Category: Work Related

My advertising agency (JWT) is currently looking to hire an Arabic Copywriter. If you’re interested, send an email to [email protected]

I need a freelance illustrator to draw up a storyboard.
If you’re interested [Contact Me]

I am leaving to Beirut for a few days and will be back early next week. While there I will be carelessly indulging in an unlimited supply of Cadbury Chocolate Milk while having some of the best Nutella and banana crepes. Posting will continue as normal while I am there.

My advertising agency (JWT) is currently looking to hire a Graphic Designer. If you’re interested, send an email to [email protected]

My advertising agency (JWT) is currently looking to hire a Senior Arabic Copywriter. If you’re interested, send an email to [email protected]

I spent 2 hours trying to upload this video onto YouTube with my 1.5MB Qualitynet connection and I couldn’t. Finally was able to upload it by connecting my Mac to my iPhone’s 3G connection. Took around an hour but at least its finally up. Anyway this is the final cut of the new Wataniya Airways commercial which we shot 10 days ago in Beirut. I uploaded the 720p version so make sure you click the HD button or click the following link for the best resolution. [YouTube – HD]

Last week when I was in Beirut I was there for work shooting a commercial for Wataniya Airways. One of the cool things about the shoot was that we were using the Phantom HD camera. The Phantom HD is a digital camera that can shoot up to 1500 frames per second (fps) at 720p resolution or 1000fps at 1080p.

I think we were one of the first people in the region to use this camera if not the first. Anyway just to explain what shooting at high speed means or does. Generally video runs at around 24fps. So that means if you shoot 1 second of footage at the speed of 1000fps, when you play it back at regular speed of 24fps, that 1 second of footage will last around 40 seconds. What this does is allow you to capture a lot of detail in that 1 second. It’s similar to the camera used on the Discovery Show, Time Warp. If you shoot a bullet in front of a high speed camera you will be able to see it flying through the air when played back. The camera slows down time.

Since the commercial is going to get released soon I was able to get permission to post one of my favorite takes. It’s a scene of a guy dressed in a dishdasha falling back onto the bed. What I liked about this shot is the way the dishdasha moves while in the air and also how the bed ripples when the guy lands. This scene is going to be in the final commercial except we will only be using around 2 seconds of this 47 second clip. [YouTube]

Note: I am trying to get my hands on a higher resolution footage, once I get that will update this post with it.

Update: I’ve updated the video with the higher quality version. Also added the picture below of the camera on set.

I am leaving to the airport in a bit. Going to fly out to Madrid for some work and should be back Saturday. I am taking both my Nikon FE and my Sony W300 cameras. My posting habits should be normal although they will now be either late in the evening Madrid time or early in the morning. I don’t know what to expect in Spain, everything I thought was Spanish I realized was Mexican which means no Jarabe Tapatío for me!

I’ve been put in charge of our office’s redesign and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on a company or studio I could call up for this job. If you do please post a name preferably with a website or phone number as a comment below. Thanks!

Note: My dad is an interior designer but hiring my dad for the job would look pretty suspicious to the auditors lol

I will be in Beirut for the next 10 days on business but as usual I will continue to post from there.

My advertising agency (JWT) is currently looking to hire a Senior Art Director and a Kuwaiti Copywriter. If you’re interested send me an email and I will get back to you. [Email Me]

I am starting to sound like an old beat up record. Tomorrow I am leaving to Beirut for work and I will be there for 10 days. I am staying at a different hotel this time around, one with better Internet access and one thats also in a better location. I think I have two more trips before the summer and then things should get back to normal.

I’m leaving to London early morning tomorrow and coming back Saturday. Most of my posts the next couple of days will probably be from my phone since I am not sure yet if I am going to be taking my laptop.

I am leaving to Fujairah tonight and coming back Wednesday morning for work. When I first heard I was going to Fujairah I thought they were sending me to Fallujah in Iraq!

I really want the Herman Miller Aeron chair for my office. One of my clients has them in their conference room and the chair is super comfy. I checked on Amazon and they sell the chair for KD205 ($749). The price at the local dealer? KD420.