ECU macro, locked off
Her fingertip traces the edge of one plaster petal on the relief.
Voice 0:00.3 "Still the house, this week?"
Sound A clock; a pen on a notepad, off screen
Cut →
Route A · Day
Almost
The design was handed over in March and the client says the house is perfect, but EVA's creative is still there, and in a gust of wind the light shows her the one piece that is missing.
Mood and visual direction
- Mood: bright, dry, deadpan: the comedy of precision.
- Light: high-key late-morning sun, soft bounce off the marble and plaster, clean whites. Never dark. Light is this route's own language: at the turn, a blade of sun finds what is missing.
- Palette: the villa's own colours, kept true: white plaster, travertine, cobalt, burnt orange, terracotta, blush, teal velvet, teal glass. Her cobalt shirt picks up the villa's cobalt accents.
- Camera: composed, locked-off frames; room wides where only one piece changes; macro details; quick snap-ins on the jokes; one view straight down from the gallery. Fast A-B-C-D cutting with one short hold.
- Art direction: EVA's Shmaisi villa is the house, with two details from the Palm Jumeirah residence: the gathered teal chair and the teal glass chandelier.
- The Creative: an EVA designer in her early thirties, an original character, from the region, natural, not model-polished. Loose cobalt linen shirt (opaque, long sleeves, buttoned cuffs), tobacco-brown straight trousers, small gold hoops, dark hair in a low bun with two loose strands at the temple, dark loafers. She is at work in the house: loafers on the marble, off before any rug or upholstery, her feet always on the floor.
- The makers: seen only as hands, in grey work sleeves and grey gloves. Her hand and their gloves never touch.
- Grade: clean and bright, true colour, light 35mm grain.
- Sound and music: a clock and a pen, crisp foley; a mirwas hand drum enters softly under the speeding clock, and the full Khaleeji groove (oud and mirwas) arrives with the making. No Turkish instruments or phrasing.
- Voice: the Therapist, never seen, only heard (her voice, her pen, her clock): a woman, dry, unhurried, a little amused. English, with an Arabic version written fresh in Gulf dialect, so the wordplay finds Arabic equivalents. The Creative never speaks.
The script
PictureVoice (the Therapist)Sound
10:00
HER, CHECKING THE HOUSE, 3 macro cuts: her fingertip traces the edge of one plaster petal / her loafer toe lines up with a dark triangle inlay in the white marble / her fingertip runs along the staircase's silver stringer and pauses over a seam nobody can see any more
(0:00.3) "Still the house, this week?"
A clock; a pen on a notepad, off screen
20:02.7
From above, the same hall floor months earlier: an unpolished white slab, the triangle cut-outs still empty. Her hand slides the rolled drawings across the slab to a grey-gloved hand; her fingers let go a beat late. On screen: Handed over.
(0:03.0) "Handed over. ...In March."
Paper on stone
30:05.5
3 wides: from the gallery, straight down onto the finished triangle floor, her figure small crossing it / in a slant of late-morning sun, her shadow crosses the plaster relief / she walks the marble border of the double-height lounge, small in the frame
(0:06.0) "Your client says it's perfect."
Footsteps, a slight echo
40:09.4
Close: she glances at the lens. Deadpan
(0:09.5) "...You heard 'almost'."
50:10.9
WHAT IF SHE STOPPED, 3 shots of about 1.3 seconds, the piece filling a third of the frame, same light; on the "tock" it drops to its stopped-short version: the plaster relief becomes a flat painted wall / the cobalt lamp becomes a plain beige lamp / the triangle floor becomes plain white marble
(0:11.4) "Most people would call this closure."
One dull "tock" per room; a pen scratching, off screen
60:14.9
Her hand nudges the left blush chair
(0:15.0) "You moved the chair again?"
Wood on marble
70:16.9
Macro: the chair's runner slides until it sits parallel to the joint between two marble slabs
(0:17.8) "...Two degrees."
A soft click
80:18.9
PACING, 5 cuts that shorten with the clock: wide, she crosses the double-height lounge under the amber glass drops / her fingertip turns the amber glass vase a hair / wide, she passes beneath the crystal sunburst / from the gallery, she turns at the end of the bottom step / her fingertip on the chair again
(no voice)
The clock, speeding up; the mirwas enters, soft
90:21.4
From above, tight to the waist: she sits slumped deep in the gathered teal chair, head tipped back into its pleats, arms folded, staring up past the lens
(0:21.7) "Will they notice?"
The clock
100:23.4
THE PEARLS, 2 cuts, low across the glass of the pearl table: she sits on the rug at its short end, chin on her forearm along the glass edge, her eyes sweeping the spheres / she sits back, not satisfied
(0:23.9) "How are the pearls today?"
A pen scratching, then stopping
110:26.4
THE HOLD, 3.5 seconds, high and wide: she sits deep and angled in the burnt-orange armchair beside the lacquered column, her feet in plain socks flat on the rug, her loafers off and side by side on the marble at its edge, cheek resting on her hand on the arm, eyes closed. Still
(0:26.9) "We'll come back to the pearls."
Silence, the clock
120:29.9
THE GUST, 4 cuts: close: a gust crosses her face and lifts the sheers; the loose strands lift, her eyes open, away from the lens, toward the light / through the gap, a blade of late-morning sun swings across the rug / it slides onto the pearl table's glass, every sphere sitting on its own round shadow / it stops on one round shadow with no sphere above it
(0:32.6) "...One's missing?"
A rising swell
130:33.4
The burnt-orange armchair, empty: the cushion still dented, her loafers gone
(0:33.8) "We still have ten minutes."
The swell cuts dead
14a0:36.2
BACK TO THE HANDOVER, 1.5 seconds: the last shots rewind fast, back to the raw slab of the handover; Handed over. returns for a moment
(no voice)
The clock ticking backwards
14b0:37.7
Sourcing. a grey glove holds out three ivory lacquer chips; her fingertip chooses one / a grey glove holds out the cobalt shade; her fingertips take its rim, the tissue falling away
(no voice)
Oud and mirwas, every cut on a beat
14c0:40.1
Coordination. at the stair, a grey glove opens a booklet of silver leaf as her fingertip points to the seam / on the raw hall slab, her tape cross between two grey gloves, one holding a dark triangle, one a small spatula of resin; her fingertip taps the cross
(no voice)
14d0:42.5
Execution. a grey-gloved palette knife draws a plaster petal up from the flat wall at her tape mark / a grey-gloved gilder's tip lays a square of silver leaf over the seam, her fingertip pointing just beside it / a grey-gloved hand sets the last dark triangle into its cut-out at her tape cross
(no voice)
14e0:46.1
The final details. tight on the teal chandelier's lowest tendrils against green marble: at her pointing finger, soft in front, a grey glove turns one low tendril to face the way she means / the bolts already out on a grey cloth, four grey-gloved hands lift the pearl table's glass on suction cups / a grey glove sets a small linen box on the table's bronze rim / her fingertips lift its lid: one sphere in tissue / her fingertips set it down into its own shadow
(no voice)
The clock ticks forward again
150:52.1
2 cuts: low, at the chair's runner and the marble joint: her fingertip hovers, finds nothing to correct, and withdraws / close, half-profile against the lacquered column: she looks at the lens; one corner of her mouth lifts
(0:54.2) "...Perfect?"
The music holds one chord
160:56.0
The pearl table from above, glass down, every sphere home; the EVA CURATED logo, from EVA's own file, settles onto the glass; beneath it, on two lines: What was envisioned / is what is ultimately experienced.
(no voice)
The therapist's pen clicks shut; one final note
The voiceover on its own
- 0:00.3Still the house, this week?
- 0:03.0Handed over. ...In March.
- 0:06.0Your client says it's perfect.
- 0:09.5...You heard "almost".
- 0:11.4Most people would call this closure.
- 0:15.0You moved the chair again?
- 0:17.8...Two degrees.
- 0:21.7Will they notice?
- 0:23.9How are the pearls today?
- 0:26.9We'll come back to the pearls.
- 0:32.6...One's missing?
- 0:33.8We still have ten minutes.
- 0:54.2...Perfect?
Notes
- From your reference: a creative who never speaks, questioned by an off-screen therapist; what is said is seen as it is said; pacing and lounging; a gust of wind across her face as the idea lands; the creative putting things together until the brand; a lot of the house.
- Ours: the client who hears "perfect" while she hears "almost", the house stopped short, the two degrees, the light that finds the one missing piece, the four stages of Curated told from the handover to today with her hand or her mark in every one, the hand that finally finds nothing to correct, the brand settling onto the finished table, and every line of the voiceover.
- One house from two EVA homes: the Shmaisi villa, with two details from the Palm Jumeirah residence.
- Staged for the film: the missing sphere (your real table is complete) and the glass lifting off, with its bolts shown out first.
- Culture: long sleeves throughout; her feet always on the floor, in plain socks once her loafers are off before any rug or upholstery, soles away from camera; her hand and the makers' gloves never touch; no drinking glasses, carafes or books in any frame; calligraphy and mirrors kept out of frame; the spheres are never counted.
- On screen: "Handed over.", the four stage names and the closing line, all in one plain typeface; captions burned into both the 9:16 and 16:9 versions, with separate English and Arabic cuts (Arabic checked by a native speaker).
- To confirm with you: her hair uncovered, as in EVA's own photography (or a loose shayla if you prefer); that her resting shoeless in the house, as part of her work, reads well for the KSA audience; and the Creative as a woman, as written, or a man.
The storyboard: every cut, in order
ECU macro, floor level
Her loafer toe lines up with a dark triangle inlay in the white marble.
Sound Clock
Cut →
ECU macro, slow slide
Her fingertip runs along the staircase's silver stringer and pauses over a seam nobody can see any more.
Sound Clock
Cut →
Top-down, locked off
Months earlier: the raw hall slab, triangle cut-outs empty. Her hand passes the rolled drawings to a grey-gloved hand; her fingers let go a beat late.
Voice 0:03.0 "Handed over. ...In March."
On screen Handed over.
Sound Paper on stone
Cut →
Overhead wide from the gallery
She crosses the finished triangle floor, small in the frame.
Voice 0:06.0 "Your client says it's perfect."
Sound Footsteps, a slight echo
Cut →
Mid-wide, square-on
In a slant of late-morning sun, her shadow crosses the plaster relief. No body in frame.
Sound Footsteps
Cut →
Wide, locked off
She walks the marble border of the double-height lounge, small in the frame; amber drops overhead.
Sound Footsteps
Cut →
Close, eye level
She glances at the lens. Deadpan.
Voice 0:09.5 "...You heard 'almost'."
Cut on the look →
Mid-shot, locked off (swap on the tock)
The plaster relief, then on the tock the same frame stopped short: a flat painted wall.
Voice 0:11.4 "Most people would call this closure."
Sound One dull tock; a pen scratching, off screen
Hard swap in frame →
Mid-shot, locked off (swap on the tock)
The cobalt lamp, then on the tock a plain beige lamp in its place.
Sound Tock
Hard swap in frame →
Mid-shot from above (swap on the tock)
The triangle floor, then on the tock plain white marble.
Sound Tock
Hard swap in frame →
Medium close
Her hand nudges the left blush chair.
Voice 0:15.0 "You moved the chair again?"
Sound Wood on marble
Cut →
Macro, floor level
The chair's runner slides until it sits parallel to the joint between two marble slabs.
Voice 0:17.8 "...Two degrees."
Sound A soft click
Cut →
Wide
She crosses the double-height lounge under the amber glass drops.
Sound The clock speeding up; the mirwas enters, soft
Cut on the beat →
Insert
Her fingertip turns the amber glass vase a hair.
Sound Clock
Cut on the beat →
Wide, low angle
She passes beneath the crystal sunburst.
Sound Clock
Cut on the beat →
High, from the gallery
She turns at the end of the bottom step.
Sound Clock
Cut on the beat →
Insert
Her fingertip on the chair again.
Sound Clock
Cut →
From above, tight to the waist
She sits slumped deep in the gathered teal chair, arms folded, staring up past the lens.
Voice 0:21.7 "Will they notice?"
Sound The clock
Cut →
Low across the glass, long lens
She sits on the rug at the pearl table's short end, chin on her forearm along the glass edge, her eyes sweeping the spheres.
Voice 0:23.9 "How are the pearls today?"
Sound A pen scratching
Cut →
Same angle
She sits back, not satisfied.
Sound The pen stops
Cut →
High wide, locked off. THE HOLD
Deep in the burnt-orange armchair beside the lacquered column, socks on the rug, loafers on the marble, eyes closed. Still.
Voice 0:26.9 "We'll come back to the pearls."
Sound Silence, the clock
Cut →
Close, static. THE GUST
A gust crosses her face and lifts the sheer; the strands lift; her eyes open toward the light.
Sound A rising swell
Cut →
Wide on the floor
Through the gap, a blade of late-morning sun swings across the rug.
Sound Swell
Cut →
Top-down
The blade slides onto the pearl table's glass, every sphere sitting on its own round shadow.
Voice 0:32.6 "...One's missing?"
Sound Swell
Cut →
Top-down, tighter
It stops on one round shadow with no sphere above it.
Sound Swell peaks
Cut →
High wide, same as the hold
The burnt-orange armchair, empty: the cushion still dented, her loafers gone.
Voice 0:33.8 "We still have ten minutes."
Sound The swell cuts dead
Rewind →
Rewind to the handover
The last shots rewind fast, back to the raw slab of the handover; 'Handed over.' returns for a moment.
On screen Handed over.
Sound The clock ticking backwards
Cut to Sourcing →
Insert
A grey glove holds out three ivory lacquer chips; her fingertip chooses one.
On screen Sourcing.
Sound Oud and mirwas, every cut on a beat
Cut on the beat →
Insert
A grey glove holds out the cobalt lamp shade; her fingertips take its rim, the tissue falling away.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Insert
At the stair, a grey glove opens a booklet of silver leaf as her fingertip points to the seam.
On screen Coordination.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Top-down insert
On the raw hall slab, her tape cross between two grey gloves, one holding a dark triangle, one a small spatula of resin; her fingertip taps the cross.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Close
A grey-gloved palette knife draws a plaster petal up from the flat wall at her tape mark.
On screen Execution.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Macro
A grey-gloved hand lays a square of silver leaf over the seam; her fingertip points just beside it.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Top-down insert
A grey-gloved hand sets the last dark triangle into its cut-out at her tape cross.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Close, looking up
Tight on the teal chandelier's lowest tendrils against green marble: at her pointing finger, a grey glove turns one tendril.
On screen The final details.
Sound The clock ticks forward again
Cut on the beat →
Insert
The bolts already out on a grey cloth; four grey-gloved hands lift the pearl table's glass on suction cups.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Insert
A grey glove sets a small linen box on the table's bronze rim.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Insert
Her fingertips lift its lid: one sphere in tissue.
Sound Beat
Cut on the beat →
Top-down macro
Her fingertips set it down into its own shadow.
Sound Beat
Cut →
Low insert
At the chair's runner and the marble joint: her fingertip hovers, finds nothing to correct, and withdraws.
Sound The music holds one chord
Cut →
Close, half-profile
Against the lacquered column, she looks at the lens; one corner of her mouth lifts.
Voice 0:54.2 "...Perfect?"
Sound Chord
Cut →
Top-down, end card
The pearl table from above, glass down, every sphere home; the EVA CURATED logo settles onto the glass; the closing line beneath.
On screen EVA CURATED / What was envisioned / is what is ultimately experienced.
Sound The therapist's pen clicks shut; one final note
End →
