Short Film Shot on Canon DSLRs Fuses Fiction and Documentary

Filmmaker Kevin Shahinian of Pacific Pictures has a knack for unconventional wedding videos. In the past, he’s turned one wedding flick into a thriller, starring the newlyweds.

Key to his films is the idea that the stories are somehow universal; the plot extends beyond the individual love story that he is documenting. Though he is covering the personal stories of a single wedding party, he crafts a storyline that even strangers can appreciate.

For his most recent film, “City of Lakes,” he’s masterminded a fantastic conceptual short film by fusing live footage from a wedding and a scripted love story he created.

Though the film runs just under 30 minutes, it’s definitely worth a watch.

As an added plus, all the filming was done exclusively with Canon DSLRs, the 5D Mark II and the 7D, outfitted with L-series lenses.

The hybrid feature film was shot over the course of nine days, on location at Udaipur, India. Shahinian said that he was working with a skeleton crew that he usually works with to shoot live wedding events. Shahinian wrote on his Vimeo production page:

…it would become an unprecedented attempt to combine a fully scripted, produced film with Melissa & Samir’s real, live wedding into one, seamless film…“CITY OF LAKES” is as much a documentary about what it means to return to the birthplace of one’s ancestors, as it is an exploration of the Hindu faith, and the rituals of a Hindu marriage.

The resulting film is a colorful cultural portrait, a beautiful love story, and an engaging wedding video with a touch of Bollywood-style lightheartedness.

Discussion