Hackenbacker Complete Audio Post Production For New Crime Drama

Award-wining Soho-based facility Hackenbacker has completed the entire audio post production for Inside Men, a new four-part television drama that will be screened on BBC1 in February.
Written by Tony Basgallop (Worried About The Boy, Hughie Green, Most Sincerely), this BBC Drama Production for BBC One tells the story of three employees of a security depot who plan and execute a £200 million cash heist.
The protagonists are not seasoned criminals – just honest, hard working men who see an opportunity, weigh up the risks and take a leap into the world of crime. The story is told entirely from their perspective and is a study of how men behave when they step out of their comfort zones and cross the moral line.
Inside Men stars Steven Mackintosh (Camelot, Luther) as John, manager of the cash counting house who realises he needs to take risks in order to confront the humdrum normality of his life. Joining him in the robbery is depot security guard Chris, played by Ashley Walters (Outcasts, Five Days), and forklift driver Marcus, played by Warren Brown (Luther, Single Father). They both have their own reasons for doing the job and the need for money plays a big part in their decisions. The cast also includes Kierston Wareing (The Shadow Line, The Runaway), who plays the part of Marcus’ wife Gina.
The audio for Inside Men was entirely post produced at Hackenbacker, a facility that has had a long association with BBC Drama Productions. The company received two BAFTA and two EMMY nominations for its work on Downton Abbey and Any Human Heart and has high hopes for Inside Men, too
Over a three month period Hackenbacker handled all of the track laying, the entire ADR and all of the final mixing in order to fulfil the very specific brief to create an aurally spectacular soundtrack.
Hackenbacker’s Nigel Heath explains: “Right from the start, Inside Men’s director James Kent had a very clear vision of how he wanted the soundtrack to work, therefore the shooting and editing style he adopted allowed us to explore some interesting sound avenues. Some of the scenes in the series are exquisitely simple and the superb performances from the great cast meant that there was little we needed to do to sonically enhance them.
"However, we did have the opportunity for real sonic fun with some of the more 'radical' moments in the series. To help create the sound James was looking for we binaurally recorded the ADR and integrated this with similarly re-recorded premixes, which we achieved by literally throwing a ‘dummy head’ mic around in front of a set of speakers and re-recording the results. This was a really interesting and enjoyable approach to the ADR and we were all very pleased with the final outcome.
"BBC producer Colin Wratten (Waking The Dead, The Turn Of The Screw), says working with the Hackenbacker team was an amazing experience because the whole team gave so much to the project.
"I was very impressed with the quality of the ADR and how it sat in the mix," he said.
"I was also pleased how different locations were brought to life by sympathetic sound design. The smooth workflow at Hackenbacker made this project a joy – James Kent and I were amazed at the speed of the Final Mix. This was down to great preparation and pre-mixing by Nigel and his team."
Nigel Heath adds that Inside Men was a joy to work on and that everyone at the facility found it a truly creative experience.
"It’s great to work with a bold director and producer and, indeed, executives who work hard to create strong and original programmes and are accepting, supportive and appreciative of an interesting and original sound track to accompany them," he said.
The 4x60 minute drama, which was filmed in Bristol, will begin screening on February 2nd at 9pm on BBC1.
(LB)