Egypt / Lebanon Montage on Vimeo

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8. Next Level Pictures Kessler Demo Reel

by Khalid Mohtaseb

11 months ago

7. There for Tomorrow- Deathbed - Behind the Scenes

by Khalid Mohtaseb

1 year ago

6. There for Tomorrow- Deathbed Music Video

by Khalid Mohtaseb

1 year ago

5. Haiti Earthquake Aftermath Montage

by Khalid Mohtaseb

1 year ago

4. Friday Night Boys music video

by Khalid Mohtaseb

2 years ago

3. Egypt / Lebanon Montage

by Khalid Mohtaseb

2 years ago

2. Pocket Dolly quick test

by Khalid Mohtaseb

2 years ago

1. There for Tomorrow Music Video.

by Khalid Mohtaseb

2 years ago

This is a montage of footage a few friends and I shot for a Documentary during the summer/fall of 2009.

The documentary was shot entirely on the canon 5D MKll in and around Cairo and Beirut. Big ups to Magic Lanterns Firmware update, as well as the Kessler Pocket Dolly for being a huge help in making this happen.

Music: Nikos - Secret Love

Editing/ Color Grading- Khalid Mohtaseb

More info on my website nextlevelpictures.com

If you have any questions/ comments feel free to post them or email me at khalid@nextlevelpictures.com

Credits

Khalid Mohtaseb
Director of Photography
Jonathan Bregel
Director of Photography
Georges Yazbek

5,392 Likes

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Tags

Dmitry Yun 2 years ago

Beautiful piece, so filmic. Which lenses did you use for this shoot? Thank you for sharing.
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Thanks Dmitry. We used the Canon 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm f2.8 (all L-series). We also used Nikon Primes 50mm f1.4 and the 85 1.8

Ive attached some behind the scenes stills on Cinema5d.com

check them out
cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6205&p=43411#p43411
iamkalaniprince 2 years ago

Wow, your color grading is S P O T on ! Well done Khalid, very beautiful, perfect choice of music, I WANT MORE !! This would be a perfect intro to a documentary about Egypt.. The shot with the camel walking around the corner, so emotive..

This is my kind of work. Perfect.
jsendicott 2 years ago

Some of the best 5D footage I've seen. Very cinematic!
Nathan Bloch 2 years ago

That was, in one word, unbelievable. Really incredible. Just goes to show it's not the frame rate that makes something look film like, it's the competence and talent of the person behind the camera. Excellent work.
Aleksandar Panov 1 year ago

... and DOF, as well as ability of 5D to capture fine details.
Shramm 2 years ago

Great!
Carl Olson 2 years ago

Beautiful imagery, graceful camera moves, and compelling people and places.
Murray Mile 2 years ago

There's no explosions. Why? j/k. Even though I told you over the phone, I'll say it again. I'm very impress with the Framing/Selection of Shots/Grading. Two Thumbs Up!
Chris Beller 2 years ago

Extremely beautiful work, Khalid!
Gary Rosado 2 years ago

Awesome video!! the colors are amazing!!! I got this camera and would like sometime in the near future to be able to get at least something similar to this clip!!!
Thanks for sharing! really enjoy it!
McGee Digital Media Inc. 2 years ago

Incredible!
Superman 2 years ago

WOW! Incredible! I went to Egypt about 10 years ago. I wish I had a camera like that to shoot back then! Thanks for bringing back for another visit, without having to fly again!
Brad McGiveron 2 years ago

wonderful work !!!
Ian C 2 years ago

Amazing
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Thanks again to all!
Kristijan Matas 2 years ago

Shoots, color, music, scenes, everything is amazing.
Congratulations. Truly inspiring.
Jorge Bicer 2 years ago

Incredible work Khalid!! One of the best 5DM2 footages I've seen...
Golo Production 2 years ago

how do you deal with the people you shoot ? do you ask permission ? what is the peoples reaction ?

and how is the pocket dolly doing ? is it really smooth ? why do you use a fourth leg on the extremity ?
Денис Жарков 2 years ago

Впечатлило!
Paula DiSante 2 years ago

Wow!!!
TREFLE STUDIO 2 years ago

super travail
BOGOTA D.C. 2 years ago

Nice!
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Golo, It all depends on the energy you read from the subject. It becomes obvious who wants to be on camera and who doesnt.

Mostly all the portraits in the montage were staged. Luckily enough I speak arabic so I explained what we were shooting and where and what we wanted them to do.

some of the locals we shot didnt own cars, tvs, computers, etc..., so seeing such high quality video come out of a still camera was mind blowing to most of them.

The pocket dolly is great. Kessler recommends you use a fourth leg when shooting with heavier rigs. We faced some problems with its smoothness when all the accessories were on the camera (matebox, follow focus, rods, monitor) But it worked flawlessly with the monopod as additional support
Chris Beller 2 years ago

The heavy duty version of the Pocket Dolly that we are working on should resolve any issues when using a heavier rig.
Trevor Meeks 2 years ago

VERY interested to hear about the heavy duty version, Chris! Any news on when I might expect more details? My rig is 19 pounds or so... hopefully the new pocket dolly will handle rigs within that range :)
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Heres the link to the Kessler Pocket Dolly HD prototype
youtube.com/watch?v=oSIf57QRb9I

It handles up to 150 pounds so you'll be good to go.
Jonne Ollakka 2 years ago

Looks amazing.
Gavin Owens 2 years ago

Are you going to post the finished documentary here or will it be released commercially? I really want to see the rest of this.
I shot a doc about the Irish army in "the Leb" a few years back.... not a patch on this but your video brought back a lot of memories.
Thanks for that
G
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

I am still not sure when and where the documentary will be released but I will definitely post a link as soon as its done . Id love to see the stuff you shot for the Irish Army.
Is it online?
Gavin Owens 2 years ago

I'd love to post the doc but the only copy I have is in VHS and I haven't got a method of transfering it. I did, however shoot a load of images from south Turkey during the second invasion of Iraq that I want to re-cut and will upload them as soon as it's ready. Again, nothing compared to your stuff but it has a place in my heart all the same.
I'll let you know

G
RomeoV 2 years ago

This is... mind numbingly beautiful. I hate to say it, but we are DYING for an in depth tutorial on what your steps were.. heck even a quick walk through on any extra tips you used. it's just too perfect not to share some of your brilliance! LOVE IT!
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Romeo, Ive posted some behind the scene stills as well as some before and after grading comparisons. Check it out
cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6205&p=43411#p43411

shoot me an email me if you have any more questions Id be more than happy to answer them. khalid@nextlevelpictures.com
greg ephraim 2 years ago

by far the best 5d footage I've ever seen, looks great! beautiful beautiful beautiful!
Anthony 2 years ago

beautiful
individualEye 2 years ago

when the camel went around the corner i reeeaalllyyy missed traveling
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

haha. That shot makes me want to go back there too.
Bashar Alaeddin 2 years ago

beautiful... and the music is so fitting!
Involved News 2 years ago

Staggering, this is normally the reserve of the still. Motion adds to it significantly.
Videovoid 2 years ago

One of the best I've ever seen out of 5D. It's wounderful in color, composition, rythm, music. Hope to see more of this great work ... !
Chaz Thomson 2 years ago

Brilliant work!!!
Marko Butrakovic 2 years ago

Inspiring work, a reminder of the fake glitter West offers, when I look at your footage I envy on perspective that is offered in front of your lens, real life that is taking place in every frame of this clip. I just hope I could go there one day to shoot a frame or two... keep up the good work !!!
ZHIC 2 years ago

I'm speechless, every shot meant so much.
One video that is worth a thousand stories
that shot at 2:31 is just incredible
great job!
Phoric 2 years ago

Beautiful, everything looks great. The audio levels are really high though, had to turn everything way down. Other than that it's stunning.
D.M Hughes 2 years ago

Absolutely stunning!

What monitor are you using?
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

I own the Marshall 7 inch monitor with HDMI output. I love the monitor but the connection on the 5d is just terrible.
Luke Pygman 2 years ago

These shots are incredible... the movement, grading, the framing and exposure... wonderful piece :)
Videovoid 2 years ago

Which software are u using for conforming the native 30p ?
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Egon, I use MPEG stream clip to do most of my conversions on a mac, and Pro-Coder on a PC.
Francis Marquez 2 years ago

Perfect!
Pavel Shmelov 2 years ago

How did you get such low ground shots with the slider?
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

The Kessler Pocket Dolly can be used on tabletop or smooth surfaces. Most of our ground level shots were on desert sand or dirt so we used rocks, or whatever we could find to level the dolly.
Adam Palmer 2 years ago

Simply stunning, the colors, the texture, the framing, just sublime.
Jordan Clarke 2 years ago

Amazing! I used to live in Cairo this brings back memories
Sebastian TR 2 years ago

Beautifully shot, absolutely awesome - looking forward to seeing the full doco.

what lenses did you use?
also what post process did you use when dealing with the footage ? any fps conversion etc?

again, brilliant stuff - would love to download a 1920x1080 version though!
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

We mainly used the canon 16-35, 24-70, 70-200 all f2.8 L-series lenses. We also had the Nikon 50mm f1.4 and the 85 f1.8, but barely ever used them. The zooms work much better in a run and gun situation.

I used FCP to edit and Magic Bullet Looks to color correct. Check out the forum about the video cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6205
Adam Levins 2 years ago

Wow, Fantastic work!
matt pleztrom & Disable Crew 2 years ago

incredible shots
Snow R. Shai 2 years ago

Beautiful shots, frames are amazing, great work. Locations are stunning.
Oliver Wilkins 2 years ago

Absolutely stunning. It really raises the bar and gives me a lot to think about.

Total respect for getting those locations. I know how tough Egypt can be. I'm guessing you were under the radar without permits. Any paranoia/ police issues?
Mithun Divakaran 2 years ago

What is the name of the track used? It's beautiful music!
Floyd Dean 2 years ago

Wonderful work!!
Sarkey One 2 years ago

This is by far the best shots I have seen with the Canon MKII, absolutely awesome. The grading is beautiful, really gives it that cinematic look. The hands are clapping uncontrollable....lol!

Respectfully Sarkey One
Florian Eichin 2 years ago

wow maybe the best shots i've ever seen! realy amazing! i love it!
Myles Thompson 2 years ago

Inspiring work. Better than any other 5dm2 doccie footage I've seen.
Mansoor 2 years ago

Khalid, mashallah amazing work! very inspiring.. !
Jose Bayón 2 years ago

Fantastic color, and movi. Very good work and beautiful music.

thank for share.
Ivo Lev 2 years ago

Beautiful images, amazing music. Great footage, Congrats!
Kyle Wood 2 years ago

incredible cinematography
eddieringer 2 years ago

you have a great eye for composition
Fotografdavid 2 years ago

Simply stunning!

What is the name of the track you used? It's beautiful music!
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Thanks brotha. The name of the artist is Nicos and the title is Secret Love
Frederic Vercammen 2 years ago

Incredible stuff
What's the music?
Diego Espinoza 2 years ago

INCREDIBLE! The music, the people, the places.. the whole video makes a unique master piece. Congrats!

Greetings from Chile
Adam Paul 2 years ago

So Powerful. The music topped it of perfectly. Very very well done.
bshiflett 2 years ago

The is just stunning, beautiful in its own right, and best work I've seen with 5dmkII yet.
Mike Panganiban 2 years ago

Stunning...Nice compositions. Love it.
eric becker 2 years ago

Man, just looking at your production stills. That is definitely the way to roll, set-up wise. Great work.
joey gallo 2 years ago

this looks sooo good
Myles Thompson 2 years ago

How about the bands that appear in the sky of the pyramids shot (around 20 seconds)? Is that a touch of aliasing?
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

The bands are not aliasing caused by the camera. I blame that on Magic Bullets vignette feature.
John Debouille 2 years ago

Very nice movie!!
Antonio F. Morenilla 2 years ago

impressive assembly, spectacular music and stunning images, and samples you describe perfectly the corners of Egypt.
Congratulations!
Jan van der Meer 2 years ago

Stunning work Khalid.
Mark Rutherford 2 years ago

Soo beautiful! And powerful. Feels like moving stills yet somehow more. You nailed it.
Thought you should know, I got the link from Rodney Charters ASC and DP for the show 24.
He said it was the best he's seen from a 5d- and he's been shooting with it a lot using Panavision glass!
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

That is unbelievable!! I am such a huge fan of his work. Thanks for sharing the good news.
John Champlin 2 years ago

Just lovely.
Mark Rutherford 2 years ago

Dear Khalid,
Believe it. You've done something wonderful.
One more thing I just found out. You and Georges are friends of my dear friend, Joesph Seif.
We should talk.
Ping Joe for my email.
Khalid Mohtaseb 2 years ago

Wow! what a small world. Joe is a great guy. I might be shooting in San Francisco the first week of November. We should all link up.
Jimmy Gilmore 2 years ago

Khalid,
Just wanted to add to the praise. Nice work.
Aliyoff 2 years ago

Good work... I like it...
colorline 2 years ago

Great work, like it
Bartek B. 2 years ago

Nobel Prize for you man , that $#@@# AWESOME!!!
Wayne Avanson 2 years ago

stunning. You have the eye of a poet.
Blessings

Avey
chris caliman 2 years ago

very nice
trung nguyen 2 years ago

Awesome, I find sth peaceful in this movie
nellyb63 2 years ago

such perfect music choice too. empathic on so many levels
Trueba Media 2 years ago

Just Perfect
Tucker Walsh 2 years ago

Have you seen the movie Baraka? Felt like I was watching something Ron Fricke made. That is, in my opinion, about the highest compliment I could give you.

tuckerwalsh.com
Rod Fountain 2 years ago

Superb work, very good light throughout, great movements and I love the camel coming round the corner :)