Written by on Sep 2, 2014. Posted in Production News

Reservoir Production films Motion Control commercial in Malaysia for Petronas

Reservoir Productions of Kuala Lumpur used a specialist motion-control camera in western Malaysia to film a spot for the energy company Petronas. Shot to mark Malaysia’s Raya holiday, the ad celebrates family and tradition by following a young girl as she grows up in her village home.

Filming took place entirely on location in a real village house in western Malaysia, which was chosen both for its traditional design and the fact that it was built on concrete rather than dirt, something that was important to support the 500kg Motion Control camera. The house itself was modified for the shoot, with walls added and removed to suit the camera movements.

“The motion control camera was imported from Mark Roberts UK,” explains Ismail Kamarul, an executive producer with Reservoir Production: “We had three days of rehearsals with the motion control camera and Steadicam. That time was used to programme the moves that we wanted for each section. Once we locked all these things down, and everyone knew what to do on shoot, things went by pretty smoothly."

“We opted for the Talos Motion Control camera as we needed a unit that had an arm so that we could go in and out of certain parts of the house," he adds: "The Motion Control technicians, Alex De Haus from Amsterdam and Tom Keeling from the UK, were a big help and were pivotal in helping us execute this film.”

Malaysia’s international filmmaking profile is on the rise, with the opening of Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios, which has already hosted the major new Netflix miniseries Marco Polo. The country also now has a 30% filming incentive.

Credits:
Client: Petronas
Agency: Leo Burnett
Executive Creative Director: Eric Cruz
Production Company: Reservoir Production, Kuala Lumpur
Executive Producer: Ismail Kamarul
Director: Quek Shio Chuan