Blue brings colour to BBC's Grand National promo

Full-service postproduction facility blue has posted a brand new promo for the BBC’s Grand National 'Grandstand'.
In addition to online and offline work, a range of smoke effects as well as the grade on the promo were completed by blue’s Tristian Wake and George K respectively. In addition, Rich Martin, sound designer at blue, completed the audio on this project.
The 30-second promo plays on the unpredictability of the Grand National – a race that often throws up surprise winners. It features a side shot of a rider-less horse running along a racetrack and is set to commentary from past Grand National races. As the sequence progresses, different racing colours are displayed on the body of the horse, with the accompanying commentary acting as a catalyst for the colour changes. In all there were ten different horses to comp, each with a different pattern on its back.
During the shoot at Dunsfold Airfield in Surrey, the crew placed two tracking markers on the horse in order to provide tracking information for postproduction. During a three-day flame session, Tristan Wake created the patterns for the different racing colours and then applied the tracking information to a warping mesh in order to track the different patterns onto the horse.
“A key aspect of the job was to ensure that the colours stood out while still appearing to be a part of the horse,” explained Wake. “The end result is realistic skin tones and muscle movements rather than something that looked like the colours had been draped or painted on.”
blue’s colourist George K ensured that the grade, completed using Spirit, was very subtle in order to help the colours stand out. The backgrounds were also blurred and made slightly darker to achieve the desired effect.
Dan Moore, Producer at BBC Broadcast, said: “We've worked with blue on various projects in the past, but this is the first time they've handled all of our postproduction requirements. These jobs always end up tight for time, but Blue were extraordinarily accommodating and they achieved fantastic results.”
The promo will air on BBC1 in the run up to the Grand National on Saturday April 9.
(GB)