Professional is a relative term.
On the heels of our two engagement photo shoots, Praveena and I
participated in engagement video shoots with our chosen videography team, Ice Cream Truck Films. The
first session captured our ice skating date at Nathan Phillips Square, while
the second took place across multiple locations. Once it’s all put together,
our video story will chronicle our meeting and the evolution of our relationship
through a mix of technical wizardry, visual creativity and a few signature
Toronto scenes. Praveena and I are excited be film stars!
Ice Cream Truck’s chief owner and operator, Pranavan, has a day job. But
make no mistake, the man is a professional videographer. The film business may
be his second job, but as with many artists, this second job is his primary
passion. He rushes home from “work” to prep for his day’s real responsibilities,
the ones with the most at stake and which bear the sweetest fruit. This is just
another way of saying he spends his free time doing what he loves, not matter
how much energy his day job has sapped from him. The same applies to his videography
team. On our shoot, he was accompanied by his assistant Shan.
Pranavan isn’t just clever and imaginative. He’s a genuine people person.
Artistically, he wants to put as much of his subjects into the production as
possible. In our initial meetings, he asked Praveena and me many questions, about
us both individually and as a couple. “How did you guys meet? What do you guys
like to do together? What’s a typical day at work like for you?”
But he also wants to start a conversation. Leading up to the shooting dates,
we had multiple What’s App chats about film ideas, wedding stuff and life in
general—music, clothing, cultural quirks, sports, even weather. This is how
people get to know each other, right? Knowing his fellow man (and woman) helps Pranavan
the videographer to do his job better, but it also helps Pranavan the person to
be a better human being.
Friendly, knowledgeable and patient, Pranavan the videographer waits for
the perfect shot and knows when he’s gotten it. He possesses a great eye for
detail and uses setting well to evoke location and mood. He doesn’t bark orders
or act like the kind of high-and-mighty film director one imagines film
directors to be. If you haven’t given him what he wants, he’ll kindly ask you to
do it again. And again. And again. And, if necessary, again.
The second video session started off at Riverdale East Park, with various
shots along Broadview Avenue. The park could stand in for any nature setting,
with a backdrop of trees and greenery, while the street shots evoke an urban
atmosphere. Once Pranavan had gotten what he wanted, we jumped in our vehicles and
headed to my place of work.
As with our library shoot earlier in the day, we also needed to exercise
some discretion for our hospital shoot. Issues of sterility and privacy were the
main concerns. So I spoke to my department manager and she was kind enough to
grant us permission, so long as we did it while her own boss was on vacation. We
didn’t end up filming in any sterile areas, and since the shoot took place in
the evening, the areas where we did film were unoccupied.
Our hospital shoot took Praveena and me back to our beginnings, where and
when we met. (The “first” time we met, in 2014, was apparently the second time
we actually met. Praveena still swears we met the previous year, when she came to
the hospital as a resident). While the particular hospital was different in a geographical
sense, the building belonged to the same organization. The filming
environment brought back spine-tingling memories and deeply moving feelings of
the sparks and excitement of our first days together. I could feel the vigorous
grind of the gears of my heart speeding up, pumping extra life into my feelings for
her. The force of memories is amazingly strong. They live inside us, with
vibrant lives of their own, patiently biding their time, and re-emerge—making
themselves real again— when we least expect them to.
Video filming is an interesting process. What may end up as twenty
seconds of film in the finished product may take hours to shoot. Praveena and I
both had to do multiple takes of several scenes until we got it right. Each time
we redid something, a different delectable memory popped up in my mind, making
our efforts doubly worthwhile. So when I said film stars earlier, I guess instead
of Bogie and Bergman, we’ll have to settle for Affleck and Lopez. It’s good neither
of us went into acting. Perhaps recognizing this, Pranavan gently, gradually
coaxed efforts from us that ended up being sufficient for his vision.
It’s great working with consummate professionals, especially when you yourself aren't one. Pranavan and his team made our video shoot easy, informative and
emotionally satisfying. I look forward to seeing the final product at the
wedding reception. But maybe more worth waiting for is sitting down with Praveena
in ten years' time to watch the film and re-experience the memories, as well as the memories of
recreating memories. Now that’ll be a moving experience.
