Dubai - two faces of a city

G

GMC

Well-known member
Hi folks,

see below my latest work. I shot this in Dubai last week, GH1 with the hack, kti lens, Canon FD 50mm f1.4, pancake 20mm f1.7

Have fun watching!




Dubai 4.jpgDubai 6.jpgDubai 2.jpgDubai 7.jpg
 
Thanks! I am using a Fader ND MKII to keep shutter speed always at 1/50th (in fully manual mode).
 
This is nice. What settings on camera did you use (film mode and settings, WB)? Did you grade it much?
 
Tracey Lee said:
This is nice. What settings on camera did you use (film mode and settings, WB)? Did you grade it much?
Click to expand...

Thanks. I used smooth film mode (everything except color -2), WB 5600 (to compensate the slight shift to blue of the Fader ND), FHD mode, native 24p with hack ("C" settings). Yes, I graded it. Not too much, but I wanted to have that desaturated "desert" look.
 
Interesting video. What are the two faces of the city that you are making a point about? If it is poverty vs wealth I didn't see the contrast much
or am I interpreting it wrongly? Either way its a good 'tourist' vid - I mean as in site seeing. Also had me wondering how you did the dolly behind the yellow car.
 
Nice work yet again, I liked the look you achieved and the camera work was very solid for street shooting, which is very hard to do.
 
J Davis said:
Interesting video. What are the two faces of the city that you are making a point about? If it is poverty vs wealth I didn't see the contrast much
or am I interpreting it wrongly? Either way its a good 'tourist' vid - I mean as in site seeing. Also had me wondering how you did the dolly behind the yellow car.
Click to expand...

Basically it's the workers without their families from the Indian subcontinent which remind me of modern slavery, living in the "old" Dubai which make the glamour of the Emirati happen, which seem to have nothing more to do than sitting around, spending money in the big shopping malls adoring their wonders. I thought this message would be clearly conveyed, but obviously not so. However, it's clearly a "tourist" video as I spent not more than afternoon there to shoot - but I tried to provide a different point of view.

The dolly is made with a short DIY glidetrack.

best regards, Gunther
 
AdrianF said:
Nice work yet again, I liked the look you achieved and the camera work was very solid for street shooting, which is very hard to do.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, as J Davis pointed out it's basically a "tourist" vid, but I tried to provide a different angle of view.
 
you were only there for the afternoon? good job! From the vid I thought you were there for at least a week. The little slider shot was great. Like a backpack slider? How long is it and what tripod do you carry
to mount it on? Hey about the two faces - the feel of it was there in the vid but definitely could have been stronger. To me the images convey the spread of diversity but not the difference of their polarity,
but I like the fact that you attempted to do that. When I travelled in the caribbean I remember seeing a strong polarity except it was expensive tourist resorts then poor shanty town. An extreme difference.
I can only imagine that Dubai can also hold these opposites.
 
GMC said:
Thanks. Yes, as J Davis pointed out it's basically a "tourist" vid, but I tried to provide a different angle of view.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call that a tourist video. It is far more sophisticated than that. Yes, there are shots of various sights, but they are not from a regular "tourist" perspective. Also, there is more intimate detail here.

Once again, well done. Enjoyed it. Did you use more stabalization this time? Many shots look very steady.
 
J Davis said:
you were only there for the afternoon? good job! From the vid I thought you were there for at least a week. The little slider shot was great. Like a backpack slider? How long is it and what tripod do you carry
to mount it on? Hey about the two faces - the feel of it was there in the vid but definitely could have been stronger. To me the images convey the spread of diversity but not the difference of their polarity,
but I like the fact that you attempted to do that. When I travelled in the caribbean I remember seeing a strong polarity except it was expensive tourist resorts then poor shanty town. An extreme difference.
I can only imagine that Dubai can also hold these opposites.
Click to expand...

The slider I am using is a DIY slider very similar to the glidetrack, 500mm long. It has got three small legs, no tripod (just small enough to be carried along). I very much like your comments about the diversity and polarity. It is always very helpful to hear how others see the message the filmmaker wants to convey. I thought the message comes across. It did very well for people who know the place / have been there (I can see that from the comments over at vimeo), but obviously not for people not knowing it. And this helps me to get it better across next time.

Thanks again for the comments and fedback, very much appreciated.
 
stoneinapond said:
I wouldn't call that a tourist video. It is far more sophisticated than that. Yes, there are shots of various sights, but they are not from a regular "tourist" perspective. Also, there is more intimate detail here.

Once again, well done. Enjoyed it. Did you use more stabalization this time? Many shots look very steady.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that feedback. The only stabilization I use is a bag of rice, which I try to use whereever possible (i.e. placing the cam with the rice bag on anything which provides a solid foundation, even if it is my thigh). The more shakey shots are handheld, but again I place the cam on my camera bag (strapped around my neck) which at least eliminates the nasty high frequency shake.

IMG_5791.jpg

Not the optimum, on the other hand this minimal setup allows me to take the cam on all my business trips with me.

best regards, Gunther
 
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