Dubai · Case study for filmmakers, photographers and fashion editors
“In a hotel, the location does half the styling. Your job is to find the light inside it.”
A fashion editorial film for L'Officiel Baltic, featuring the model Inès Trocchia, shot at Palazzo Versace Dubai with make-up by Ido Raphael. One location, many rooms: a suite, a lobby, a colonnade, a lounge with a grand piano and the pool. This case study shows how to plan and shoot a fashion editorial video in a working Dubai hotel, how to light it with what is already there, and how to cut it into a one-minute film and a vertical edit.
L'Officiel Baltic · Palazzo Versace Dubai
01 · The brief
A magazine film, not an advert
L'Officiel Baltic is the Baltic edition of the French fashion title L'Officiel. The project describes the film simply: "luxury, elegance, and modern style", made for the magazine, featuring Inès Trocchia and shot at Palazzo Versace Dubai. An editorial film has more freedom than a commercial. There is no product to hold up and no line to say, so the film is carried by mood, styling and the model.
Palazzo Versace sits on the banks of Dubai Creek in Culture Village, and its architecture mixes a neo-classical Italian palace with Arabic details: marble, mosaics, painted ceilings, colonnades and gardens with pools. For a fashion film, that means a dozen sets inside one permission.
| Space | What it gave the film |
|---|---|
| Suite | An ornate bed and soft window light for the opening, in a bathrobe and towel |
| Lobby and lounge | Chandeliers, warm practical lamps, a grand piano |
| Colonnade | Shade, symmetry and a long walk towards camera |
| Pool | Colour and open sky behind a profile |
Sources: Michelin Guide, Palazzo Versace Dubai · Wikipedia, Culture Village · Fashion Model Directory, L'Officiel Baltic.
02 · Planning
Shooting in a working hotel
The colonnade: shade from the roof, light from the open side, and Versace's own pattern on the doors.
A hotel is a business that stays open while you shoot. Guests walk through the lobby, staff need the corridors, and the pool has swimmers. The plan has to work around them.
1. Get the permission in writing. Which spaces, which hours, how many crew, and whether a drone is allowed. Hotels in Dubai usually have a marketing or PR contact who signs this off.
2. Check the permit. A commercial or editorial shoot on location may need a permit as well as the hotel's yes. The Dubai photoshoot permit guide covers it.
3. Order the rooms by light. Suite and window scenes when the light is soft, the colonnade when the sun is off it, interiors when outside is too bright.
4. Keep the kit small. A small crew moves between rooms quickly and doesn't block guests. Each move costs time, so group the looks by space.
5. One room for hair and make-up. A suite doubles as the base and as a set, so touch-ups happen between every scene.
More on choosing locations like this is in where to shoot fashion and beauty in Dubai.
03 · Light
Lighting with what the hotel already has
Soft window light on skin, small sparkles in the stones: the necklace close-up from the suite.
Luxury hotels are lit to look good. Chandeliers, wall lamps and big windows already do a lot of the work, and the film uses them: the lobby portrait sits in front of warm lamps and a chandelier, the suite scenes take soft daylight from the windows, and the colonnade uses the shade of the roof.
Practicals as background
Expose for the face and let the lamps and chandeliers fall into warm, soft shapes behind. They tell the viewer "hotel" without a wide shot.
Windows as the key
Turn the model towards a window for a clean, soft key on the face. Turn her away from it for a silhouette.
Watch the mixed colour
Warm lamps and blue daylight in one frame look rich if the face is lit by one of them. Choose which one owns the skin.
Jewellery catches points
Diamonds need small bright sources to sparkle. Lamps and windows give you those for free; a move of the head does the rest.
For the reflection side of filming necklaces and earrings on a model, see jewellery photography without reflections.
04 · The scenes
Building a story from rooms
The suite: an ornate bed, soft daylight and the first jewellery of the film.
An editorial film doesn't need a script, but it needs an order. The L'Officiel Baltic film moves like a day in the hotel: it opens on a high view over the water and the city, then the suite, a bathrobe and a towel, then dressed looks in the corridors, the lobby, the lounge and the colonnade, then the pool and a final sequence in a sequinned jacket on a sofa. Some sections are in black and white, which ties together rooms with very different colours.
One idea per room
The suite is intimate, the colonnade is a walk, the lounge is a piano. Give each space a single action so the edit has clear beats.
Wide, medium, detail
For every look, get the room, the outfit and one detail: a necklace, a hand on the keys, a heel on marble.
Movement in the model
Hair, fabric and a slow turn give life to a locked-off frame. Wind or a small fan helps in still interiors.
An ending
Save a strong last look. Here the sequinned jacket and a red lip close the film with more attitude than it opened with.
A detail shot does the work of a whole scene: the lounge, the piano, the bag.
05 · The edit
One minute and a vertical cut
The main film runs to one minute in 16:9, with credits at the end, and a separate vertical edit of under 20 seconds went out as a Short. Plan for both on set:
1. Frame for the crop. Keep the model near the centre of horizontal frames, so a 9:16 crop still holds the face and the jewellery.
2. Shoot vertical moments on purpose. A walk towards camera down the colonnade and a full-length portrait work better in vertical than any crop.
3. Music first. Cut to the track. A one-minute editorial has room for a few slow beats and one build, not more.
4. Credit everyone. Magazines and the team share the film. Names on the end card and in the description help it travel.
For framing both shapes at once, see shooting vertical and horizontal from one shoot.
Watch
L'Officiel Baltic x Inès Trocchia
More guides
Keep reading
FAQ
Common questions
Can you do a photoshoot at Palazzo Versace Dubai?
Shoots there need the hotel's permission first, agreed in writing with the spaces, hours and crew size, and the shoot may also need a permit. Contact the hotel's marketing or PR team well before the date.
How do you shoot a fashion editorial video in a hotel?
Group the looks by room, order the rooms by light, keep the crew small so guests can pass, use the hotel's own lamps and windows as your light, and give each space one clear action for the edit.
How long should a fashion editorial film be?
Around one minute works well for a magazine film, with a separate vertical edit of 15 to 30 seconds for social.
What is the difference between a fashion film and a commercial?
A commercial sells a product with a clear message. An editorial film is made for a magazine and is carried by mood, styling and the model, with more freedom in story and pace.
Written by Joshua Swain, who films fashion, beauty and jewellery in Dubai and London. See the L'Officiel Baltic project.