Dubai · Case study for filmmakers, photographers and jewellery brands
“A jewellery campaign is three productions on one budget: the film, the behind the scenes and the voices.”
Damas Jewellery has been trading since 1907, and its campaigns in Dubai are made with that weight in mind: palace gardens, couture gowns, marble statues and stones that have to read perfectly on a phone screen. This case study goes behind the Damas productions filmed by SwainUK with 1602 Studio: the flagship campaign films, the behind-the-scenes film with Nadine Njeim introducing ALIF by DAMAS, and an interview with designer Anabela Chan at Bayt Damas. It covers how content like this is planned, how jewellery is lit on skin, how to film a celebrity on set with respect, and how one shoot becomes many cut-downs.
Damas Jewellery · Dubai
01 · The brand and the brief
Heritage and luxury, in one frame
Damas was founded in 1907 and opened its first store in Dubai's Gold Souk in 1959. In 2021 it opened Bayt Damas in Umm Suqeim, a jewellery destination that brings together jewellery, art, fashion, a café and an exhibition space under one roof. That history is the brief behind every shoot: the project page describes the work as a journey through the flagship campaigns, "capturing the intersection of Middle Eastern heritage and contemporary luxury".
The credits on the Damas project list director Yehia Bedier and production company 1602 Studio, with SwainUK as cinematographer. On the Damas x Dome shoot, Yehia Bedier was creative director and the shoot was directed and styled by @rashwaaaaan, with 1602 Studio producing and SwainUK on video.
| Content | What it does | How it is shot |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign film | Sells the collection and the feeling of the brand | Styled locations, gowns, movement, slow close-ups of the pieces |
| Behind the scenes | Shows the scale and the people, builds trust | Documentary style, alongside the photographer and the main camera |
| Celebrity BTS | Introduces a collection through a known face | Short, controlled moments on set, product always in shot |
| Designer interview | Gives the jewellery a voice and a story | Seated interview, soft even light, clean sound |
Sources: Damas Jewellery, about us and milestones · Meydan Free Zone, Damas case study · Katerina Perez, Bayt Damas.
02 · Planning
How a jewellery campaign shoot is planned
The palace garden set: camera, stands and diffusion are all there, just out of the stills photographer's frame.
The Damas films move between a palace garden, terraces with balustrades, gilded rooms with tapestries and marble statues, and a balcony overlooking the city. Each look (an orange gown in the garden, a gold gown on the balcony, lilac and pink tulle indoors) needs its own light, its own pieces and its own time slot. A shoot like this lives or dies on the running order.
1. Pieces first. List every piece of jewellery, which look it goes with, and who signs it out and back in. Jewellery on set needs security and a named person responsible for it.
2. Light decides the order. Outdoor looks go in the first and last hours of daylight. Interiors fill the middle of the day, when the sun is too hard for skin and gold.
3. Stills and film share the set. Agree which goes first on each set-up, and where the video camera stands so it never ends up in the photographer's frame.
4. Plan the BTS as a deliverable. If the brand wants a behind-the-scenes film, it needs its own shot list, not just leftover clips.
5. Permits and permissions. Palaces, hotels and gardens need the venue's permission, and the shoot may need a permit. The Dubai photoshoot permit guide covers the process.
03 · Lighting
Lighting jewellery on skin
On a model, you can't put jewellery in a light tent. The work moves to the angle of the hand or neck, the condition of the skin, and the size of the light. The close-ups in the Damas films show the approach: warm, soft light on the skin, and stones that catch a small, bright highlight as the hand turns.
Big and soft for skin
A large diffused source keeps skin smooth and gives polished gold a long, even shine instead of hard white spots.
Small and hard for sparkle
Stones need a few points of light to come alive. A slow move of the hand or the camera past a bright source makes them flicker.
Pose a few degrees at a time
A small turn of the wrist moves a reflection off a stone. Direct the hand like a product, not like a portrait.
Texture behind the piece
Marble, tulle and satin give the stones something soft to sit against, as with the rings against the statue above.
Damas x Dome: the wide garden set and the ring close-up from the same shoot, delivered as a vertical behind-the-scenes film.
The reflection side of this, including cross-polarisation for tabletop shots, is covered step by step in jewellery photography without reflections.
04 · Celebrity BTS
Filming Nadine Njeim for ALIF by DAMAS
Behind the scenes of Introducing ALIF by DAMAS: the face, then the product.
Nadine Nassib Njeim is a Lebanese actress and a former Miss Lebanon, and in 2021 Damas named her as the face of the brand. The behind-the-scenes film for Introducing ALIF by DAMAS was shot alongside the campaign photographer, Greg Swalsart, in a studio set with a grey backdrop. The ALIF collection is inspired by the first letter of the Arabic alphabet.
Filming a well-known person on someone else's shoot is a balance. The stills are the priority, the talent's time is limited, and the BTS camera must never slow the day down. These are the habits that make it work:
Agree the rules first
Ask the talent's team what is off limits: make-up touch-ups, wardrobe changes, phone calls. Never film those without a clear yes.
Shoot from the photographer's side
Stand near the stills camera so the talent's eyeline stays on the lens that matters, and use a longer lens instead of walking in.
Product in every moment
The film is for the collection. Close-ups of the pendant and bangles carry the brand even when the talent is just listening to direction.
Short, planned asks
If you need a line to camera or a look, ask once, between set-ups, with the exact words ready. Thirty seconds is plenty.
Sources: Wikipedia, Nadine Nassib Njeim · Scoop Empire, Nadine Njeim the new face of Damas · Gulf Times, Damas Alif collection.
05 · The interview
Interviewing Anabela Chan at Bayt Damas
Anabela Chan at Bayt Damas: soft light, a calm background and her own earrings in clear view.
Anabela Chan is a London-based jewellery designer, trained as an architect before studying jewellery at the Royal College of Art, and known for working with lab-grown gemstones. SwainUK filmed her interview at Bayt Damas and the event around it, dated 27 October 2021 in the film's title. A designer interview has a different job from the campaign: it has to make the viewer trust the person and understand the pieces.
1. Light the face, not the room. Soft, even light from one side, so the designer is comfortable and the jewellery she wears reads clearly without hard glare.
2. Use the space. Bayt Damas is a styled interior. Keep a shallow, tidy slice of it behind the speaker, so the location says "Damas" without distracting.
3. Sound before picture. A lavalier and a backup recorder. Events are noisy, so record the interview before guests arrive.
4. Ask for stories, not facts. "What did you see when you designed this?" gets a better answer than "What is this made of?"
5. Film the pieces separately. Close-ups of the jewellery she talks about give the edit cutaways and hide every join.
At the event itself, film guests only where they have agreed to it, and keep the focus on the designer and the pieces. UAE privacy rules are strict, and a release form is part of the job (see model release forms for the UK and UAE).
Sources: Royal College of Art, Anabela Chan · Gulf News, recycled metal and lab-grown gems.
06 · Delivery
One shoot, many cut-downs
A horizontal hero frame that also crops cleanly to vertical: the necklace sits in the centre third.
The Damas work went out in several shapes: a one-minute horizontal behind-the-scenes film, a vertical Damas x Dome film of under half a minute, the ALIF behind-the-scenes, and the longer interview and event films. That only works when the edit is planned on set.
| Cut-down | Length and shape | What to shoot for it |
|---|---|---|
| Hero film | Up to 60 seconds, 16:9 | Wide establishing shots, movement through each location |
| Social edit | 15 to 30 seconds, 9:16 | Centred framing, close-ups that work without the wide |
| Product loops | A few seconds each | Slow moves on rings, pendants and bangles, no faces needed |
| BTS and interview | One to three minutes | Crew at work, talent between takes, clean interview sound |
Frame the hero shots with a little room on each side so they crop to vertical, and grade every version from the same look so the campaign feels like one piece of work. More on that in shooting vertical and horizontal from one shoot.
Watch
The Damas films
Damas: behind the scenes
Production BTS: Damas x Dome
Nadine Njeim introducing ALIF by DAMAS
ALIF by DAMAS: behind the scenes, vertical
Anabela Chan interview at Bayt Damas
Anabela Chan event for DamasMore guides
Keep reading
FAQ
Common questions
How do you film a jewellery campaign video in Dubai?
Plan the running order around the light and the pieces: outdoor looks at the start and end of the day, interiors in the middle, a named person responsible for the jewellery, and the venue's permission plus any shoot permit in place before the day.
How do you light jewellery on a model for video?
Use a large soft source for the skin and a small bright source for sparkle, then move the hand or the camera slowly so the stones catch the light. Small changes in angle move reflections more than any change of light.
How do you film behind the scenes with a celebrity?
Agree what is off limits with their team, stay beside the stills camera, use a longer lens instead of moving in, keep the product in shot and make any request short and planned between set-ups.
What is Bayt Damas?
Bayt Damas is Damas Jewellery's destination in Umm Suqeim, Dubai, opened in 2021, bringing jewellery, art, fashion, a café and an exhibition space together under one roof.
Written by Joshua Swain, who films jewellery, beauty and fashion campaigns in Dubai and London. See the Damas Jewellery project.