Written by new-contact on Feb 10, 2011. Posted in Production News

Top golfers go clay pigeon ‘shooting’ filming on location in Dubai

A team of top golfers have indulged in a bit of clay pigeon ‘shooting’ in Dubai, swapping shotgun shells for golf balls. Clay Pigeon Golf Shot was filmed for the European Golf Tour’s See Every Shot Imaginable advertising campaign as the competition moved to Dubai.

Top golfers Thongchai Jaidee, David Horsey, Johan Edfors and Simon Kahn gathered early one December morning at an old camel race track in a part of the city known as Meydan. Here they were challenged to smash a clay pigeon from the sky by driving a golf ball. Filming locations on The Palm and various city areas offering a view towards the Dubai skyline had been considered, but Meydan won the day.

John Whyte, a Location Manager with Bareface, said: “The old camel racetrack is a great location as it provides flat desert scrub land with an amazing city skyline so it’s pretty popular, particularly with international crews, as it’s probably quite a unique view. There’s also a series of roads running through the area - from the days when owners would follow their camels during a race - so it offers great options for car shoots.”

The Dubai heat was one of the biggest challenges, with the health and safety of everyone involved becoming an issue by mid-morning. A village of Bedouin tents was set up to offer shade, and the sun cream and headgear came out early.

Ed Sayers, with Saatchi & Saatchi, said: “By 10:30am it gets seriously hot. It’s harder to concentrate - for film crew and golfers! - and health and safety becomes a factor. Also, the haze builds up with the heat and the ball-following cameramen’s job becomes almost impossible. We carried out all our recces as early as possible. On the shoot day we were there in the freezing cold dark ready for sunrise so we could start the shoot as early as possible too.”

A total of 11 separate cameras were used to make sure all the action was covered as the whole event was live. Among these was the X-mo slow-motion camera, which is commonly used in golf sports footage to track balls in the air. The bigger logistical challenge was getting hold of a clay pigeon trap – this was eventually sourced from Abu Dhabi Shooting Club. Filming permits were arranged through the Location Approval Service at Dubai Studio City.

Sayers concluded: “Get up early and work outside in the cool - try and be back in air-con for the second half of the day...”

Credits
Client: The European Tour – See Every Shot Imaginable
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, London
Creative Directors: Paul Silburn, Kate Stanners
Creative Team: Rick Dodds, Steve Howell
Producer: Ed Sayers
Production Company: European Tour Productions
Producer: Charulata Kohli
Production Service Company: Bareface, Dubai
Producer: Reshel Shah
Location Manager: John Whyte
Directors: Rick Dodds, Steve Howell, Ed Sayers