Today we’d like to introduce you to Vaibhav Arora.
Hi Vaibhav, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Since childhood, I have been an active soul and the two things I have done the most in my life has been playing cricket and watching films with family and friends. I saw a film when I was five years old called Border(1997) which was about India-Pakistan 1971 war. Now to this day, I’ve seen it almost a thousand times. Since after seeing that film, I got my first dream of either joining the Indian army or Air Force, but that dream got shattered in ninth grade, as I got prescription glasses, as there’s a strict rule in the Indian armed forces that you need to have 20/20 vision.
Then in 2008, I decided to seriously pursue cricket to become a professional in it. I started training and playing cricket at a club in my city of New Delhi, India, but I got injured while practicing one day in September 2010. Since then, my life has completely changed. I was down emotionally in my life for few months, until one day I was watching a cricket match on television in early 2011, between India and South Africa where one Indian batsman hit the ball so far into the stands that it went onto the third-tier of the stadium and hit the live broadcast camera operator on his head and the director cut the camera on him and the cameraman was showing thumps up, signaling that he’s fine, that was the lightbulb moment for me where I discovered sports camera operating, especially for cricket. I went around my city to look for a camera operating course, then I found a film school. There, I enrolled in a camera and lighting course, where I found my love for camera operating and cinematography and finally got to see and experience how films are made, which made me appreciate the hard work and effort that goes behind it. All I can say watching that film I mentioned above numerous times and my love for cricket and movies ultimately guided me to the right path where I belong now for which I can’t be thankful enough.
From working as a new freelance Cinematographer and camera & lighting department crew since mid of 2012 in New Delhi, India, in short films, music videos, corporate films, documentaries, commercials, product photography, wedding shoots and what not. Now, as a graduate of Los Angles Film School in Cinematography here in California, where I’ve explored directing/producing/writing couple of my own original short films, one of them is called ‘ENIGMA’, which have been into a couple of film festivals and received great feedback. I also shot, directed and produced my thesis film called NEVER ALONE which I co-wrote with the friend many years ago in India and it’s currently in post-production.
Currently, I got selected for ‘Academy’s (Oscars) GOLD Rising Production Track 2021 Internship’ in cinematography major for which I am so fortunate to get the opportunity, where I will get to learn from the best professionals in the industry. I am also working as a Production Assistant for Dhar Mann Studios where they make inspiring short films for all social media. Also doing Freelance cinematography work on my days off. Fun Fact: I’ve seen over 350 films in theaters here in the USA since 2017.
Now, working as an experienced professional in Los Angeles in 2021 is how I can sum up my gravitation towards the film industry. I can only vision myself on film sets making and helping others tell impactful stories which needed to be heard with proper lighting, lensing, and overall to showcase great performances which will leave good memories for the audience around the world. I feel it’s just a start, and I hope there are a lot more opportunities to learn and grow from and keep moving forward with the experience I get in my life and career.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The main obstacle is in your mind, if you can control your thoughts at the lowest point of your life, you’ll definitely move way forward in whatever you want from life. In my case, when I left playing cricket, I thought I don’t want to anything else which is not related to cricket. But things I didn’t notice until later, which kept me going was watching films in that period and the stories within it. Cricket was the motivator to introduce me to cinematography and filmmaking, but eventually I got to find my passion, interest and the respect for how much time, efforts and hard work goes behind it. In the end, I always liked hearing other people stories and now I am telling my stories to the world.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a Cinematographer, Camera operator and a good camera and lighting department crew. I specialize in creating the vision of film directors with proper lighting, lensing, camera movements with appropriate equipment needed. The main thing to make their vision of the story come alive on the big screen is collaborating with them by understanding their vision, personality, liking and disliking. If you build a great friendship that’ll show on the screen too.
I am most proud of working in a lot of projects here in Los Angeles where I got be the cinematographer for a lot of different content for different mediums and formats. Also, my past work in India is very vast like short films, music videos, corporate films, documentaries, commercials, product photography, wedding shoots and what not.
In my past professional roles, I honed my abilities in handling shoots with big teams to single-handedly doing the work of an entire crew. What sets me apart is my collaboration, people skills along with my eagerness to perform a job well job done, have afforded me excellent decision-making skills. I understand the importance of being a sponge to absorb information as I continue to grow as a student of film and a cinematographer.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I hear that one makes their own luck, which is with hard work, determination and perseverance. If you keep making good stuff and don’t concentrate on what the end results would be, you’re open to infinite opportunities which one will bring towards your way. So I can say, if you want something so bad, the whole world will come together to help you get that. All you’ve to do is keep the focus.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vda_wg/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vaibhav297/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_dS5dZJkSdus52MY_kGd2w
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user28124879
Image Credits:
Alexander Tsay (@alexander.tsays) Veronica Chin (@moodsbymonica) David Haye (@dh4ye) Erika Bowsky (@whatisreality4) Scoop Comeaux (@shotbyscoop)
