Many times on our t ravels, we unconsciously form an impression of the country we are visiting based on very inconspicuous things; the mints we fi nd on our hotel pillow-tops after a hectic day raiding the malls, or a rose garland greeting at the arrival halls. These are the little gestures that stick in the back of our minds long after the trips are over and money well spent. Even while we are raving about the “must sees” and “must dos” to our friends, what we really miss is being pampered by excellent service personnel who take care of our every small detail, making us feel welcomed and appreciated. In the end, these are the things that separate a good holiday from a great one.

That is exactly the rationale behind the enticing concept for Prepping Dubai, a TVC commissioned by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce that serves to complement its tourism tagline “Come. Feel Special”.

The concept and storyboard, conceived by creative director Komal Bedi Sohal from agency Team Y&R Dubai, depicts Dubai’s customer service at its most meticulous and detail-conscious. The 45-second spot shows Dubai people from the service industry in the line of duty, lavishing over the smallest of details as they go about preparing to serve customers.

The spot begins at Gold Souk, a street known for plying the jewellery trade, located in the district of Old Deira in the heart of Dubai, where an elderly goldsmith cleans the pavement outside his storefront with a bucket of water. The slow panning scenes then cut to a restaurant waiter who inspects a wine glass at close range. Next, a fashion designer casts a discerning eye at a mannequin togged in haute-style apparel and proceeds to adjust the window display. The series of cross-dissolving montages continue as the chauffer, horse trainer, café assistant etc all exemplify traits of paying close attention to small details. Flipping through the images, a voice-over coos: “Taking care of the million little details to make it an unforgettable experience.” The fi nal shot slowly pans skywards to reveal a horizon view of Dubai’s famed waterfront city skyline. In sending home the message, the words ‘Dubai. Come. Feel Special’ are superimposed on the expanse of the seas.

Spunk Pictures assumed production responsibilities for the TVC that was developed for satellite channels in Europe, Asia and North America. Facing diffi cult location and weather conditions, the Shanghai-based production fi rm was again up to the daunting task.

Filmed entirely in Dubai, the multilocat ion shots required extensive traveling and lengthy set-up times. Existing locations were used for most of the shots except for one interior. According to Execut ive producer Davis Koh, the team spent an entire week scouting for the right locations alone. Some ingenuity was in order to capture scenes that were geographically challenging. When they had to capture footages of the sun rising against a coastal horizon, they discovered that Dubai’s beaches were all West-facing. In the end, they resorted to using the footage of a sunset but set to reverse during post.

Since there were restrictions to shoot only during retail hours for the various scenes involving retail outlets, careful planning of the shot list was also critical in order to conform to the limited shooting time that was allowed. Hence there was little idle time for both staff and equipment. In any case, any free time between takes was mostly spent guzzling the well-stocked drinking water on the set to compensate for the extreme heat.

The harsh weather condit ions â€" daylight temperatures range between 45º- 48º â€" meant that special lighting equipment had to be flown in from Germany. Due to the natural lighting conditions, DP Jeffery Ang found it extremely challenging to control light and exposure balance.

The team initially wanted to shoot on Arri 435 but the cameras were unavailable, largely due to increased demand for their use in feature fi lms. Looking at the fi nal footages, the alternative Arri 3 that was used for the entire shoot proved an astute choice for achieving the intended look and feel. However, the heavy-set equipment required quite a bit of strength when negotiating hand-held shots.

All in all, director Xiao Wei Hong and DP Ang managed to achieve a range of authentic-looking images that portray the essence of the subject matters convincingly.

From the soft-focus, orange-tinged opening scenes at Gold Souk to the silhouetted backlit shots of a horse in a stable, the effectiveness of this TVC lies within such confluence of subtle imageries. Indeed, combining seamless edi t ing with pr is t ine photography, Prepping Dubai is a delicious piece of fi lming that demands a second viewing. If nothing else, it leaves you aching and looking forward to the next holiday season.

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