Salman Sajun, Director | Creative

From conception to completion, VOTE 2013 is a handcrafted stopmotion created as a public service anouncemnt for the second largest televison channel in Pakistan, SAMAA TV. Every aspect of this stopmotion was meticulously created, from the wooden props, stage and paint to lighting rigs and foley sounds all the way to the 8 foot camera track/move, each element was hand-built by us with the help of Pakistan’s genius carpenters. It was all shot in stop-motion to show how frame by frame, brick by brick we can resurrect the fortunes of Pakistan. I hope it inspires every Pakistani to go out and make an informed and educated vote!

The choices you make regarding your education are ones that impact the rest of your life. My most recent video project centers on this very issue. ‘An Avalanche is coming’ is a new paper that represents a collaboration between Pearson, the worlds leading education company and IPPR the UK’s leading progressive thinktank, that argues that higher education has the potential to be better than ever, provided all players take an active role and act ambitiously. I was approached by Pearson to conceptualize and produce a stop-motion video that would serve as a teaser for the release of the paper. My goal was to create a video that would speak to the central premise of the paper as well as provoke the viewer to ask more from their education. I chose the concept of the “backpack” as the backpack is iconic when it comes to education. It takes you from the very beginning, from your first day in school, all the way to the very end. I chose to play with the idea of the backpack, and to have it interact with different pre-packaged educational “bundles”. The message is a simple one; our education can and should consist of more than these pre-packaged bundles. The project was incredibly challenging, and represents my biggest stop motion endeavor to date. we had just three weeks to turnover the 40 second video. The team and I worked tirelessly around the clock to create this stopmotion video.

Basha a contemporary Middle Eastern grill house that was introduced to me by a good friend. I was really taken aback by the unique way with which they prepare their food. The passion with which the food was cooked got me really excited to do a short promo video for this new restaurant in the heart of Toronto. I wanted to accentuate the pace at which a meal is prepared at Basha. It was important for me to keep in mind their exceptional attention to detail by shedding some light on Basha’s process behind their intricately planned dishes - I decided to single in on one of their famous ‘Laffas’ and capture its preparation from start to finish. This interlaced with some quick cuts and split screens I think was the best way to visually show the intensity and passion that goes behind each dish.

I was recently commissioned to create an animation for this new startup “LearnRev”. Having worked with lead animator Hasan Habib in the past, I was confident taking on the project and directing it to help showcase the awesome initiative that the LearnRev team are striving towards. The process was much like any other film that I have created in the past. However we were under a really strict deadline and all the pre production was squeezed down leaving no margin for errors. The entire team really pushed hard and I am extremely proud of the results.

I was asked by a close friend and colleague to attend a minor hockey night at the University of Toronto. This annual event is held to motivate youngsters to get more involved in sports and to support the Varsity Blues. Below is just a short showcase of the event.

Jump Desktop was interested in doing an advert that would sum up their product and show their diverse target market. I wanted to do a montage style advert, quick cuts and a moving camera the entire time. I felt that this would help with creating the feeling that no matter where you are, you are always connected through Jump Desktop. This then lead to coming up with a way that would help me show different locations but all centred around the common denominator the “iPad”.

Kitchen Heroes is a small business run by Alizeh Bashir, an upcoming entrepreneur in Karachi, Pakistan who has made it her mission to introduce young minds to the world of cooking and crafts. She has classes for these youngsters once a week and along with cooking they get to experience team building while they polish up their social and intellectual skills. Each class isn’t just about cooking every month. Alizeh introduces a new theme tat builds on basic concepts and knowledge. The week I was lucky enough to meet Alizeh she was teaching the kids how to make cookies with an outer space theme. Filming this couldn't have come at a sweeter time.