Blue helps LIVINGtv’s ‘The Biggest Loser UK’ shed weight

Full-service postproduction facility blue has completed the postproduction on a series of promos for ‘The Biggest Loser UK’, a new competitive reality show which will air on Flextech-owned LIVINGtv from October 6 2005.
Already a ratings hit in the US, the series is expected to inspire those trying to lose weight. The Biggest Loser UK features a variety of overweight contestants who want to lose weight dramatically and ultimately change their lives. The Biggest Loser UK gives severely overweight participants the opportunity to radically change their physical appearance without any kind of surgery, and to follow two completely different training regimes and see which team comes out on top. At the end of the series ‘The Biggest Loser’ will win a substantial prize of £25,000.
The 10” and 30” promos, directed by David Edwards, inform viewers about why the participants have chosen to take part in the series. The promo also shows contestants jumping off objects including a diving board, and floating through the air as they tell their story.
blue completed online editing, grading and audio work on the promos. The original underwater footage was shot at Pinewood studios using a high-speed Phantom camera with background plates being shot on 35mm.
blue’s head of visual effects, Chris Mortimer, oversaw the production to ensure that the promo was shot in a way that allowed blue to successfully complete the effects work. Following the shoot, Andy Sawyer, Davide Pascolo and Steve Miller used Combustion to complete the lengthy task of matting the contestants floating in the water. Chris Mortimer then used Flame to composite the contestants onto different backgrounds such as flowerbeds. George K graded the footage in Spirit and Ian Hargest completed the sound design.
“The most complicated part of the project was the matting and trying to disguise the fact that it’d been shot underwater. We had to remove every water bubble that was visible. With the matting, we had to ensure that every part of each person, every strand of hair, was perfectly cut out. It was crucial that an identical image of the person appeared on the new background,” said Ross Cullingan, producer, blue. “It was great to be involved in the online editing through to the audio work, and see the end results when we’d fulfilled the brief.”
Flextech Television’s Dave Edwards said: “There were many challenges through all stages of production but they they all came together to create a fantastic end product. As always blue have done a fantastic job.”
(GB)