TV Drama
Salma Series
Cinematic promotional interviews for the drama series Salma, for Shahid & MBC.
- Client
- Shahid & MBC
- Role
- Director of Photography
- Team
- 16 people
- Prep
- 1 week
- Shoot
- 3 days
- Locations
- Series studios & a hotel
Overview
A series of promotional interviews for the drama series "Salma", produced as part of a campaign for Shahid and MBC, aimed at presenting the cast in a visual style that goes beyond the conventional TV interview — giving audiences a cinematic impression consistent with the show’s identity.
Role
I supervised the shoot and led the visual direction of the interviews, setting the look the image would carry across every location. That included unifying the visual identity between interviews, overseeing lighting, and directing the crew to a consistent image that held its cinematic character throughout.
Scope
Prep ran a full week, spent readying locations, building lighting, choosing backdrops and preparing every technical element ahead of the shoot. Filming itself ran across three days with a 16-person crew, spread across several locations — including the studios where the series itself was shot, plus one of the hotels used as a production location — which let the interviews’ visual identity connect directly to the show’s own world.
Concept
The project treated the interviews with a documentary-cinematic approach, so they wouldn’t read as simple promotional sit-downs but as part of the show’s own visual experience. The vision centered on placing the cast within an environment close to the drama’s world, with close attention to lighting, composition and visual rhythm, to produce content that matched the production standard expected from platforms like Shahid and MBC.
Execution
Work began by dressing each location to match the defined visual identity, then running the interviews with the cast across three days while holding a consistent image despite the different locations and shooting conditions. My role centered on direct oversight of the final image, making sure every element of the shoot — from lighting and camera placement through to the final frame — served the project’s creative vision. The biggest challenge was producing promotional content that matched the quality bar expected of brands the size of Shahid and MBC, while holding one visual identity across a large number of interviews and locations, and delivering material that felt like an extension of the show’s world rather than something separate from it.