2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Super fit athletes use the city of Abu Dhabi as their playground. As they move through the spectacular landmark locations, they trigger the city's adaptation and transformation.

Creative Execution

The director wanted to re-create the HDR look typically associated with commercial sports photography but in live action. Furthermore, he wanted to shoot high-speed with zero motion blur with the buildings, sky and athlete fully exposed in the same shot at night. This technical challenge was achieved using techno dolly motion control, a monstrous lighting package, Phantom Flex 4K and compositing. We filmed each shot in several passes moving the massive light rigs out of the shot each time background and buildings were being shot. The motion control rig allowed for another cool gimmick; slow motion athletes in the foreground and time-lapse cityscapes in the backgrounds - in the same shot! The motion control with its supporting gear and the expertise to go with that had to be flown in from Europe. We recruited world-renowned local and foreign athletes who not only had the looks for the market and set of skills required, but could fit into an already demanding schedule.