Dubai · Case study for filmmakers, photographers and luxury brands
“On a luxury shoot the behind the scenes is not leftovers. It is a second film, and it has to look like the brand.”
In 2021 Vogue Arabia, in partnership with Piaget, photographed the Emirati-Yemeni singer Balqees Fathi in Dubai for Piaget's Extraordinary Women series. SwainUK filmed the behind the scenes, at SLS Dubai, with make-up by Ido Raphael. This case study looks at what that kind of job involves: who the brand and the talent are, how you film in a hotel suite full of crew, how the jewellery and the watch get into nearly every shot, how the make-up chair becomes content, and how one evening became two films.
Balqees Fathi · Piaget x Vogue Arabia · Dubai
01 · The brief
Piaget, Vogue Arabia and Extraordinary Women
Piaget was founded in 1874 by Georges Edouard Piaget in La Côte-aux-Fées, in the Swiss Jura, and is now based in Geneva as part of the Richemont group. It is known for ultra-thin watch movements and for jewellery that sits alongside the watches, in collections such as Possession, Altiplano and Limelight. A Piaget shoot is about fine detail: thin cases, diamonds and polished gold that have to read on a phone screen.
Extraordinary Women is Piaget's campaign series about accomplished women and the causes they speak for. After the first campaign in 2020, Piaget presented a second chapter in 2021, Extraordinary Encounters, built around mentorship, with seven women including the actress Clémence Poésy, the pianist Yeol Eum Son and Balqees Fathi. The behind-the-scenes film made by SwainUK was posted with the hashtags #ExtraordinaryWomen, #ShareYourExtraordinary and #PiagetBalqees, and its description is simple: behind the scenes from the shoot with Vogue Arabia in partnership with Piaget, featuring Balqees, make-up by Ido Raphael, location SLS Dubai.
| Who | Role on the day |
|---|---|
| Vogue Arabia | The shoot and the editorial |
| Piaget | Partner brand, the jewellery and the watch |
| Balqees Fathi | The talent |
| Ido Raphael | Make-up |
| SLS Dubai | Location |
| SwainUK | Behind-the-scenes film |
Sources: Wikipedia, Piaget SA · A&E World, Piaget's Extraordinary Women second chapter · WatchiLove, Extraordinary Encounters.
02 · The talent
Filming Balqees Fathi
Balqees Ahmed Fathi was born in Abu Dhabi in 1984. Her father is the Yemeni musician and composer Ahmed Fathi, and she has released albums since Majnoun in 2013. Coverage of Piaget's 2021 campaign describes her as a UN champion for women's rights in the region and as the first Arabic singer to perform at a women-only concert in Saudi Arabia. Her link with the Maison goes back further: in 2019 she fronted Piaget's Ramadan web series, Sunny Side of You, which Emirates Woman reported as the first time Piaget had worked with a regional celebrity in the Middle East.
That background changes how you film. A well-known artist has a team, a schedule and a public image to protect, and the behind the scenes will be watched by her audience as well as the brand's. These habits keep the camera welcome on set:
Agree the limits first
Ask her team what is off limits before you roll: early make-up stages, wardrobe changes, phone calls. Never film those without a clear yes.
Film the finished look
Most of the talent's screen time in the cut should be once hair and make-up are done. Earlier moments are for the artists' hands, not her face.
Stay out of the eyeline
Work beside the main camera or behind the mirror, on a longer lens, so her attention stays on the shot that matters.
Short, planned asks
If you need a look to camera or a line, ask once between set-ups, with the exact words ready.
Sources: Wikipedia, Balqees · A&E World, Extraordinary Women · Emirates Woman, Piaget and Balqees Fathi.
03 · The location
A hotel suite, at night, full of crew
The suite as a set: stands, a boom arm, monitors and the team watching from the sofa, with the wardrobe rail through the glass.
The shoot took place at SLS Dubai, in a suite with floor-to-ceiling glass, a make-up mirror with bulbs, a clothes rail and a balcony looking across the city to the Burj Khalifa. It was 2021, so the crew on set wore masks. The footage shows how much fits into one suite: a lighting team with stands and large soft sources, a main camera with its own monitor, the client and editorial team watching, wardrobe, and make-up. The behind-the-scenes camera has to find a way through all of that without ever being in the way.
1. Walk the suite before call time. Learn where the main camera, the monitors and the make-up station will be, and find two or three places you can stand that are never in anyone's frame.
2. Travel light. A small handheld camera and one or two fast lenses. Ido Raphael's own film, which cuts in moments from the Piaget shoot, was shot handheld on a Sony A7S III, the kind of kit that works in a crowded room.
3. Borrow the light. The set is already lit by the gaffer. Use their light, the mirror bulbs and the city outside rather than adding your own.
4. Save the view for the end. The balcony and the skyline are the most "Dubai" shot of the night. Plan a moment there once the main set-ups are done.
5. Permissions. Hotels need the venue's agreement, and a commercial shoot may need a permit. The Dubai photoshoot permit guide covers the process.
04 · Jewellery and watch
Getting the pieces into nearly every shot
Necklace, earrings and watch in one frame at the mirror, and the make-up table from above.
A brand partner pays for the pieces to be seen. In the behind-the-scenes film, the necklace, the earrings and the diamond watch are visible in almost every shot of Balqees: at the mirror, in close-up on the neckline, on the wrist as her hands rest in her lap, and on the balcony. That does not happen by luck. It comes from choosing angles where the jewellery is in frame and the light finds it.
| Shot | What it does for the brand | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Mirror shot | Face, necklace and watch in one frame | Shoot past a shoulder or a foreground camera into the mirror, so she does not look at you |
| Neckline close-up | The necklace as the hero | Long lens, shallow depth, a slow move so the stones catch the bulbs |
| Hands at rest | The watch, natural and unposed | Wait for a still moment between takes and frame wrist and hands only |
| Wide on the balcony | The place and the scale | Expose for the city lights and let her be a small, elegant shape |
Mirrors and diamonds both reflect everything, including you. Check every mirror frame for your own camera, and use the mirror bulbs as the small hard sources that make stones sparkle. The lighting side is covered in jewellery photography without reflections, and a bigger jewellery production in Dubai in the Damas jewellery campaign case study.
05 · Make-up
The make-up chair as content
Ido Raphael finishing the lip at the mirror station, with the lighting crew working behind.
The make-up station is often the best location in a behind-the-scenes film. The light is already beautiful (a mirror of bulbs is a giant soft source), the talent is relaxed, and the work itself is a small story with a beginning and an end. On this shoot Ido Raphael's final touches to the lip, with the necklace already on, give the film a calm, intimate moment between the bigger set-ups.
Hands and tools first
Brushes, palettes and the artist's hands are safe to film at any stage and give the edit cutaways.
Shoot the table from above
An overhead of the products, a coffee and the bulbs reads instantly as "getting ready" and works in vertical.
Wide for the room
A wide frame with the crew working behind the chair shows the scale of the production in one shot.
Credit the artist
Name the make-up artist in the post. It is fair, and artists share work that credits them.
More on filming make-up artists at work is in the make-up artist portfolio shoot guide.
06 · Delivery
One evening, two films
The shoot produced two short films. The Piaget x Vogue behind-the-scenes film runs about 35 seconds and was published in August 2021. A second film, “Ido Raphael in Dubai x Balqees Fathi x Vogue Arabia”, about a minute long and published in May 2021, follows the make-up artist in Dubai and mixes in several moments from the Piaget shoot: the suite, the mirror, the necklace, the watch and the balcony over the city. The same footage serves two audiences, the brand's and the artist's.
| Film | Length | Whose story |
|---|---|---|
| Piaget x Vogue behind the scenes | About 35 seconds | The brand and the talent: jewellery, watch, the finished look |
| Ido Raphael in Dubai | About 60 seconds | The make-up artist: travel, prep, the work at the mirror |
Before you share anything, check what you are allowed to publish and when: on a brand partnership, the behind the scenes usually waits until the campaign is live, and every version needs the brand's and the talent's approval. How to plan behind-the-scenes content as a real deliverable is covered in behind the scenes video production for brands.
Watch
The films
Balqees Fathi: Piaget x Vogue Arabia behind the scenes
Ido Raphael in Dubai x Balqees Fathi x Vogue ArabiaMore guides
Keep reading
FAQ
Common questions
What is Piaget's Extraordinary Women campaign?
A Piaget campaign series celebrating accomplished women and the causes they speak for. It launched in 2020, and a second chapter in 2021, Extraordinary Encounters, focused on mentorship and featured seven women, including the Emirati singer Balqees Fathi.
Who is Balqees Fathi?
An Emirati-Yemeni singer born in Abu Dhabi in 1984, daughter of the Yemeni musician Ahmed Fathi. Coverage of the 2021 campaign describes her as a UN champion for women's rights in the region, and she fronted Piaget's Sunny Side of You Ramadan series in 2019.
How do you film a luxury watch and jewellery behind the scenes?
Choose angles where the pieces are always in frame: mirror shots past a shoulder, slow close-ups on the neckline, hands at rest between takes. Use the existing set light and mirror bulbs for sparkle, and check every reflective surface for your own camera.
How do you film behind the scenes in a hotel suite in Dubai?
Walk the space before call time, find spots outside every other camera's frame, travel with a small handheld kit, borrow the set lighting, and make sure the hotel has agreed and any shoot permit is in place.
Written by Joshua Swain, who films jewellery, beauty and fashion behind the scenes in Dubai and London. See more work in the SwainUK portfolio.