MAYØØRAM 2013 • HOSTED BY YUMSA
ö MAYØØRAM 2013 • HOSTED BY YUMSA
ö It’s been quite a while since I’ve been commissioned for a pretty awesome university formal. When I received word that YUMSA {York University’s Malayalee Student’s Association} wanted me to film for the night - I couldn’t pass up on an opportunity to do what I love & kick it with some people I haven’t seen in forever!
ö It was a pretty cold night in december when I made my way up to Brampton to where the formal was held. Let me start off by mentioning that I started off my career by photographing university formals & eventually moved on to different events. After immersing myself heavily within the wedding cinematography field and watching people at weddings REALLY party - like it’s the end of the world. I realized that university formals and their videos that recapped that night - were either really boring to watch, painfully put together, shot poorly or just lacked any sort of artistic integrity that made the viewer not exactly want to watch the rest of the video. And hey! Let’s face it - I can’t exactly be angry that no one {in my opinion and of the video highlights of other formals I’ve watched} cared enough to make these highlight videos look “fun”. But I certainly can do my part to change that & the overall scope of what a highlight/recap video from formal SHOULD look like - RIGHT? …Alright ran’t over lol
ö MAYØØRAM 2013 • HOSTED BY YUMSA
ö As with any of my promotional pieces - I try to make things fun, energetic and BOLD. Vibrant colors, a fun concept and I LOVE playing with slowmotion & bokeh!
ö MAYØØRAM 2013 • HOSTED BY YUMSA
ö I found a pretty bad-a$$ remix to PSY’s “Gangnam Style” and told myself - “HAYYYYY SEXY LADEHHH!” SIKE - I’m kidding ofcourse. I found the song and pretty much fell in love with it. Presumably, { & if you know me then the rest will make sense lol} I over consumed my nights & days after the formal to cut all of the footage I had from that night - in the best way possible. A BIG mention goes out to Benjamin Varughese who helped co-host the formal {with Dona} and was super kind enough to lend me his creative mind to make this highlights {film} what it turned out to be!
ö MAYØØRAM 2013 • HOSTED BY YUMSA
ö That being said I had a phenomenal time at the formal and can proudly say - MALAYALEES.KNOW.HOW.TO.PARTY - I’m SO.SO.SO serious. Not only that but they also know what it means to coordinate, be punctual and show respect and regard to everyone that they’ve commissioned on the night of an event. A big THANK YOU - goes out to Deny for bringing me out to the event, the entire YUMSA executives & team, the other Malayalee executives and team members from the other universities for showing me love. Last but not least - I was graced and quite frankly just REALLY blessed to bump into old and new friends that night. All of whom had nothing but the kindest of words for me. Everyone that I spoke to, joked around with and took pictures + video of, on that night - you guys made it worth it! {Malu/Mallu Sandwich - you guys know whatsup!} Less words more moving images ~ without further adieu ~ turn ya speakers up folks!
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JF² {Films}
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Zehra ❤ Haroon // Sooner ❍r Later
ö If there’s one thing I didn’t know during wedding season, it’s that big weddings do still exist out there! Zehra + Haroon’s 3 day wedding was no exception! From a Mehndi that had a whopping 450 people to a Shaadi + Final Reception day that had about 800 people in attendance! I’ve been to weddings with large amounts of guests but have never been apart of them - being apart of a huge wedding for my 2012 wedding season - CHECK ✔! And I can definitely cross that one off my bucket list!
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ I helped carry in some make up too before we started filming!
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ Raj’s insane set up on Day2 of the wedding! 
ö For my readers out there, I met Zehra + Haroon similar to how I met Farah + Rohail - 2 degrees of separation! My Über good friend Rae who knew Haya who knew Haroon and well…the rest is history now isn’t it? So from Rae ☞ Haya ☞ Zaroon *thats Zehra + Haroon for the folks out there :P!* How did it all come together?
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ you can definitely say it was a crowd frenzy on Day2! 
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ #footagedump on my new Macbook Pro Retina *insert drools here*
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ 800 guests were spot on! 
ö So let’s travel down memory lane a little bit to where Haroon & I met up at a Starbucks for the first time. I had my laptop, ipad and some samples to show Haroon. It was only during our last couple of meetings that I finally met Zehra. Needless to say however, our first meeting was almost about to be our last, in my opinion at least. My laptop was being super finicky, my ipad wouldn’t play any of my sample work and to make matters worse Starbucks’ wifi just wouldn’t work! *insert angry face here* To my great surprise however, Haroon and I ended up meeting again, exchanged several phone calls, texts & emails. Over several months Zaroon had several questions and inquiries about their big wedding and how it would be filmed with my team.
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ Thank you to Bineesh for making this happen! =D 
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ I decided to use the library as my editing spot to get into my creative zone to put together Zehra+Haroon’s Next Day Edit!
ö Just last week the beginning to a 3-day wedding finally came! Zehra + Haroon put great faith in my team and myself to go hard at work and trusted my creative vision to put together an intense Next Day Edit. After the first 2 days of their wedding there was a 1 day break where I sat down in many places from my living room to the library to a Second Cup to sort through, organize and edit through over 150 GB’s of footage. In the process of spending about a full day, putting this edit together from beginning to end, I ended up falling sick. Was it worth it? HELL YEAH! The reception I received from a crowd of 800 people watching my work that my team and I filmed was priceless. But was losing my voice and putting my body through strain the best way to go about it? Not at all. I’ve learned that taking the time out to find balance during these kinds of weddings help and can dramatically improve the way I deliver and put together a final piece that’s perfected to the T! A special mention goes out to my parents & my good friends *you know who you are* who kept checking up on me and gave me motivational + funny texts/phone calls to keep me going throughout the day, while I was editing.
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ This was probably the biggest moment of my career, having a crowd of 800 people watch my work on 4 big projector screens that night #speechless !
ö I’d like to add in that I had the AWESOME and I’ll say it again, AWESOME!!! pleasure of working with some top notch wedding vendors. Garima + Harpeet from G+H Photography - you two are such a great team & super funny may I add. It’s always nice to work with vendors who don’t even act like vendors but like one of your good friends during and throughout a wedding. Bineesh from Arora Wedding & Event Planning + her team did a splendid job of organizing everything over these 3 days of intensity! Thanks so much for coordinating with my team and myself at anytime during each day of the wedding! You guys rocked it out! Raj from Dream Party Decor Inc totally blew my mind with his setups from Day 1 to Day 3 of the wedding. Though we never got to meet in person - I need an autograph from you big man! Another shout out goes to Sheeba from K STUDIO MAKE UP you are hilarious & really know your craft well! It was a pleasure and an honour working with all of you great industry peeps!
ö Zehra ❤ Haroon ~ A happy couple by the end of the night a whole lot better! 
ö Thank you to Zehra + Haroon who took a leap of faith and invited my team & myself into your homes, your 3 days to the beginning of your lives and into your lives.
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JF² {Films}
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Farah ❣ Rohail // Next Day Edit
ö It was late December when I met Farah. You know how that saying about six degrees of separation? Here’s the break down of how I met, got to know and essentially knew Farah without even knowing it! My good friend Rae knew Haya who knew Farah {more or less} who then got to know me? So what’s that - 2 degrees of separation, I guess?? haha :P!
ö Needless to say Farah and I exchanged many phone calls, texts, emails, voice mails and we ended up playing phone-tag for a bit! With my schedule and her’s never aligning for the right time to meet up or talk initially- it ended up working out for the best. If there’s one thing I love about taking the time to book clients months or even a year before their wedding - it’s the relationship I get to build with them over that time period. Farah and I and Rohail {eventually} went from becoming mere clients with plenty of inquiries to really great people that I had the opportunity to get to know.
ö Farah ❣ Rohail // Next Day Edit - Just moments before their Nikkah began!
ö Farah ❣ Rohail // Next Day Edit - Prepping a classic #ringshot 
ö Farah ❣ Rohail // Next Day Edit - let’s just say my trunk space wasn’t ever enough =(
ö I can’t thank you both for the opportunity and great time you gave my team and me as well over the last 3 days of your wedding extravaganza! Farah - you still owe me a cupcake! Rohail - dude you rock! To both of your families - Insha’Allah! Thank you for humbly accepting my team + myself into your humble abodes to film a great starting point & exciting part of your lives.
ö I wish you both nothing but the best & to you both - when I come down to Dubai - I plan on having the best cupcakes ever made on that side of the world! =D
ö Here’s the final Next Day Edit I cut together in less than two days running on practically Empty to 7 hours of sleep :) Be sure to check out some behind the scenes pictures of those three days below as well!
ö Farah ❣ Rohail // Next Day Edit - I ended up putting the final touches on the N.D.E just before #makeup and #bridalprep filming began, hours before we premiered it!
ö Farah ❣ Rohail // Next Day Edit - a little dark I know, but they knew how to PARTY!
PS - For my readers who don’t know Farah runs, owns and operates Little Miss Cupcakes, check her out!
ö Farah ❣ Rohail // Next Day Edit - A happy bride & groom makes me go #colgate !
ö For the camera geeks out there:
//2 X T3i + Grip
//60D
// 17-55mm F2.8
// 17-35mm F2.8
// Nikkor 50mm F1.4
// Canon 50mm F1.4
// 85mm F1.8
// Glidetrack
// Cinevate FLT
// Glidecam
//Manfrotto Tripods + 562 & 561 Monopod
//Zoom H4N + Rode VideoMic
Graded & Cut in FCP
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Blog ö http://bit.ly/JF-SQUARED-BLOG
JF² {Films}
WE|MAKE{DOPE|COLORFUL|VISUALTASTIC|EMOTIONAL|FRESH}FILMS
