute Fitness Mode

Hello Everyone. So this week I wanted to share with you a video I shot last September.

Untitled from The Fitness Mode on Vimeo.

My friend Ryan Vickers http://www.ryanmvickers.com/Ryan_M_Vickers/ryanmvickers.html directed this promo piece for the AbsoluteFitnessMode website. I was the director of photography, and T. Moore and Art Guerrero crewed this project. Enjoy!

Nick Lovell Photography

Happy Thursday everyone. This week I wanted to share with you the work of my friend Nick Lovell. For the past year or so I have been assisting Nick on his photo shoots. As an assistant I mainly help with lighting on these shoots much like a electrician or gaffer would on a film shoot. Two weeks ago Nick held his second studio lighting workshop. It was a great weekend and the class turned out great. Here is a video my friend Tyler and I shot to promote Nick's class. Enjoy!

-M/G

Blast from the past

Here are a few projects from the past few years. Enjoy!

Last year on our family trip to Big Sur, made this project as a Love Letter to my wife.

a love letter from Matthew Griffith on Vimeo.

This is the first music video I shot for the SPII video team.

Superficial Saints: For You from Matthew Griffith on Vimeo.

This is the second video I shot for both SPII and Nothing Ever Stays.

Nothing Ever Stays: Leave This All Behind from Matthew Griffith on Vimeo.

This is the third music video I directed and shot for the artist Z

Got To Get Down from Matthew Griffith on Vimeo.

Hope you enjoyed these videos. I will post more old video in a month or so.