The coming-of-age drama L' t ternit (released in the U.S. as Our Eternal Summer) marked the continuation of the collaboration between writer-director milie Aussel and cinematographer Mathieu Bertholet. Here, Bertholet offers his insights into the production for which he worked with Panavision Marseille to source his camera and optics package and recounts the career path that led to his current work as a director of photography.
Panavision: How did you become involved in the project?
Mathieu Bertholet: I met milie Aussel, the director, in 2013, for her short film project Petite blonde, which became our first collaboration. We worked together again for Ta bouche mon paradis, a short film made in collaboration with the ERAC [Cannes Regional School of Actors]. It was at this time that milie began to tell me about her feature film project, then titled To Die Young. We discussed the project regularly, I read the different versions of the script, and little by little, over the course of our discussions, the general idea of what the film could be, its atmospheres, its sets [came into focus]. In 2019, producer Thomas Ordonneau and Shellac Films decided to launch the preparation of the film, and I agreed to follow milie in this new adventure.
How would you describe the look of the project?
Bertholet: For this film, I wanted to move away from an image that is too naturalistic a look that is often applied to so-called realistic' cinema dealing with youth, adolescence and its emotions. For me, it was about giving the film a visual identity made up of colors and contrasts. Dealing with reality, of course, but magnifying it in one way or another. Not being afraid of summer light, which is sometimes harsh. To dare.
Paradoxically, we had very few technical means to achieve this. It was therefore necessary to choose settings, day and night, on which I could intervene. We worked in negative, cutting existing lights to build the desired image, and adding little touches a color, a contrast that would take us into fiction.
The night scene in the skate park between the characters Malo [Matthieu Lucci] and Elias [Louis Pluton] is quite representative of this approach. The lighting mixed several types of light sources sodium, neon tubes, etc. and the colors blended together. By cutting off certain sources, we built a nighttime atmosphere that I really like. Ditto when the character Eve [Rose Timbert] goes to the beach at night to look for her friend Lise [Agathe Talrich]. The sodium lit up the cornice and immersed the beach in this yellow-orange glow. In the distance, a few neon lights gave a colder touch in shades of blue-green.
Outdoors during the day, and especially for the long beach sequence at the beginning of the film, which opens with the sun at its zenith and continues until nightfall, our principle was to respect very precise shooting schedules. Thus, each part of the sequence swimming, discussions on the beach, aperitif, bathing at the end of the day, etc. has its own identity. Then, the digital color correction allowed me to accentuate these small differences to further mark the passage of time.
There was also, for us, this very present idea of filming faces as if they were landscapes. We would take the time to look at them and try to make faces and landscapes respond to each other as if the two were linked and together participated in the expression of the characters feelings. The decor of the Palais Longchamp in Marseille, with its large columns, goes in this direction, giving the first group of friends that surrounds Lise a sacred dimension.
Were there any particular visual references you looked at for inspiration?
Bertholet: I had no precise visual references. Lets say rather that milie gave me directions in which to look things she liked, things she asked me to look at. It was then up to me to appropriate them, to digest' them, and to think about how to make them meaningful for our project and our desires. Jumbled up, I would quote the cinema of Gus Van Sant, that of Philippe Garrel, certain romantic paintings such as those of Caspar David Friedrich, the photographic work of Nan Goldin. And then, a film that personally nourished me for this project: American Honey by Andrea Arnold, photographed by Robbie Ryan [BSC, ISC]. In my opinion, it is the perfect example of an image that serves the film, its words, its staging, and participates fully in its identity.
What brought you to Panavision for this project?
Bertholet: I have lived in Marseille for almost 20 years. I was a 1st camera assistant when I moved here, and very quickly I was brought to meet the Panavision Marseille team. I have prepared a very large number of films with them, and over the years a relationship of trust has developed between us. When I started working on this project, it seemed natural to me to turn to them and use their services.
What inspired you to become a cinematographer and what keeps you inspired today?
Bertholet: I have an extremely classic background: assistant for 20 years, then operator and cinematographer. I strongly believe in this journey and its benefits. The years spent glued to the camera, close to the operator and the actors, are an extraordinary way to learn ones trade, to learn to think in terms of images, focal lengths, colors, contrast, density. In short, to learn cinematographic vocabulary and grammar. And then there comes a day when you feel like you can use this vocabulary to create images and highlight a scenario.
What inspires me today is first of all an encounter. A filmmaker who will convince me that their view of a story deserves to be told. From that moment on, I find immense pleasure in blending into an imaginary world and trying, with my tools and my own sensitivity, to respond to a desire for cinema. And then, finally, there is the
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
20/01/2026
SVG Sit-Down: BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on the Future of Cloud, Remote, Softwar...
20/01/2026
From architecture to reality: What CBC's Milano Cortina 2026 workflows tell ...
20/01/2026
Milano Cortina 2026: Making the Winter Olympics and Paralympics workflow work fo...
20/01/2026
Countdown to Milano Cortina 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to...
20/01/2026
Grand finale: Rally Saudi Arabia pushes WRC to make the most of cameras and dron...
20/01/2026
State of Change: What's Happening in the Remote-Production Business?NEP Group, Game Creek Video, Dome Productions, Mobile TV Group, Program Productions exec...
20/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: A Look Back at SVG's Complete CoverageGo behind the scenes with ESPN, Game Creek Video, Van Wagner, and the champion Indiana...
20/01/2026
The Gotham, Film Independent, and Creators Coalition on AI Join Alliance
by Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institute's Artist Programs...
20/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
20/01/2026
December, the first month of winter and the holiday season, has traditionally encouraged families to spend time together in front of the television. During this...
20/01/2026
During December, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.3%, an increase of 0.1 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI TV,...
20/01/2026
Christmas Day is Most-Streamed Day Ever with 55 Billion Viewing Minutes, led by...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Disguise and ASB GlassFloor today announced a strategic partnership that turns the arena floor into a fully customizable interactive digital surface. This will ...
20/01/2026
Last summer, ITV celebrated the tenth anniversary of its popular reality dating show, Love Island. To ramp up the excitement of series 12 (launched in the UK on...
20/01/2026
Berklee's Mark Ethier Named One of SPIN's Most Influential People in Mus...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Emergent, a provider of AI-powered media production solutions, today announced its presence at ISE 2026 in Barcelona, taking place February 3 6, where it will u...
20/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery Amend Agreement to All-Cash Transaction
Business
20 January 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
All-C...
20/01/2026
Back to All News
Now You Can Play a Role in Our Live Events With Real-Time Voting
Elmar Nubbemeyer
VP, Member Product
Product
20 January 2026
Global
Link...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Indiana Football's Digital Crew Generate Hyp...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Van Wagner Relies on Experience for Indiana-Miam...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Game Creek Video Fields Premiere IP Compound for...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: For a Slew of Studio Shows, ESPN Turns Hard Rock...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: ESPN's Sweeping Live Game Production Leverag...
19/01/2026
The new L3Harris NOVA binocular system is the every-soldier goggle' - and the beginning of a new era for night-vison capability....
19/01/2026
The Majority of Those Surveyed Prefer to Buy Brands Who Advertise in Content Tha...
19/01/2026
Back to All News
Straight to Hell' Sets April 27 Premiere: Teaser Trailer,...
19/01/2026
New Workflow Enhancements for All Broadcast Pix Systems, Plus 4-Channel ISO Recording for Hybrid and Roadie Tyngsboro, Mass. - January 2025 - Broadcast Pix ann...
19/01/2026
Monday 19 January 2026
Sky News reinvents News at Ten for the modern audience with The Wrap
Sky News today announces The Wrap, a bold evolution of its 10pm ou...
19/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces the Series Nights & Days, Directed by Kamila...
19/01/2026
DPA Microphones is striking a new chord in piano miking with the debut of its DPK2015 Piano Stereo Kit, an out-of-the-box, plug-and-play miking solution that ta...
19/01/2026
DPA Microphones will present its 4099 CORE Instrument Microphone and redesigned...
19/01/2026
Trianel relies on Arvato Systems for future-proof data center operations
Moving to the cloud: Arvato Systems implements extensive IT migration project
Migrat...
19/01/2026
Celebrating 21 Years of the RT Choice Music Prize
RT Choice Music Prize
In association with IMRO and IRMA
Irish Album of the Year 2025 - Shortlist Announce...
18/01/2026
January 18 2026, 21:30 (PST) Dolby Cinema Arrives in Bengaluru: Dolby Laborator...
17/01/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, is helping to elevate the Google Meet experience with the introduction of an integration with Taurus UCX. Th...
17/01/2026
Clear-Com announced a strategic partnership with NETGEAR AV to offer four high-performance networking switches as original equipment manufacturer (OEM) solutio...
17/01/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, today announced a new U.S. distribution partnership wit...
17/01/2026
NUGEN Audio announces the latest evolution of MasterCheck, its industry-trusted optimization plug-in for cross-platform mastering and loudness verification. Des...
The coming-of-age drama L' t ternit (released in the U.S. as Our Eternal Summer) marked the continuation of the collaboration between writer-director milie Aussel and cinematographer Mathieu Bertholet. Here, Bertholet offers his insights into the production for which he worked with Panavision Marseille to source his camera and optics package and recounts the career path that led to his current work as a director of photography.
