Sharjah time-lapse video, timeless beauty that moves

Opening to the soul-stirring music of Marwan Anwer's Fayrouz, the first commissioned time-lapse video shows Sharjah in a totally different light.
Easing beautifully from a happening day to an equally vibrant nightlife, the almost three-and-a-half-minute-long video encompasses the beauty of the emirate that one may fail to notice in life's daily hustle and bustle.
"There are some other time lapse videos on the Internet which are from individual initiatives. However, this is the first such commissioned time-lapse video of its kind ... (in) ... Sharjah,” said Imran Ahmad Kamal, manager of Barjeel Art Foundation, which commissioned the video.
The recently released video was the brainchild of Sultan Saoud Al Qasimi, founder of Barjeel Art Foundation, who felt the city has a lot to offer to the U.A.E. residents and tourists.
Chicago-based photographer and cinematographer Eric Hines was commissioned for the project. "Eric has previously done some noteworthy time lapse videos, including ‘Cityscape Chicago', which caught Sultan's eye at the time,” explained Kamal, who was also project coordinator of the Sharjah Timelapse 2014 project.
Eric was assisted and advised by Christina Dimitrova, a Sharjah-based photographer.
"The video aims to highlight Sharjah for the beautiful city that it is; unique in its combination of modern and historic elements,” he said. "The human side is also very much present in the video, and it is what makes Sharjah the city that it is. The fact that Sharjah is the Islamic Culture Capital 2014 makes the timing of the video even more appropriate.”
There are 45 individual sequences in the video, and each sequence is made of individual photos running at 24 frames per second.
The video is made up of approximately 18,000 still photos.
The chosen frames consist of landmarks in Sharjah — historical, modern and, perhaps, just interesting. "Light was an important issue which dictated whether some shots were better to be done in the day or the evening,” said Kamal. "The timing also coincided with some rainy weather resulting in some stunning shots of the sky and cloud movements as well, which was serendipitous.”
The video was planned several months ago. Locations for the shoots were scouted ahead of time with the assistance of Gulf Photo Plus.
"Eric came in early March and we completed shooting in a record 10 days. Editing and post
processing took about a month before the final video was ready,” says Kamal.
The video is being hosted on Barjeel Art Foundation's website, as well as Vimeo and YouTube.