A studio for budding filmmakers

It cost Dh2 million. It has the distinction of being the UAE’s only fully digital, widescreen, multi-camera filmmaking studio. And it belongs to the Mass Communication (MCM) Department of the American University of Sharjah (AUS).

The studio, inaugurated by Shaikh Essam Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Culture and Information Department, is the brainchild of Kim Bigelow, Assistant Professor of Mass Communication.

Among its many features are a “hard set”, which can be converted into any setting such as a living room, office or waiting room; two cyclorama curtains hung on a double-rail system covering an entire seven-metre tall floor-to-ceiling sweep set; a custom-made movable lighting grid system, and a flat chroma key curtain area for special effects.

The studio is also equipped with four Panasonic 900 widescreen digital video cameras, which offer a feature film screen format similar to that of a movie theatre; a Ross digital video mixer, a Panasonic digital audio mixer, reference monitors, a full patch panel and a custom designed console.

All these options provide students with unlimited production possibilities.

Bigelow said the official opening was held to “send off a strong message about the fact that there is the most sophisticated training facility for film and video by far, and we wanted to show … the capability of the facility and more importantly the capability of well-trained students”.

Student performances
The inauguration was completely student-driven.

Student actors and directors worked together to produce monologues, a four-minute newscast and a scene from a student-produced comedy series titled Don’t Call Us.

Sarah Al Ebrahim, who performed a two-minute scene from the movie Plaza Suite, said: “The technology we have in there is amazing. I mean when I finished acting and saw the end product … it was just amazing.”

The newscast, according to Bigelow, was presented to encourage the possibility of having a broadcast journalism concentration in future.

“Our goal is not only to build a film programme but also a broadcast news arm of the MCM programme,” he said. Currently, the MCM programme has a print journalism concentration.

“We would naturally like to provide training in electronic news-gathering techniques and multi-camera news studio techniques,” Bigelow said.

Neda Ahmad, a student of acting, was the “weather girl” in the news broadcast.

She said she had watched and analysed how weather girls on television smile, stand and walk.

“I was so nervous! There was a lot going on in my mind and stomach, but I did it,” she said proudly.

Zaina Shihabi, one of the news anchors, presented a monologue and acted in the comedy show.

She said, “It was a nerve-racking experience. I didn’t expect that I would have to change outfits so quickly, but otherwise it was really fun.”

She was all praise for the “very talented and professional” directors.

“They created an image that is beyond something I could ever do,” she said.

“I’ve seen stuff like this in movies.” Zaina said she hoped a separate department would be created for filmmaking. “I know it will succeed.”

Student sitcom
The day’s highlight was the four-minute scene from a sitcom that will be produced, directed, filmed and performed by Bigelow’s students.

The scene was shot in the studio’s hard set, which had been turned into the waiting room of a talent agency.

Don’t Call Us tells the story of a group of actors trying to find work through a dysfunctional talent agency.

“This creates inherent humour,” said Bigelow, “and allows us to identify the particular personalities and traits of individual actors and tell each one’s story.”

Students are hoping to shoot eight to nine episodes and have them ready to air on television by June.

Saman Hamidi, one of the student-producers and an assistant in the MCM department, said, “This is the first piece of original programming produced in the Emirates. We’re hoping for great stuff.”

Another producer, Nadia Nubani, said it would take a “massive team” to complete the project. “Hopefully we’re going to have it ready to air by the end of this semester.”

About her experience as a producer and cameraperson she said: “Exhausting. But lots and lots of fun. Never ever will I experience anything else that is similar to this. It’s exhilarating and exciting all at once.”

Nora Al Maiman, one of the actresses in the sitcom, said: “We have been rehearsing for so long … Thursdays and Fridays … but it was a different and enjoyable experience.”

Nothing but the best
“Extremely qualified” is how Bigelow’s students immediately describe him.

Saman said, “I love his work. He is professional to the point of making people cry to do their job right, and in the end that’s how things work out. He doesn’t accept student work. He wants perfection and he’ll push and push and push until he gets it.”

Nadia agreed. “Anything less than the best is intolerable,” she said.

Sarah said, “He [Bigelow] is an amazing professor and an amazing director. He really puts his heart into what he’s doing.”

Bigelow said it was possible to produce high quality work using student talent and facilities in the UAE.

“If Dubai and Sharjah are going to be a world centre for film production, they must act as such and begin the kind of programming that reflects that it is a world centre for film production. We want to show that we’re capable.”

Michelle Nickelson, President of the Nickelson Entertainment Group, said, “I think what Kim Bigelow has here is top notch, and I am extremely impressed by the enthusiasm and interest of the students and faculty here.”

Dr Mahboub Hashem, MCM Chair at AUS, said he was proud that students “are learning through a good blend of education and technology”. He said the MCM department is looking to add a fourth concentration in media production soon.

The writer is a mass communications student and editor of the university newspaper at the American University of Sharjah