Brand | EMARAT (EMIRATES GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION) |
Product/Service | EMARAT / EMARAT B2B SERVICES |
Entrant | HOUSE OF COMMS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
Category | Casting |
Idea Creation
|
HOUSE OF COMMS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
|
Media Placement
|
HOUSE OF COMMS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
|
PR
|
HOUSE OF COMMS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
|
Production
|
HOUSE OF COMMS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
|
Production 2
|
BOOMTOWN PRODUCTIONS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
|
Production 3
|
WALEED SHAH STUDIO Abu Dhabi, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
|
Write a short summary of what happens in the film
‘Expect the Expected’ begins with a young Emirati boy pulling into an Emarat petrol station in 1981, the year Emarat was established. Throughout the 60-second spot, we watch as the boy grows up, has a family of his own, and finally makes his Father proud by becoming a pilot. We see the milestones of his life and the emotions shared between a family played out against the backdrop of a petrol forecourt, supporting the message that Emarat supports your journey through life. Replica vintage cars, petrol pumps and uniforms are used to evoke feelings of familiarity and nostalgia around visiting an Emarat station.
The entire film is shot through the windscreen of a car, providing the audience with a unique view of the scenes that are unfolding on the screen and acting as a reinterpretation of the phrase ‘viewing life through a lens’.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
Expect the Expected was shot at multiple locations across Emarat’s Retail and Commercial services in the UAE to showcase the heritage of the brand and spark feelings of nostalgia amongst local Emirati residents. The film begins at the first Emarat petrol station in Clock Tower, Deira and ends at one of Emarat’s newest stores in Greyteesha, symbolising the passing of time and evolution of our main character.
Production teams consulted Emarat’s archive library of photography and film footage to ensure set design accurately represented the heritage of the UAE over the past four decades. As a result, the film features many nostalgic cues that will resonate with the local audience who have grown up in the UAE, including real petrol pumps from the 1980s, pump attendant uniforms and a replica of the branded tissue boxes that were given out to customers in 1980s to further evoke familiarity and warmth.
Tell the jury about the casting process.
Central to the film’s storyline is the growth of a young Emirati boy as he matures from child, to teenager, to married man and finally to grandpa, all with the Emarat forecourt as backdrop to his life milestones. In order to achieve that continuity, it was imperative that we cast boy and men who looked similar and could conceivably be the same person at different ages.
As a solution, we paid special attention to facial features and quirks against our shortlisted males to ensure synergy between each of the faces. This included space between eyes, width of face and shape of nose. We then used a graphical depiction of young morphing into the old using the cast head shots to qualify that our selection of lead characters was the right choice.
Supporting family members were then cast from the same ethnicity to ensure plausibility as a family.
Credits
Katie Bawler |
House of Comms |
Senior Client Handler |
Carl Greiner |
House of Comms |
Head of Film |
Daniel Kilalea |
Boomtown Productions |
Executive Director and Producer |
Zahra Mirza |
House of Comms |
Scripwriter |
Ali Mostafa |
Ali Mosafa |
Director |
Waleed Shah |
Waleed Shah Studio |
Photographer |
Steve Taberlanche |
House of Comms |
Senior Designer |
Jamie Wilks |
House of Comms |
Executive Creative Director |
Tom Williams |
House of Comms |
Senior Art Director |
Links
Supporting Webpage