FILM: THE MAGAZINE/MADRID/JULY 2017
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In the supporting role of Nasser, the aggressive security guard who menaces the protagonist Raj, is industry veteran Adam Stone. Adam has 3 Hollywood productions & over 15 short films under his belt, having acted with the likes of Jackie Chan in Kung Fu Yoga & Brad Pitt in the recent War Machine. “This movie would not have worked without a solid Nasser.” Ehab remarks. “Adam’s character, Nasser is so important to the film, considering he is the reason behind Raj’s eventual breakdown, we couldn’t just settle for anybody to fill the role.” “The casting process took about a week, but when Joe & Adam came, we knew that we had found what we needed.” says Farah ElSayegh, Screen 13’s producer & co-writer. “From the start, I’d been very attached to the idea, and I did not want to settle for a weak production for the sake of convenience. We faced many challenges, one of which was actually securing a cinema to shoot in. Our shoots would also have to be done at night after hours, so naturally that added it’s own additional challenges. We finally found a wonderful old-style cinema in the neighboring emirate Sharjah by way of our sponsor Senora. This gave us the big break we needed to green light the production and make it happen.”
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When asked about the visual style of the film, Ehab focuses a lot on purpose. “I don’t like to do things just because we can do them. Just because a certain piece of equipment or a certain technology is available to us, doesn’t mean it needs to be in the film.” “I worked very closely with Hani (the D.O.P & Editor) to make sure we set the mood right in every shot, and stayed true to my vision of the film.” Screen 13’s visuals are based in the logic of the film. The film begins with steady, focused shots, and progresses into a more erratic hand-held style as the main character descends into chaos. The visual element serves the character and story.
Yasmine Zahran, Screen 13’s production designer, had her work cut out for her when transforming the sets into the various locations seen in the film. “We really only shot in three different sets, with the exception of the outdoor scenes. We made the most out of our locations by re-purposing one room or hallway for different scenes.” Yasmine adds “I won’t give away the secrets (laughs) but a lot of the different locations you see in the film are actually the same set, I won’t tell you which ones though!”
“Screen 13 doesn’t call for flashy visuals or over-the top gimmicks to sell the story.” Hani Fayed tells us. “The same goes for the editing of the film” Hani adds, “…we wanted to unravel the story naturally, without any forced cutting or rushed pacing. I think the story of Screen 13 is one that really needs to take its time in order for the audience to fully grasp it, and by the end of the film, it’s really rewarding to see it play out since we did not rush the audience into understanding it.” While piecing it together in post-production, Sound Supervisor Ahmad Sahmoud assembled a team of Dubai professionals to create an original score for the film & create all the audio elements in the film from scratch. By his side is Azarel Fernandes, long time musician & audio engineer, who played a major role in mixing & mastering the entire film. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team, honestly” Ehab tells us. “I’m very fortunate that we all were able to put our brains together in creating Screen 13. It’s been a wild ride and I’m so proud of everyone involved in creating the film.” Screen 13 was done in cooperation with the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Communication at the American University in Dubai. The team sends major thanks to Roozbeh Kafi, the project supervisor, Senora the Main sponsor, as well as all the cast, crew, and interns who made the film possible.
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Drama
Film THE MAGAZINE
Run Time 20 Mins