The Cinematography

The film

At a glance
Client
Abu Dhabi Ports
Directed by
Sofia de Fay
Production
Grolez Films
Role
Director of Photography
Lens
Laowa 35mm Proteus anamorphic
Location
Abu Dhabi

On the Abu Dhabi Ports teaser I was director of photography, not director; Sofia de Fay directed, produced by Grolez Films. My job was to make ports, cranes, and logistics read as scale worth watching. Ports are enormous and repetitive, all horizon lines, containers, and geometry, so I framed wide anamorphic to let that geometry carry the image. The film moves between two distances: aerials to establish the size of the operation and the patterns only visible from above, and close-ups of the logistics systems for precision. I worked on false colour across the very mixed light of the site so the exposure held, and graded it in DaVinci Resolve for one consistent, cinematic look.

Shooting For Scale

Ports are enormous and repetitive, all horizon lines, containers, and cranes, so I framed to use that: wide anamorphic compositions that let the geometry of the place carry the image. Anamorphic gives an industrial subject a cinema-wide frame and a scale a flat corporate look never reaches.

The film moves between two distances, aerials to establish the size of the operation and the patterns only visible from above, and close-ups of the logistics systems for the detail that shows precision. Between them, the port reads as both vast and exact.

I lit and exposed for very mixed environments, hard sun on open yards, shadow under structures, artificial light inside, so I worked on false colour throughout to keep exposure balanced as the film moved across those spaces.

DOP note

The job was to make ports and cranes read as scale worth watching.

The approach, by the numbers Infrastructure shot for scale and precision, not machinery.
2.39
anamorphic
Laowa 35mm Proteus
2
distances
aerials and logistics close-ups
1
lens
one wide prime, one language
1
grade
consistent across mixed light

The Craft

Craft spec

How it was shot
Role
Director of Photography
Camera
Blackmagic Ursa Mini 4.6K G2
Lens
Laowa 35mm Proteus anamorphic
Grade
DaVinci Resolve, false colour
Directed by
Sofia de Fay

A single wide anamorphic prime kept the whole teaser in one visual language, and the anamorphic frame gave the infrastructure the cinematic scale the brief needed.

Everything was graded in DaVinci Resolve to hold one consistent, cinematic look across a location that changes light every few metres.

Inspirations

The teaser presents Abu Dhabi Ports as scale and precision rather than machinery, an industrial subject shot with the width and polish of a cinema piece.

Cut from aerial establishing scale down to the working detail, it makes trade infrastructure read as something with power and exactness.

References

Visual language
Register
Cinematic industrial, wide
Scale
Aerial to working detail
Frame
Anamorphic geometry
Client
Abu Dhabi Ports