Splice completed full post for the two-part Netflix documentary Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story for 72 Films which examines the chilling story of Jimmy Savile and how he managed to fool an entire nation for decades.
The film was graded and onlined on Resolve and Fusion in HDR UHD. The production team had access to an archive which spans from 1958 to 2012, covering a huge variety of visual eras and mediums. All film was scanned to 4K DPX and all video tapes were digitally transferred. With the variety of archive, footage was kept stylistically distinct to its era. Head of Picture, Adam Dolniak, made sure the grade reflects the visual change in times. Head of Online, Tristan Lancey, used film burns, leaks, glitches and distortion FX on the footage as well as stylised transitions and captioning to achieve the ever-changing look.
Obviously for films of this sensitivity identity security was of paramount importance so extensive work was done in online using a combination of digital or film format artefacts, shadows and grain bedding whilst avoiding obvious lollipop blurs.
Supervising Sound Editor Tom Jenkins and Splice’s Senior Dubbing Mixer Joe Cochrane delivered the audio post with final mix and delivery on Avid S6 in Splice's new Nile Street facility. Original score was composed by Jess Jones. The audio post used sound design and effects in combination with the soundtrack to add dark undertones that sharply contrasted with the light entertainment archive. Izotope's RX Post Production Suite was used extensively to give the archive a cohesiveness through the changing decades. Nugen's DSP Post bundle was harnessed for additional layers of sound design, using surround reverbs to pull the viewer into sequences with crowds and audiences.
Watch Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story now on Netflix.