Tim Damon Makes a Startling Discovery in Dubai on Land Rover Shoot

Director Tim Damon recently spent time in Dubai and Oman, UAE, shooting a Land Rover print campaign via agency Cogent/UK. Damon brought his HD video camera along for the ride. The shoot and the experience inspired a collaboration between Damon and editor Joel Marcus of Cutters… the result is a spec spot bringing Damon’s footage together…

"I was drawn to the idea of a marriage of still and video," Damon begins. "Much of my current work involves shooting both live action and stills, and I thought it would be fun to combine the two to tell a story in a single spot."

"One Life" takes us on an action-packed road trip, as we criss-cross Dubai in our Land Rover. Shown largely from the perspective of the driver, our adventure finds us at the races and in business meetings, logging hours on the open road, with considerable time spent sightseeing, scuba diving, and mountain biking. It’s a dizzying 5 days, and, to hear Damon tell it, the frenzied pace conveys the tone of the shoot.

"I was excited going over there," says Damon, who made two trips to the UAE. "On the tech scout, I realized there was just so much more going on than what we were doing for the print campaign. I flew around in a helicopter, and there was so much to see, so I filmed it." Damon says the aerial view helped him make sense of his environment. 

"Dubai is an exquisite locale, but it’s also very choppy right now," the director explains. "There’s so much construction, it’s a place in progress, with cranes everywhere, and it’s an adventure to get from point A to point B. Life in Dubai and Oman is man-made, it rises from nothing. So, it made sense to construct a spot that reflected the experience."

"Tim gave us about 3500 stills and his film…it was a fun and challenging experience," recalls Marcus of his first project with Damon, who has been a client of Cutters for years. "It was a collaborative, creative project and I’m so pleased to have had an opportunity to work on something so inventive and stylish."

"Joel is top notch, and played a huge role in realizing this spot," said Damon. "Once we got into the post process, it really clicked. The elements – images, music, etc – all came together organically."

"One Life" is not Damon’s first foray into advertising experimentation: He has created spots on shoots in Lake Cuomo, Italy, in Cuba, and Singapore. "I’m always looking to maximize the potential of great locations," he says, adding that he’s pleased to see an increase in the number of projects on which he’s asked to shoot both live action and stills. Damon recently handled dual chores for Nissan, Toyota, and Goodyear, and is embarking on a multi-brand dual campaign for GM. The material he shoots makes its way to banners, print advertising, TV, and the Internet. "Packaging live action and stills is becoming more and more common," he notes. "It’s not the wave of the future – it’s now."

Project Credits

Brand: Land Rover
Spot Title: "One Life"

Agency (Print Campaign): Cogent, UK
Art Director: Gemini Mistry

Director/DP: Tim Damon (Damon Live Action, Inc.)

Production Company: Bare Face, Dubai, UAE
Prod Company Producer: David Kominek

Format: Rapid Fire Stills, Digital Stills and Live Action

Editorial: Cutters
Editor: Joel Marcus

Locations: Dubai and Oman, UAE