Prior to receiving the link I had no intention of blogging this film. I assumed I'd want to keep it very private.
Then, within seconds of viewing it for the first time, there was an urge to shout it from the rooftops.
Ruth and I have been utterly captivated and pleased with these ten minutes of pure cinematic storytelling. The film has become the definitive account of our wedding and I think it is something that can be enjoyed by anybody, whether you know us or not.
We found Hungarian filmmaker, Roland Mihalszky, on a wedding blog. He had filmed a sumptuous wedding at Kensington Palace in 2011 and made it look like a movie. I was convinced he’d be too expensive. Ruth emailed him anyway - it's the way many things seem to work in our house!
Now we hold this amazing 10-minute film of our wedding day – filmed with the help of his wife, Helga, as something utterly priceless.
His editing skills are nothing short of amazing, (people spend their entire lives trying to become brilliant Final Cut Pro editors) but what impresses me even more is his eye for detail. The human detail. The people.
As a photographer, I often see couples get perilously carried away with Bridal Stuff. The look of the day, the laser-cut detail on the stationary, whether their shoes have those all-important red soles.
Ruth and I were lucky to have a beautiful wedding. Yet, when I watch this film, it is not the styling that I see.
It is the smiles between cousins who’ve grown up together, a lump in the throat, a blink of concentration, a sip from a glass. All these things make the film a truly remarkable family memory. That was our only direction to Roland: that he captured our families – Ruth’s brother who’d flown in from Sydney, our parents, Ruth’s 87-year-old grandmother. All the people who really mattered.
Because people really are the most important part of a wedding day. Not stuff. Something I have long suggested to clients when I meet them.
Roland – who is also a trained architect (check out his love for our local viaduct!) - is based in Budapest but is regularly in London.
His work can be found at http://vimeo.com/rolandmihalszky or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/roland.mihalszky
He can be contacted on farolfilmz@gmail.com
Enjoy!
