Dubai · Case study for photographers, filmmakers and beauty brands
“A billboard is read in two seconds from across a road. Face, product, colour. Nothing else survives.”
An Eid billboard campaign for Charlotte Tilbury Arabia, shot in Dubai: stills by photographer @moezachour2, video by SwainUK, make-up by Ido Raphael, hair by Dani and an abaya by YNM Dubai. The billboard and the films came from one set. This case study is about producing for a billboard: building a set that reads at any size, framing for print as well as for phones, keeping the product beside the face, and getting stills and film out of the same day.
Charlotte Tilbury · Eid campaign, Dubai
01 · The brief
One set, every format
Charlotte Tilbury Beauty was founded in 2013 by the British make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury, and its campaigns lean on glamour: glowing skin, rich colour and the product in hand. For Eid, the campaign needed a billboard, which is the hardest format in advertising, plus films for social. The planning of a Ramadan and Eid shoot (timing, iftar breaks, cultural details) is covered in the Ramadan and Eid campaign planning guide. This post stays on the billboard.
| Output | What it needs from the set |
|---|---|
| Billboard and print | Very high resolution stills, room for copy, a background that can be extended |
| Vertical films for social | The same look in motion, framed for 9:16, product in every shot |
| Behind the scenes | The set build, make-up and the team at work |
Source: Wikipedia, Charlotte Tilbury Beauty.
02 · The set
Building a backdrop that reads from the road
The set build: a deep blue flat with glittering silver stars. Then stills under strobe on the same set.
The behind-the-scenes film shows the set being made: a large flat painted deep blue, covered in glitter and silver stars, moved into place in a white studio. It is a simple idea, and that is why it works for a billboard. One strong colour, one shape repeated, and a night-sky feeling that says Eid without a single word.
One dominant colour
A billboard is seen small and fast. A single strong colour behind the face is recognisable from a distance.
Texture that scales
Glitter reads as sparkle at any size: soft bokeh in a close-up, a starry field in a wide.
Big enough to extend
Build the backdrop wider than the frame. Print layouts often need more background on one side for copy.
Built, not generated
A real set gives real reflections in the skin and the product. That is hard to fake and easy to trust.
03 · Framing for print
Shooting for a billboard and a phone at once
Wide and tight from the same set: the wide leaves room for copy, the close-up has to hold up at full billboard size.
A billboard layout is decided before the shoot, not after. The design team needs to know where the logo, the headline and the Arabic and English copy will sit, and the photographer needs to leave that space empty. These are the rules worth agreeing on the day before:
1. Get the layouts first. Ask for the billboard sizes and rough layouts, and tape the copy areas on the tether screen or a printout.
2. Shoot wider than you think. Leave background around the head and shoulders. It's easy to crop in, impossible to add real set.
3. Keep the face in the safe area. Billboards are cropped differently for each site. Keep the eyes and the product away from the edges.
4. Shoot every orientation. Landscape for roadside, portrait for mall screens and social, square for feeds. Same pose, three framings.
5. Resolution and retouching. Billboards are printed big and seen in detail at close range in malls. Skin and product retouching have to hold up at full size.
04 · Product to face
Holding the product so it reads
The make-up station and Ido Raphael's work in progress: the products on set are the products in the ads.
In beauty advertising the product and the face have to be read together. A lipstick in the lower corner is a product shot; a lipstick held by the cheek is a promise. Across the Charlotte Tilbury frames, the product is held close to the face: a lipstick at the cheekbone, a bottle beside the eye.
Same focal plane
Hold the product at the same distance from the lens as the eyes, so both are sharp at a wide aperture.
Label to camera
Turn the pack until the logo is readable and catches no glare. Check it on the tether screen, not by eye.
Hands are part of the make-up
Nails and hands are in every frame. Plan manicure and hand make-up as carefully as the face.
One gesture per frame
A single, clean gesture reads from across a road. Two ideas in one frame read as neither.
The same thinking applies to skincare, where texture and result matter as much as the pack. See skincare and beauty content that converts.
05 · Stills and film
Two cameras, one set, one day
Frames reviewed on a tethered laptop, and the make-up prep filmed for behind the scenes.
On this campaign the stills were shot under strobes, with frames checked on a tethered laptop, and the films were shot on the same set. Strobes and video don't mix: a flash can't light a moving image. So a day like this is planned in blocks, typically like this:
| Block | What happens | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stills first | Billboard frames shot and approved on the tether | The billboard is the most expensive output. Get it while make-up is perfect |
| Switch to continuous light | Swap or add LED sources in the same positions | The film matches the look of the stills |
| Film the motion | Product moves, turns, hair movement, vertical framing | The same look, now alive for social |
| BTS throughout | Set build, make-up, the team at the screen | Content for the brand's own channels |
Agree in advance who owns each block, and keep the video camera behind the photographer during stills. The project credits list both: photos by @moezachour2 and video by SwainUK.
Watch
The Eid films
More guides
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FAQ
Common questions
How do you shoot a billboard campaign?
Get the billboard sizes and layouts before the shoot, build a simple set with one strong colour, shoot wider than you need with space for copy, keep the face and product in the safe area, and shoot landscape, portrait and square versions of each pose.
What resolution do you need for a billboard photo?
Ask the printer or media owner for the exact file specification for each site. Shoot on a high-resolution camera, leave extra background around the subject and retouch at full size, because large formats in malls are seen up close.
Can you shoot stills and video on the same beauty set?
Yes, if the day is planned in blocks. Shoot the stills under strobes first, then switch to continuous light in the same positions for the film, and run behind-the-scenes throughout.
How should a model hold a beauty product in an ad?
Close to the face, at the same distance from the lens as the eyes, with the label turned to camera and free of glare, in one clear gesture.
Written by Joshua Swain, who films beauty and fashion campaigns in Dubai and London. See the Charlotte Tilbury Eid project.