Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniyal Waheed
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised in Sargodha “The City of Eagles” in Punjab Pakistan. Sargodha is known as the city of eagles because Pakistan’s largest Airforce base is located there. I did not become an Airforce Pilot but have always been inspired by cars, bikes, planes, and mechanical objects in general. I can see the beauty in machines when all their parts work in complete synchronicity to complete one task. I always wanted to capture and recreate beauty for which a camera and a screen are the best tools. That love for tech and recording beauty is what ignited my passion for filming. One of the fondest memories of my childhood is watching the film “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” with my dad and younger brother. The Terminator T-800 played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in that movie is my favourite character of all time.
I completed my undergrad in Film and Television from the National College of Arts Lahore in 2021. NCA is the most prestigious arts and film school my country has to offer. Moving to a big city like Lahore made me self reliant and I also got opportunities to collaborate with like minded and talented individuals.
After completing undergrad I started teaching at the “University of Sargodha” in my hometown. I taught Photography and Videography to students of Graphic Design for two years. Teaching is a worthy profession that allows one to relearn and develop deeper understanding for their subject. It is a way of giving back what you have gained to your community. Together my students and I worked on numerous photo and video projects. I always tried my best to inspire and encourage them to make what their hearts truly desired. Those two years were by far the most transformative time of my career. I am still in touch with many of my students and they continue to share with me their creative works and seek guideline from me when they need.
In 2023 I got selected for the Fulbright Scholarship for MFA at the Newyork Film Academy in Los Angeles. That is when I moved to America for my studies.
Living so far away from family and loved ones is hard and you do miss home but over the past year LA has started to feel like home to me. This land does have magic about it, that movie magic. You cannot describe it in words, it is some thing that you must feel. You can just create a lot more in LA. The connections and friend ships I have developed over here are something that I will cherish for life. Cinematography is a highly technical subject and I would say that my growth curve as a Cinematographer and a creative has been exponential since I came here. Many aspects of Cinematography such as lighting that were previously challenging for me to grasp have now started to become easier. I still have a long way to go but I have begun to develop more confidence in myself now.
This has been my story until today. I do not know what the future holds for me or how life will look like ahead but I do hope for good. There are a couple of things I would want to mention as my biggest learnings. Firstly, like everyone else I have also seen challenges and tough times in life because life isn’t easy. Nothing of value can ever be achieved with out difficulty. Time is the magical element in the equation of progress. With consistent effort, over a long enough timespan, anything can become possible. Overcoming challenge is what makes us strong and develops our character. Secondly, no one is ever self made. In everyone’s journey of success and achievement, there are contributions of many individuals, be it parents, teachers, friends or loved ones. I do not think I have achieved a lot in life but enough to motivate me to keep moving ahead. Lastly, the love that we have for others may not always be reciprocated by them but it is still important that we keep on loving, giving back, and making the lives of those around us better.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Up until high school I studied science subjects. I had always been interested in scientific concepts but did not want to pursue sciences for further education. So, I applied for admission to the National College of Arts, Lahore. The competition was stiff as there was just space for eight candidates in the film and television department. Even though I had no experience or connections in the film industry at that time, through self learning and work I developed a decent enough video portfolio for myself. With that and a lot of support from my parents and friends I got admission.
While I was teaching from 2021 to 2023 I was also enrolled in the “Masters of Multimedia Arts” program at NCA. At this same time I was also applying for scholarships to study abroad. This time was tough and hectic for me and I also failed and got rejected by various scholarship programs. However, I remained consistent and in July 2023 I got selected for the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. I am very blessed to have been given this opportunity and have been studying and practicing Cinematography in Los Angeles since the past year. I have shot seven different projects in the past year including short films, documentaries, and music videos in LA but this time I was also the Cinematographer for them.
Overall, the past eight years have been exciting but they have also been tough. I would say that there has been a good amount of challenge that I have had to overcome. Failures in projects, application rejections, and academic workload, all have been a part of the process. I would say that is how we learn and grow. The difficulties that we encounter and overcome make us stronger and well rounded individuals.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I consider myself as a person who appreciates art, particularly films and visual arts. I have been a student of and practicing Filmmaking since the past eight years now. Filmmaking is a vast field and during all this time I have written, directed, edited, and produced my own film projects in addition to working on numerous other sets. However, Cinematography was an area which I believe I did not get to practice that much. Cinematography and camera tech was what got me into filmmaking in the first place but it also intimidated me in some ways due to its highly technical nature. So, over the past two years and especially after moving to LA Cinematography is what I have been doing the most. I will mention below some projects and line of work that I think is my interest and differentiates me.
As I mentioned earlier that I love cars so during my time at NCA in 2018 I started making automotive films under the banner of Miles Online. With a lot of inspiration, me and my friends during our spare time made three automotive short films that I wrote, produced, directed, and edited. These were documentaries and narrative films that featured cars as a significant part of their story. The third film i.e. Miles Episode 3: Desire was also my thesis film and a documentary about the car and street racing culture of Lahore. Miles Episode 4 and 5 were filmed in 2022 and I shot episodes 6 and 7 in California after I moved to America. For the last two episodes I wanted to make films about women in the car scene and motorsports. Both these films were about Leah Oliver who is a car enthusiast and a good friend. I got in touch with Leah three years before moving to America back when I shot my thesis film. We filmed a large part of her documentary at Willow Springs Raceway in California which was exciting. Automotive filmmaking has allowed me to get to know so many passionate individuals with whom I share the love of cars. It will hold a special place in my heart and is an endeavour I plan to continue.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I would say that the film and media industry is unpredictable in some ways. This is especially true if we consider media technology. For decades one kind of media technology will be used in the industry but then a new technology will emerge and completely revolutionise the industry. A big example is the shift from film to digital which we are all familiar with. As someone who is interested in tech I like to follow new media technologies emerging in the market that have the potential to create a big shift in the industry.
Here are a some I am closely looking at:
1. Immersive Filmmaking: Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have been around for quite some time now but over the recent years huge improvements have been made in these areas. These developments have made VR and AR more accessible to the consumer. Apart from the VR and AR headsets, immersive cinemas like The Sphere in Las Vegas have also added to this shift. I think all these technologies have a potential for filmmaking as well. Even though VR filmmaking is very limited right now compared to traditional cinema, as technologies progress over the next 5-10 years we might see VR and immersive flims making a space for themselves right next to traditional films.
2. More implementation of AI: AI will continue to revolutionise film, media, and arts. Even right now it’s successfully being implemented across pretty much all Non Linear Editing Softwares for example. In short, the benefit NLE’s with AI integration provide is that they eliminate most of the work that editors and people in post production had to do manually. AI is automating most of the time consuming tasks like sound syncing, transcribing, voice isolation, and background noise removal just to name a few smaller tasks. We haven’t even discussed how it can improve and enhance visual effects work flows like compositing and camera tracking or what are the potentials of Generative Video AI. Computational photography and videography has been around for many years but now especially computational video is delivering very promising results. I think that over the next few years AI in media is something to keep an eye on and even adapt to in one’s own work. The future outlook with AI seems exciting to me and it is time that we start adapting to and utilising these technologies.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danial.waheed/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@milesmedia5230
