BBC/Comic Relief pop promo finished at AHC

AHC Post have completed post on the BBC’s Comic Relief pop promo.
The project, featuring Peter Kay miming to Tony Christie’s 'Amarillo', was filmed in high definition, directed by David Mallett and finished by Victor Riva and Stuart Barralet at AHC using Quantel’s EQ system.
Due to get its exclusive showing on Red Nose Night Live 2005, on BBC One Friday March 11, the extra special video features more than a few surprises with a whole host of famous faces including singer Tony Christie.
The project consisted of just under 70% blue screen footage. It was composited and graded using Q-Colour and the EQ’s powerful Q-Effects DVE and Chroma Key system. Senior editor Victor Riva, who has been involved with hundreds of pop videos in his 20-year career, was overjoyed at the opportunity to be involved in the project.
“Working with David is always a pleasure, Peter is truly a comic genius, and I really enjoyed being involved. It was a challenge, but it really was a lot of fun,” said Riva.
Despite the sense of fun associated with the project, there was a lot of work involved. In addition to the compositing and grading, Victor had to create a stylised 'Wizard of Oz' like vista for one of the shots, using the EQ’s Paintbox system.
Riva added: “It took me right back to my days as a backdrop artist, though we had a few weeks to create those, rather than a few hours!”
Production manager Kathryn Lowrie was also more than aware of the looming deadline. She said: “We were worried at first that we wouldn’t be able to achieve everything we wanted, but AHC pulled out all the stops over the weekend to ensure we did. When you’re working with green screen, you can never be certain what you’re going to get, but I was very pleased with the results, especially with the time we had. David was confident Victor was the best man for the job, and his confidence was not misplaced."
(GB)