AsaadMMXXVI

DUBAI
INVESTMENTS

30 Years Forward.

30th Anniversary Brand Film

Direction & Cinematography — AsaadVertical 9:1670 Seconds

Two generations crossing the desert as towers rise behind them — the film's opening world

The Film

Turning Thirty Years into One Visual Journey.

This anniversary film translates Dubai Investments' thirty-year journey into a continuous visual metaphor. An older man and a child cross the desert as buildings, industries and ideas emerge around them — turning corporate history into a story of legacy passed from one generation to the next.

My role was to direct and shoot the live-action footage, designing each frame around the digital elements that would later be integrated in collaboration with a 3D CGI artist. Camera movement, eyelines, light, scale, blocking and negative space were planned to make the physical and digital worlds feel like one continuous environment.

Client: Dubai Investments
Type: 30th Anniversary Brand Film
Format: Vertical 9:16
Role: Direction & Cinematography
Approach: Live Action + 3D CGI

Watch the Film

DUBAI INVESTMENTS — 30 YEARS

Poster frame from the Dubai Investments anniversary film

Film file pending upload

Vertical 9:1670 SecondsSound On

Legacy in Motion

One Walk Across Thirty Years.

The older figure and the child form the film's visual spine. As they move forward, the world evolves around them: structures rise from sand, industry appears at human scale, ideas become tangible and the skyline marks the beginning of the next chapter.

The walk gives a large corporate story a clear emotional center. Progress is not presented as a collection of achievements, but as something built, carried and passed forward.

First steps across the sand — the opening frame of the film — Thirty years ago, the journey began

An older hand holding a child's hand, close on the desert walk — A dream carved out of stone

Two generations walking the dunes as towers rise from the landscape — Room for a future we believed in

Both generations walking toward the finished city skyline — Eyes set on the next thirty

The Collaboration

Designing for the Invisible.

On set, much of the completed world did not exist yet. The live-action footage had to create believable space for every digital event that would arrive in post-production.

Composition, camera height, character blocking, timing, light direction and negative space were designed around the future CGI. The 3D work could then expand the world while remaining physically connected to the actors and the desert.

Two generations walking the dunes as towers rise from the landscape — Room for a future we believed in

The environment widening around the characters as more structures appear — The world expands around the walk

Industrial robotics at human scale, integrated into the live-action desert — With our own hands

A symbolic gold coin suspended above the sand beside the two figures — Investing in ideas before they became reality

From Foundation to Future

Growth Made Human.

The visual arc moves from material foundations to wider human impact. Construction and industry establish scale, while healthcare and education return the story to the people whose future is being built.

01 — Foundation
Sand, stone and the first steps of the journey.
02 — Expansion
Buildings and industry transform ambition into physical scale.
03 — Human Impact
Investment becomes visible through health, knowledge and everyday life.
04 — Next Generation
The skyline becomes a horizon the younger generation can move toward.

First steps across the sand — the opening frame of the film — Thirty years ago, the journey began

Industrial robotics at human scale, integrated into the live-action desert — With our own hands

A gloved hand working with laboratory glassware — healthcare and innovation — Bringing back the pulse of life

The child and the elder walking past a school building in the sand — Minds shape the future

The younger figure facing the completed skyline from the dune — It was just the beginning

Both generations walking toward the finished city skyline — Eyes set on the next thirty

Behind the Camera

Directing the Real World Behind the Digital One.

Direction and cinematography demanded two parallel viewpoints: what was physically in front of the lens, and what the completed frame needed to become.

The on-location shoot established the film's human scale, light and physical realism before post-production expanded the world through CGI.

The environment widening around the characters as more structures appear — The world expands around the walk

The younger figure facing the completed skyline from the dune — It was just the beginning

Live action gave the story its human weight.
CGI gave its legacy a horizon.

Both generations walking toward the completed skyline in the film's final frame

Credits

Director: Asaad
Cinematography: Asaad
Client: Dubai Investments