2014 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Saadiyat is all about a beautiful island that is becoming both a destination and a home for a diverse number of people. We wanted to give the island a voice, and create an emotional connection to the range of activities and reasons that people want to stay or visit Saadiyat. We used the idea of showing off the islands stunning assets, from homes and schools to the beautiful leisure facilities, and cultural art attractions, by placing real people in their real environments. They proudly stand in different locations around the destination and say their lines relating to each place. The viewer hears the lines being said by each individual in their head as we did both English and Arabic voiceovers. The overarching call to action is: “ Make Saadiyat Your Saadiyat” To make the film as visually stimulating as possible, and to try and cram a 27sqKm island into a 60 second TVC, We shot above the Beach, Golf course, Housing Communities, and even the majestic, Norman Foster designed UAE Pavilion. These transitions allowed us to link each scene seamlessly to the next as we travelled from beach to garden to road and pool. So the viewer engaged with the people, the buildings and the landscape. And all in 60 seconds!

Creative Execution

With a budget is USD 400,000/- each department worked tirelessly to deliver to the directors treatment. Casting was extensive and carried out over three weeks. Art Department provided auto CAD representations of locations in order to execute location dressing and props inconspicuously integrated while enhancing the look of the film. We shot on RED camera system, mounted on specially designed hexacopter for the aerial shots. This small camera-carrying drone allowed us to shoot anywhere from 5 centimeters to 50 meters above ground level. We also used the ALEXA camera at high speed for the remaining shots. Both were seamlessly integrated to create one voice in the edit. The aerial shots were designed to capture the massive property development from a birds eye view yet are close enough to the ground to feel the humanity of the characters. The entire TVC was shot on 2K. The film was post produced in London with state of the art technology like Baselight grading system using award winning colorist and technicians. Music was composed by UK based Seb who is known for his understanding of Arabic music and his ability to fuse traditionalism with modern genres. THe film took four weeks to plan, three days to shoot and then a 3 weeks to edit