FIFA 21: Making The Squad

“For ‘G2: Making the Squad – FIFA 21 Edition’ the brief was to give the show an extra push visually to make it stand out, while at the same time preventing any over stylisation or exaggeration that would detract from the show. This project was HLG HDR and 50fps, so we are working at one of the best specs in terms of visuals.

For the series I was grading with baselight in ACES and I was using a custom built LUT that I designed to work in high dynamic range colour spaces so that we can take advantage of the full tonal range available. I also used baselight’s compress gamut tool to keep the more extreme lighting scenarios from clipping as they are converted into ACES, without losing the punch they originally had.

The content of the series is largely story driven, so it’s really important that we are not only producing something that looks stunning but at the same time isn’t distracting from the content itself.”

“For ‘Making the Squad’ I was given a blank canvas and creative freedom to really help shape something special.

With any production it’s important to understand the audience demographic, whether you’re working in audio or visuals. I started by watching the offline cut of the show to gain an understanding of the content and the target audience (generation Z and millennials). I understood the show to be high tempo and music driven, so I rode the music levels and in turn the FX a little higher than a slower paced ‘dialogue’ driven documentary – as always a delicate balance is needed in the levels to prevent over compression.

One challenge during the mix was to ensure that all dialogue and pre mixed audio was comprehensible; as with any production background noise is unavoidable and will ultimately leak in to the post production, so cleaning this up is vital in delivering a fantastic viewer experience.
To refine the audio I reduced as much of the unwanted noise as possible using Pro Tools alongside Izotope RX 8 Software and plugins. This workflow consisted of Eqing, de-noising and dialogue isolation, with the latter being layered over the original audio and the collective process allowing the chosen audio to shine.

An interesting element in the mix was that I created both stereo and 5.1 surround mixes, meaning I had to carefully monitor the two to ensure consistency and that they played as intended. The capability of 5.1 allows for a more immersive experience so I wanted to be sure to deliver just that. I used Pro Tools to create dynamic and ambient sounds effects which I then embedded in to the episodes to cultivate the energy and atmosphere we desired. Throughout this processes I worked closely with the Production Company and Insight TV – sending quick times of potential name straps and effects both before and after embedding to make sure we created the correct vibe.
Overall, we created high tempo captivating mix that complements the fast-paced content and really makes the show pop.”