TMR Digital scores with 'Footballers’ Wives'

TMR Digital, part of the VTR Media Services group, has landed the contract to design, encode and author the DVD for the third series of hit ITV1 drama 'Footballers’ Wives'.
The three-disc set, charting the ups and downs of Earls Park FC characters including Tanya and Amber, features all nine hour-long episodes as well as 45 minutes of extras. These include cast interviews, a behind the scenes documentary, out-takes and an extended first episode. The disc is due for release on April 25 2005 to coincide with the terrestrial broadcast of the new series of Footballers’ Wives.
VTR Media Services group (including TMR and blue) had previously carried out postproduction work on the Footballers’ Wives series for Shed Productions, and this ongoing and successful working relationship was picked up on by DVD distributor VCI/2entertain. Stacey Hanks, Production Manager, invited the team at TMR Digital to pitch ideas for the DVD release, and commissioned the work as a result of this presentation.
“VCI/2entertain were impressed with the initial concepts we put forward,” said Vicki Angus, DVD producer at TMR Digital. “We always aimed to give the DVD menus a highly stylised look, and to base each of the three discs around one of the characters. We therefore had to ensure that the design tied in with the personality of each of the featured characters. By visiting the location for series four, we got a real feel for the set design and a better insight into the characters.”
The TMR Digital team put their heads together and came up with the concept of creating a 3D virtual bedroom. The idea was that the viewer could move around the room and click on various objects to access the sub-menus and extra features. The bedroom would be themed for each of the three discs with objects relating to the featured character - for example, for Tanya, the clues were champagne bottles, jewellery and cigarettes.
The team then set about the task of creating a 3D set that shouted ‘new money.’
“We spent hours sourcing exactly the right objects to match each character,” said Angus. “It paid off though as once we’d done that, it made it a lot easier to get the feel we wanted for the disc.” Lead Designer was Kevin Cooney, who used Discreet’s 3ds max animation software for the 3D modelling.
“We have worked with TMR Digital on many DVD titles over the years, but the Footballers’ Wives menus are by far the most innovative and creative that they have produced to date,” added Hanks.
(GB)