Careem’s cinematography honors Egypt’s very own street language

Careem drops a beautiful video on the silent language of Egypt’s streets. Accompanying Careem’s billboards, comes a brilliant piece of cinematography in the form of Careem’s newest video.

Showing off many confusing names of streets and corners of Cairo’s roads and infrastructure, the video discusses how the road has its own rules and non-verbal language and to master this language, you must belong to the street.

The video focuses on how Careem’s drivers are from this world, they understand the language, the small details that will provide the customer with an easy and comfortable ride.

The brilliant voice-over narration starts about starting your Careem ride and mentioning intriguing facts about small details such as “October bridge is not in October,” and “Beirut mish fe Lebanon” (Beirut is not located in Lebanon) to enlighten customers that Careem’s drivers know the way, and that they’ll get you there.

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Posted by Careem on Sunday, May 7, 2017


The video itself contains a myriad of beautiful scenery, complicated cinematography and exceptional drone piloting. Reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s work in the movie Inception, the video is filled with non-linear shots and muted colors.

The drone pilot sweeps through Cairo’s streets with finesse and delicacy, flipping the scenes to give the audience a dizzying view of Egypt’s metropolis. The winding highways and bridges are filled with energy yet empty, an opposing view of the usually crowded setting.

The voice-over performer captures the essence of omnipotence and wise authority, and the video’s script-writing is deep, insightful and connected to every footage.

Pre-Ramadan Advertising Season:

Strangely enough, the video, which has become a sensation overnight, was released pre-Ramadan. Ramadan, which has unofficially become known as the peak advertising season in Egypt, has become the time in which most companies save their advertisements to reach peak engagement and reach on digital media.

Careem may have decided to release the video before Ramadan due to it missing the traditional messages and emotions that are usually evoked during the holy month.

Advertisements in Ramadan usually follow a set of unspoken rules, ads must provide the same messages that the Muslim community tries to embody during the holy month; to be charitable, cleanse the body of impurities, to be forgiving and loving, to spend time with cherished people and so on.

Careem’s advert contains none of that, and perhaps this is the reason why they have decided to release the video less than a month ahead of the season. Do they have something prepared for Ramadan, or will this be it until the holy month is over? Only time will tell.

Deliberate copy or inspired masterpiece?

Careem’s newest video takes a few inspired techniques and liberties from Christopher Nolan’s work as well other famed cinematographers such as Stanley Kubrick.

Also Read ➤ Hello Careem, Mind Your New Logo Originality!

Another director and cinematographer JWT creative team may have been inspired from is Tim Sessler, particularly his brilliant video “Balance”.

A quick glance and a few moments with the video shows a stark resemblance. The camera and drone movement and usage of reverse panning and zooming techniques points to obvious similarities to both videos.

Overhead shots of structures and the dizzying reversals popularized by Christopher Nolan makes a strong appearance in both videos, non-linear scenes alter our state of mind and imbalance viewers as scenes turn and turn. The scenic shots of highways and its interlocking designs also make an appearance.

Both are incredible mind-bending and curious works of art in their own right, but is Careem marketing or, JWT creative teams a little too inspired by previous works?

Could they have done more to avoid such a convincing comparison between their work and others? Let us know in the comments.

Think Marketing

