5D MKll goes to EGYPT & BIERUT

K

Khalid Mohtaseb

New member
This past August a few friends and I set off to Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon for 6 weeks to shoot a documentary. This is a montage of some of the footage we shot. Check it out

http://vimeo.com/7058755

If you have any questions/comments youd like to share feel free to post them.
 
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Khalid, that was poetry. Emotional, technically über-competent, supremely tasteful, and visually intense. I only wish I had the funds to hire your insanely talented behind. Really arresting footage, and a montage of which you should be extremely proud.
 
Yeah, you and Jonathan were able to capture some pretty great stuff over there. Nice work. Been forever since I talked to you, hit me up soon!
 
So thats where ya been bro.... Damn i see that you took my advice and bought the 5D!.

Btw i had the pleasure of shooting with both John and Khalid this past summer and their top notch. Great job guys.


Ed Duran
 
I am sorry if this is overbearing (decline to answer if you wish) but I have to ask.

Outside of the MKII itself, what was the total cost of everything that went into making this piece, equipment wise. I was looking through the pics you linked to on vimeo and can easily see you are knee deep into the game.
 
Thanks Andrew and Ed. Jon and I worked very hard to get those shots. This was my first experience shooting as a journalist and I now know how hard it is to capture a moment when your pressured for time. Luckily enough I speak arabic so that helped allot when communicating with the locals. It really has been a long time since I've seen either one of you. I'll talk to you guys soon.

stateofmind, your question was not overbearing at all. The documentary was independently produced and the overall budget was very small. It was a two man crew in both countries. (myself and Jonathan Bregel shooting in egypt and Myself and George Yazbek shooting in Beirut) In terms of the equipment I own the camera, the monitor, the dolly, and some of the lenses. Jonathan owns the Rods, matebox, follow focus, and sticks, and the producer owns the other half of the lenses. We borrowed the rest of the gear from friends in NYC. At the end of the day I don't believe its so much the equipment used but the drive of the person operating to strive to make something different. Hope that helped!

Props to the Kessler Pocket Dolly for its lightweight design and durability. The production value upped beyond our expectations and those shots couldn't have happened without it.
 
That is right up with there with the best 5DMII footage. Very impressive.

I am interested in doing the same kind of journalistic style, but making a feature out of it a bit like Koyaanisqatsi. Have you heard of that film? It's almost like a human orientated nature documentary showing people in their man-made habitat, and showing their impact on the earth with a lot of amazing timelapse footage. Got a great score by Philip Glass.

Anyway, in approaching people how do you tend to go about it? Is it simply a case of asking permission to shoot them or do they need a lot of convincing to be involved? Did they think you were making still photos with a camera like the 5D, or did you explain 100% about what the film was about, etc. before asking them if they'd like to feature in it?

Some fantastic portrait shots in there. It really is photographic in style, but cinematic as well.
 
I've heard some great stuff about Koyaanisqatsi but never got the chance to see it. If you havent seen Baraka yet its well worth it and was a huge inspiration in making this film.

In terms of apporachign people, It all depends on the energy you read from the subject. It becomes obvious who wants to be on camera and who doesnt.

Mostly all the portraits in the montage were staged. Luckily enough I speak arabic so I explained who we were, what we do, and what we're shooting. We stagged them were the lighting was best.
 
Baraka is the stablemate of Koyaanisqatsi (by same cinematographer) and it's great. But I like Koyaanisqatsi the best. It's darker, has more menace is very relevant to modern life especially in the west, or in large cities. The timelapse footage of people in the cities of America make them look like tiny ants!! Its superbly shot and scored.

This, I'd say, is on the same level cinematography wise - quite amazing considering you had the tiny 5D to work with and not film.
 
I just watched it again for the fourth time and it really is wonderful footage. The slider sure made some of those shot stand out.

Very nice work!
 
Woo Hoo! thats what im talking about my man!

Now come over my crib and lets get drunk.... :)

Khalid Mohtaseb said:
I've heard some great stuff about Koyaanisqatsi but never got the chance to see it. If you havent seen Baraka yet its well worth it and was a huge inspiration in making this film.

In terms of apporachign people, It all depends on the energy you read from the subject. It becomes obvious who wants to be on camera and who doesnt.

Mostly all the portraits in the montage were staged. Luckily enough I speak arabic so I explained who we were, what we do, and what we're shooting. We stagged them were the lighting was best.
Click to expand...

Dude FYI i have Baraka on BluRay.....
 
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