Author: lrabah

This breathtaking piece, published by the Egyptian web magazine “Fasla”, starts with a wide establishing shot of a quarry, slowly zooming in, while a very powerful soundbite is playing in the background: “this job is just inhuman”, and then black smoke is released from a chimney. Music is setting a mood of suspense, and supports the surprise when the smoke erupts.
We see portraits of workers, with their faces covered. These portrait shots are interrupted by 3 random detailed, sometimes blurry shots of the work environment.

https://www.facebook.com/Elfaslaonline/videos/%D8%A5%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%BA%D9%84-%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%B1/2390783970989304/

The narration continues with another short, yet powerful quote: “If I’m fearful, I won’t work… and If I don’t work, I won’t eat”. The music becomes faster and more upbeat to establish a transition to more action. We see the workers covering their faces with masks, preparing themselves for this hard job that we already know is scary.
We’re introduced to the protagonist after 40 seconds, whom we never see in the usual interview (talking head) frame. Instead, he’s walking in a beautiful slow tracking shot, away from the camera, and towards a wide area of white stone.

Movements in the shots are subtle, most of them are smooth zoom ins/outs. In one shot, the filmmakers used a moving object, a ladder held by two workers, and put the camera on it to capture the point of view of one worker.
When the protagonist talks about the dangerous powder he and the others have to inhale; the footage reflects that by showing a worker walking into white dust and powder, barely visible, to demonstrate the intensity of this substance.

In the last quarter of the piece, we hear a new voice, a younger one. We see a few portrait shots of other workers until the person who’s talking is revealed. It’s a 14-year-old worker taking off his mask and sunglasses, smiling. The viewers get to have a personal connection with him in the last second, after they’ve witnessed the hard labor and the collective experience of the workers. This connection was effective highlighting the contrast between vulnerability and this harsh and tough environment.

This video is a documentary journalistic piece in which many cinematic techniques are used. However, its high quality cinematic sequences strengthen the fact that this story, and people in it are real. This cruel whiteness is their daily life.

This story is produced by Great Big Story. In 2:30 minutes, GBS shows the special bond between Mencia Uranga, a professional horse rider from Basque, and her horse, while preparing to compete in a 100-mile-long race. This story also features Dubai, the city which Uranga is currently based in, since the video is a part of a series sponsored by “Visit Dubai”.

The story begins with a wide shot of a group of horse riders in slow-motion, which establishes the main theme of the video. Uranga follows shortly with her voiceover saying that since she moved to Dubai, her life was centered around horses.

The video prepares the viewers to see Uranga with a sequence of a closeup on the horse’s head, another shot of her hands on the lead rope, and then her face is shown, followed by more detailed shots of the horse’s legs, and wider shots showing her while riding the horse. All shots in the introduction of the video are in Slow-motion, which shows the movements of the horse beautifully, and drives attention to small details. Details make the moment more significant.

The video introduces the protagonist with a video portrait of her on the horse. The interview shot is only seen for a few seconds, in which she is sitting on the floor in a traditional Emirati lounge, symmetrical in it’s lighting sources- windows- and furniture, which is a simple deliberate background.

At Min 00:52, there is a beautiful shot of Uranga surrounded by other horse-riders. However, horses are either out of focus in the background, or their faces are covered by a piece of cloth. Uranga stands out in the crowd as the protagonist, and as a metaphor of the serenity she experiences while horse-riding. Uranga poetically describes how she wanders in space and feels united with it, as if they were one.

A new block in the story begins at minute 1:22, the music changes after a couple of seconds of silence, as if the story breathes and turns a new page. Uranga talks about her relationship with Dubai, with an establishing shot of Dubai’s waterfront while a motorboat passes through. The video uses some still photos from Uranga’s past ten years in Dubai. The storyteller chose this method to portray her intimate decade-long connection with the city and its horses.

At minute 1:34, there is a captivating sequence of her leaning on the horse’s neck, and her fingers gently touching its hair. These shots create a sense of intimacy, suitable to the affectionate interaction between Uranga and the horse.

The visual storytellers chose to use time lapses at the end of the video, when she describes her fascination of the contrast in Dubai between the city life and the desert. The video shows two time-lapses that depict the nature of this contrast.

Drone shots of the desert in the end are a great interpretation of Uranga’s quote: “the landscape is yours, find your path”. The extremely wide camera angle provides a sense of liberty. A wide space open for everyone to find their own path

.