Desert Diary

Technical and location choices – Broken camera halts film

 

The equipment was hired from Dubai-based rental house Filmquip.

The film was shot with a 16mm camera because that was “the style that the DoP was after”, according to Magd.

However the camera broke midway through the filming and it was halted for two days until a replacement ARRI was flown in from London by Filmquip.

A Fallible Girl was shot in 22 locations between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The first 10 days of the shoot took place at the mushroom farm in Abu Dhabi. Other locations included the creek, a villa in Jumeirah, an apartment in Deira and the streets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Limited budget -Honing local skills

Magd claims she has helped train people in the industry with this project.

“I am very proud of the fact that I helped groom a lot of people in the industry. I firmly believe in training local talent.”

Many crew members were new to the industry or had limited experience because the budget did not permit hiring highly trained professionals.

The video assistant, for instance, had never worked on a film before A Fallible Girl but was trained on the job, according to Magd.

The production coordinators were not very seasoned either, and the location manager had only worked on television commercials before this film, she adds.

“I dislike people telling me that they can’t take someone on unless they have substantial experience. How do you get experience if no one gives you an opportunity? If no one trains anyone, how are we going to groom an industry in Dubai?” she points out.

As a first time EP, Magd feels passionately about having been given this opportunity. It was no bed of roses, however. She had to adapt to her new role as well.

“I was heading a TV department in an advertising agency so I wasn’t really on the field where as now I am on the field. I had to make sure that the crew and equipment was on set. I did the call sheets with the assistant director and brain storming with the key departments. I was even involved in catering simply because I had no production manager to do the leg work for me.”

Cannes on the horizon?

A Fallible Girl is expected to begin screening at various festivals at the end of this year.

Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), Abu Dhabi film festival and Tribecca Doha are among those being targeted in the region.

Magd feels that the film has much potential: “We are hoping to hit the big ones like Cannes and the Venice and the San Sebastian. The director that shot this movie won the best director in 2010 at San Sebastian film festival so we are hopeful that this film will also meet with the same success.”

Future projects – More movies and possible TV programmes

Magd’s efforts on A Fallible Girl have received her considerable recognition in the industry. In fact, so much recognition that several Emirati directors and a well-known local production house have now approached her to take on similar roles on their respective projects. In the meantime, Magd has also begun to write programmes that she hopes to pitch to television channels.

“I have written actually four or five programmes that I shall pitch to local broadcasters. If there is interest, I intend to take it further in a professional manner,” adds Magd.

It’s a wrap

Magd is optimistic that she made the right career move.

“I am excited about the future. Obviously being employed all these years there is a worry about where the next job will come from but filmmaking has its advantages when compared to the world of advertising.

“You don’t have to please the client. If the director is not happy, it’s just him. It’s not about the marketing manager, the marketing director and then the agency, client servicing and then your own management. In independent filmmaking, you also don’t take a shot 200 times, and pick two at the edit table. In the low budget industry, after the third take, I suppose you move on. You’re done.”

Interview by Vijaya Cherian. Written by Anuradha Mojumdar