Edinburgh film-maker begins shooting new timelapse

By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Dec 2013, 13:50 BST
'Avaritia' tells the story of a money-obsessed banker, corrupted by the culture of the world he works in. Picture: Submitted'Avaritia' tells the story of a money-obsessed banker, corrupted by the culture of the world he works in. Picture: Submitted
'Avaritia' tells the story of a money-obsessed banker, corrupted by the culture of the world he works in. Picture: Submitted
A lecturer and film-maker based at Queen Margaret University has embarked on his latest project - a short film shot in the streets of Scotland’s capital.

Walid Salhab has begun filming his latest short film, titled ‘Avaritia’, which focuses on a money-obsessed banker, corrupted by the culture in which he works. Isolated and looking for something positive, he remains trapped by the materialistic world he has created.

The lecturer on Media Practice told The Scotsman: “The film is a statement on the state of the banking system and how people are trapped by it.

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“I don’t want to say brainwashed, but [people] are forced to buy things.

'Avaritia' tells the story of a money-obsessed banker, corrupted by the culture of the world he works in. Picture: Submitted'Avaritia' tells the story of a money-obsessed banker, corrupted by the culture of the world he works in. Picture: Submitted
'Avaritia' tells the story of a money-obsessed banker, corrupted by the culture of the world he works in. Picture: Submitted

“We live in such a consumer driven society that sometimes we forget the important things in life like health, happiness, family and friends.”

Although the trailer gives the impression that the camera is on sliders, Mr Salhab revealed that the filming was entirely made up of still image, adding: “I wanted to create a new style, as far as having the camera move all the time. “It’s actually all photographs.”

Mr Salhab described the process as challenging, adding: “It is very difficult to create a fictional story which combines time lapse/stop motion film. The visual element of the story needs to be very strong because there is no dialogue.”

The lecturer gained a name for himself by producing stunning timelapse / stop motion films of Edinburgh in a bid to hone the skills needed for a longer feature, with ‘Kinetic Edinburgh II’, portraying Auld Reekie in the winter racking up over three million hits on YouTube.

His follow-up film, ‘Kinetic East’, showcased South-East Scotland in summer, and was his final project before taking on the filming of ‘Avaritia’.

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Mr Salhab explained: “Filming in various locations in Edinburgh has been a crucial part of my research and I am now able to use these techniques in the new film.”

He has also received critical acclaim for his film ‘Bra-et Al Rouh’ (Innocence of Spirit), a film starring a young Palestinian girl that creates parallels between homelessness and refugees that won at the California-based Best Shorts awards, and was screened at the Cannes film festival in May 2012.

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