#jfsquaredfilms

ö I still remember the day when Rikhia got in touch with me inquiring about her fun filled mixed wedding, late December 2013 going into 2014. We had spoken quite a few times and were trying to figure out logistics and the feasibility of filming a Portrait {Film} along with her EPIC 2 wedding. ö A few phone calls, emails and convincing-conversations later - we finally met. It was a busy day at a local second cup near where I live {misssissauga le #905} and I won't ever forget how intimidating Harpreet was at first. Much like a lot of couples that commission creatives to help and assist with their wedding - he was nervous about bringing me on, a tough cookie to crack at first but eventually he warmed up! Rikhia was full of energy, smiles, laughter and was eager to get the process started. From the time we booked leading up to this past weekend, I still did have the great opportunity to get to know them both & boy was it a pleasure!

ö Originally we had planned to film a super-duper cool concept for their Portrait {Film} but time and busy schedules just didn't allow for it. So Rikhia and Harpreet presented me with the option to film their Holud, Sangeet  and official Engagement ceremonies. I generally turn down the offer to film pre wedding events but I knew that I couldn't - and knew that I NEEDED to think outside of the box. I asked them both to write out a paragraph that we would record and use as narrative, to guide their Portrait {Film}. While we never ended up using their recorded portions for this piece - I'm STOKED with how it turned out.

ö I challenged myself to approach the aesthetics and filming of their pre-wedding events, differently than I have in the past. A huge thank you and shout out to Rikhia and Harpreet for trusting my vision, for allowing me to get comfortable with your families and for letting me choose the song for this film (haha!)

ö Sit back & enjoy this Portrait of Rikhia and Harpreet's last days leading up to their engagement! Stay tuned for their Next Day Edit composed of two wedding ceremonies & a fun filled reception in the weeks to come!

❤ #Pyaar ∣ #Bhalobasha ❤ from JF² {Films} on Vimeo.

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JF² {Films}

ö If you read our last blog post on Safa & Saad's Portrait {film} then you know I'm in the blogging mood! Just a few months ago we had the pleasure of covering Safa and Saad's exquisitely planned & super-fun 3 day wedding! I still remember walking into their barn for their mehndi and being pretty blown away with the venue. Set on what I believe was a horse ranch both Safa and Saad nailed this venue down to the T! Aside from the fact that my team & I were initially running around trying to get everything set up - the night was amazing!

Love {♥} Again // Safa + Saad {Next•Day•Edit}

ö Let me start off by shouting out my photo-G-homeboy, Mir from Mir Anwar Photography who I've worked with previously with during Farah + Rohail's wedding! Mir killed the stills from that wedding and never failed to deliver with Safa and Saad's wedding! What's dope about working with Mir is that he's super ninja-like {never in my line of sight}, easy going and we just get along really well. So it made the process of sharing camera time with the bride and groom, easy-peasy! My second round of shoutouts go out to Amna from Lemon Truffles Design Inc. I remember the conversation I had with Safa and Saad quite vividly about choosing a decorater and Safa in particular raved about Amna. Well let me be the first among many to continue on with the raving! & make it well known that Amna and her team not only did a killer job with decor on all 3 days. But they were super, super polite and humble. Amna - you're going to be in this industry for a long time due to your vision, work ethic and ability to be so humble :)! When I get hitched - I'm giving you a call! My last shoutout goes out to both Safa & Saad's family and wedding party. When you watch the edit and their mehndi performances you'll really gravitate to just how much fun, down to earth and really, really forward these group of peeps are! 

Love {♥} Again // Safa + Saad {Next•Day•Edit}

ö These three days were a lot of fun to film and kudos goes out to Suen and Sri who helped me film across all 3 days. But boy oh boy was I tired by the end of day 1. Day 2 and 3 had a day break in between, which meant that I had more than enough time to get Safa and Saad's next day edit ready to go. Now before I go on I must admit that after filming more than my fair share of weddings - it's been a while since I've attended one. I guess I spoke too soon because I had a family wedding to go to during the day break of their wedding which inevitably left me with NOT ENOUGH TIME TO EDIT. This meant that after day 1 and 2 my time and file management needed to be on their A game. I'll be super vague and not so technical when it comes to how I structure next day edits. But in short - the more organized you are, the more time you have to be creative and finish on time. I still remember cutting this together just 40 minutes before it was played on Day 3. My fingers were shaking and I was super nervous as I burned the final DVD. Did I get it all? Did I miss something? Well we played the next day edit and it's response from everyone that night was great! P.S - Do your awesome brides blog? Mine do! Check out Safa's blog dedicated to all things about her wedding!!! MyBigFatPakistaniWedding So without further adieu, here it is!

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JF² {Films}

ö After a busy two months into 2014 - we're back & in full swing might I add! These last two months have been crazy busy! Our 2013 wedding season was nothing short of epic, fun-filled, momentous and extravagant weddings that our brand got to cover! From shooting in Edmonton {more on that here} to shooting in New Jersey {more on that in few} to coming back to Toronto and filming all over the GTA - it feels good to back & bloggin'! I present you with Safa et Saad's Portrait {film}!

RUN ~ Safa ℓ Saad // Portrait {film}

ö I was introduce to Safa + Saad immediately after Farah + Rohail's wedding back in 2012. I remember getting a plethora of phone calls the day after up until about 5 days after Farah's wedding and one of them stood out :) - Safa!!! She left me a hilarious voice-mail just expressing her desire to meet with me in person and her love for our work! A little afraid, nervous and humbled all at the same time, I finally got in touch with Safa and we spoke a few times for a long time. Eventually I had the great, great, greaaaaat pleasure of meeting Safa & hubby to be {at that time} Saad! I remember Safa walking into our meeting with her "binder" and Saad coming in with nothing but some great looking loafers - I joke - you both looked great!

ö Conversation was filled with laughter, honesty and just a great vibe from these two. Sidenote: if you've met with me then you know that I love me some Second Cup! While a lot of the times when I meet with my brides and grooms, I tend to have a lot more in common with the bride - this instance was a little different. Saad and I got to talking about his choice of DJ and from there conversation went into and about my new laptop, about clothes and Safa's eyes definitely shined with a bit of jealousy! :P! I've got love for you Safa but Saad's got me with his taste in music, loafers and tech knowledge! I can see why you like the fella!

RUN ~ Safa ℓ Saad // Portrait {film}

ö After our initial meeting, we met again and I was so blessed to have these two book me {a little over a year before their big day} and commit to having my brand and creative team - film their wedding {just this past August of 2013!}. We spoke over the phone, sent emails constantly, text messaged and even went out for brunch and this all, jump-started the creative process for getting their Portrait {film} in order! Something simple, full of colors, fun, quirky and something that embodied a mixture of how they met + their free spirited personalities, taste in activities & fashion forward closets was the idea for this Portrait {film}.

RUN ~ Safa ℓ Saad // Portrait {film}

ö After an intense couple of months of communicating and planning. Just the day before our two-day shoot for this {film} both Safa and Saad gave me a call. All was well as this phone call was merely just to go over plans and have a quick prep talk with my star couple. ....And then it came *dun, dun, dun*, they dropped some serious news on me - a song change! We originally planned on using The Wanted's "Glad You Came" for this Portrait {film} and boy am I ever so glad we didn't! Visuals in my opinion are 80% driven by what you see and 20% by what you hear. Nevertheless, I was shocked and a little worried because my vision and ideas that I had were all centered around the cadence of this particular song. Oh no, right?! Let's just say it all worked out and that I'm glad these two put me to the test.

ö Everything that you see in this {film} is all a product of immense planning between all of us but If there's one thing I can't deny - Safa & Saad were tres au naturale! I tell this to everyone that I show this {film} to, "I showed up, stood behind my camera, hit record & they did the rest". A big shoutout to you both, Safa and Saad for not only planning everything so well but for executing your role in terms of outfits and being as authentic as possible.

Less words, more moving images ~ Enjoy folks!

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JF² {Films}

ö Farha + Anwar // The Perfect Person ö It was late in October last year when Farha got in touch with us to film her wedding. After a long list of emails and phone conversations, I had the pleasure of not only meeting Farha but her siblings Ibraheem and Erum + Sobia (Ibraheem's wife!) in person! Needless to say I was outnumbered but our coffee date was great!

ö I'm a firm believer in developing strong relationships from the get go and not one for rushing into them when it comes to my work. The longer I have to get to know my clients, the quicker they go from "clients" to "friends" and overall just great people that I've had the pleasure of working with & for. That being said - I had a long time in getting to know Farha & Anwar (her husband). Here's the catch, like any typical desi movie the Sharukh Khan of this relationship (Anwar in this case) was from far and abroad - the UK! Anwar and Farha were planning their wedding between Canada and London. Couples that survive long distance relationships are definitely a favourite for me! ö Farha + Anwar // The Perfect Person

ö With Anwar being in the UK and Farha being here, there was a large distance and personal barrier that eventually came down as their wedding date approached. I pitched the idea of a shooting a Portrait {film} to Farha and friends and they were all up for it. The big question was a) what ideas and concepts did we want to bring to the table b) how could we film it with Anwar coming only weeks before the wedding c) were Farha & Anwar ready to be in front of the camera? Needless to say - it all worked out!

ö Farha + Anwar // The Perfect Person ö Farha & Anwar share a very special relationship and bond because of their strong relationship with their siblings & parents. It was evident as ever during our Portrait {film} shoot and during the days of their wedding that their love for one another was just as deep and persona. It was clear that Farha wanted to tell her audience {at her wedding} about the relationship she held with her family and with Anwar as well! So we set out to create a film that was narrative based but something that had substance & a very strong personal feel to it.

ö A long day of shooting that resulted in multiple and lengthy interviews with both Farha's parents and Anwar and Farha herself; proved to be extremely useful by the end of our day! We started off at Farha's house and moved to St. Lawrence Market then off Dundas Square and continued to film inside of the Toronto Eaton Centre & finally ended back inside of a small Starbucks. We eventually and practically almost got kicked out of the Starbucks - yep, it was a long day for sure.  ö Less words & more moving imagery. I present you with Farha and Anwar's Portrait {film} ~ The Perfect Person. Stay tuned for their Next Day Edit on the blog to come in due time!

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JF² {Films}

ö MAYØØRAM 2013 • HOSTED BY YUMSAö 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}