Includes: (1) Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) and rise of Islam (2) The Awakening & (3) The Ottomans
The
production of Islam: Empire of Faith was a big challenge from the
beginning, simply because it covered more than a thousand years of
history and culture, and a very large part of the world.
But we
really wanted to push beyond the conventional form of historical
documentaries, which have depended on pans and tilts of still pictures,
supplemented with landscapes and interviews. We wanted to find a way to
use the visual techniques usually reserved for fiction motion pictures
to tell a story of great scope that took place in pre-photographic
history. This meant the project would require very large scale costumed
re-enactments and equipment far beyond the ordinary documentary
production package of camera, zoom lens, tripod and small light-kit.
We
knew that we had to find a way to present images of cultural history —
both re-enacted scenes and contemporary scenes of Islamic architecture
and city life — in a way that would evoke the past, but maintain a sense
of authenticity. The scenes would be dream-like and impressionistic but
would still give viewers a sense that what they were seeing was
accurate in historical terms.
We designed a production package
that included a robotic crane with an 18-foot reach (Jimmi-jib),
allowing us to fly the camera through architectural spaces, and a
Steadicam that would allow for smooth camera moves through buildings at
ground level — even mounting it on a truck to shoot running horses at
full speed. We took a wide selection of lenses from extremely wide to
telephoto and we also brought a high-speed camera for true slow-motion
(500 frames per second) allowing us to slow an action down that actually
took one second to fully twenty seconds on-screen. All of these taken
together would provide an extraordinarily production palette. But it
also meant that we had to travel with more than 40 cases of equipment —
and do so in seven different countries. The logistics were severe.
The
actual American camera crew was very small — Director of Photography
Rege Becker (who also operated the Steadicam) and First Assistant
Cameraman and Jib Operator Nick Gardner, who also shot second camera
when required. The rest of the crew was hired and trained in each
country — Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Israel, Spain, Turkey and Iran.
It
was in Iran that we used a motion picture company — with a crew of 50 —
to produce the costumed re-enactments. Iran's foremost Art Director
Majid Mirfakhraei, had to create locations, costumes and props for more
than a thousand years of history — from the deserts 7th century Arabia,
to the palaces of the Ottoman empire. The same team of stunt riders had
to be made-up and redressed to play Arabian mounted soldiers, Crusader
knights, Mongol raiders, Ghazi horsemen and Ottoman cavalry. A full
sized, four-story replica of the holiest shrine in the Muslim world (the
Kaaba in Saudi Arabia), had to be built in the deserts of Southern Iran
and the vanished world of 8th century Baghdad had to be created in the
ruins of a 19th century Persian palace. More than 300 costumes were
required, as well as a dozen camels and riders, dozens of sheep and
goats, an entire Bedouin encampment and the streets of Jerusalem in the
11th century — complete with market stalls and citizens.
This
extraordinary production design, set in epic landscapes, gives the film a
startling sense of scope and provides a remarkable window through which
to examine the past. The film took 18 months to edit, and is supported
by an original score by Leonard Lionnet.
