Thursday, January 16, 2020

By the Gods!

Full scale model of the kingdom of Jadur in ARABIAN ADVENTURE (1979)

The model, which was tall and elaborate (though looking like a model) was built in full. In the image above this long distance shot of Jadur is seen at the beginning. No superimposed image but shot live with actor (Puneet Sira as Majeed) in the foreground. The city would be used extensively during the magic carpet chase scene during the climax, as seen in the screenshot below (with Oliver Tobias). The camera would swoop and move around the model, replicating the footage needed for the magic carpet scenes. It was used for scenes like the sunset one in the last screenshot, which is nice. The plain lighting during the daytime scenes gives the model away. It needed more contrast, and the sky behind needed to be more convincing. Of I'd make an Arabian movie, I would do this but with better lighting.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence! I just watched this movie day before yesterday. Some of the shots (like the night one you posted) of the city are beautiful. Model or no, it's better than CGI.

PEPLUM TV said...

I prefer full scale models over CGI, which is why I posted this. The night shots are nice (again, why I posted the image) but the lighting during the daytime scenes make the full scale model looks too much like a model, which is a shame 'cause all of that work that went into it.

Scott Ochiltree said...



Unfortunately in my view this movie is disappointing, at least compared with older classics in the "sword and sand" genre.