THE BUTCHER | POST PRODUCTION FOR DUBOIS VS WARDLEY 2 PROMO

STARRING: GEOFF BELL & DANIEL DUBOIS
WRITER / DIRECTOR: WILL MCMULLAN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: ADAM VESSEY
DOP: JOE MITCHINSON
1ST AD: RYAN CONNOR
DESIGNER: IVAN SASSO
STYLING & PROPS: ISSIE GIBBONS
MUA: SOPHIE TILLEY
SHOOT PRODUCTION: VOXY MEDIA
EVP MARKETING: DAVE STRATTON
VP MARKETING: ALFIE SHARMAN
EDITOR: FREDDY ANGEL
GRADE: HENRY HOWARD
MOTION GRAPHICS: JONNY NORTON
POST-PRODUCERS: JAMES WILLIAMS, PETE BLACK & DAVID WHAYMAN

POST PRODUCTION

COLOUR GRADE

SOUND MIX

GRAPHICS

SOCIAL CUTDOWNS & VERSIONING

WORKING CLOSELY WITH DAZN'S CREATIVE DIRECTOR, WILL MCMULLAN, OUR POST-PRODUCTION TEAM WAS BROUGHT ON BOARD TO HELP BRING THE CREATIVE VISION FOR THE DUBOIS VS WARDLEY 2 PROMO CAMPAIGN TO LIFE.

WITH SCRIPTS, STORYBOARDS AND A STRONG CREATIVE DIRECTION ALREADY ESTABLISHED, THE BRIEF GAVE US THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE THE MATERIAL AND ALLOW THE EDIT TO FIND ITS OWN RHYTHM, PACING AND ULTIMATELY ITS FINAL DURATION.

ALONGSIDE THE ORIGINAL SHOOT FOOTAGE, WE WERE PROVIDED WITH ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FROM A DUBOIS AND WARDLEY CONTENT DAY, AS WELL AS ALTERNATIVE CAMERA ANGLES FROM THEIR FIRST ENCOUNTER. THIS GAVE US A WEALTH OF MATERIAL TO WORK WITH AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD SOMETHING WITH REAL CHARACTER, ATMOSPHERE AND IMPACT.

FREDDY ANGELL LED THE OFFLINE EDIT, WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE DAZN CREATIVE TEAM TO SHAPE THE NARRATIVE AND ESTABLISH THE FILM'S DISTINCTIVE TONE.

THE CHALLENGE WAS FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN DARK HUMOUR, CHARACTER AND THE UNDERLYING INTENSITY OF THE UPCOMING FIGHT. WE WANTED THE EDIT TO FEEL CINEMATIC AND DELIBERATELY UNSETTLING, WHILE ALLOWING THE HUMOUR TO LAND NATURALLY WITHOUT UNDERMINING THE TENSION.

THE FIRST STAGES FOCUSED ON EXPLORING DIFFERENT PACING, PERFORMANCE SELECTIONS AND THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN DIALOGUE, IMAGERY AND SOUND.

WE ESTABLISHED AN INITIAL STRUCTURAL CUT WITHIN TWO DAYS OF RECEIVING THE FOOTAGE, GIVING DAZN AN EARLY OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE CREATIVE DIRECTION BEFORE MOVING INTO THE MORE DETAILED STAGES OF FINISHING.

FROM THERE, THE FILM DEVELOPED THROUGH A SERIES OF COLLABORATIVE REVIEWS, WITH EACH ITERATION REFINING THE STORYTELLING, SHARPENING THE TRANSITIONS AND BUILDING TOWARDS A COHESIVE FINAL PIECE.

WITH THE STRUCTURE ESTABLISHED, OUR ATTENTION TURNED TO CREATING A DISTINCTIVE VISUAL AND SONIC IDENTITY.

COLOURIST HENRY HOWARD DEVELOPED A CINEMATIC GRADE INSPIRED BY THE GRITTY, TEXTURED AESTHETIC OF LATE-90S AND EARLY-2000S CINEMA. DRAWING ON REFERENCES INCLUDING FIGHT CLUB AND HOSTEL, THE TREATMENT INTRODUCED RICH CONTRAST, FILM GRAIN, DEEP SHADOWS AND SUBTLE GREEN UNDERTONES TO CREATE AN ATMOSPHERIC, SLIGHTLY SINISTER WORLD.

WORKING COLLABORATIVELY WITH WILL, WE REFINED THE PALETTE TO INTRODUCE ADDITIONAL WARMTH AND SATURATION WHERE APPROPRIATE, ENSURING THE FINAL LOOK RETAINED ITS CINEMATIC EDGE WHILE ALLOWING THE CHARACTER AND ENVIRONMENT TO FEEL RICH AND BELIEVABLE.

THE FIGHT FOOTAGE RECEIVED ITS OWN COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT, CREATING A DELIBERATE VISUAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TWO WORLDS WHILE MAINTAINING A CONSISTENT AESTHETIC ACROSS THE CAMPAIGN.

SOUND DESIGN PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN BRINGING THE EDIT TOGETHER.

RATHER THAN SIMPLY SUPPORTING THE VISUALS, WE APPROACHED THE SOUNDSCAPE AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE STORYTELLING, LAYERING MUSIC, ATMOSPHERIC TEXTURES, CAREFULLY TIMED EFFECTS AND IMPACTFUL FIGHT AUDIO TO HEIGHTEN BOTH THE TENSION AND THE HUMOUR.

PARTICULAR ATTENTION WENT INTO THE DETAIL OF THE MIX, FROM THE WEIGHT AND INTENSITY OF THE PUNCHES TO THE SUBTLE POSITIONING OF DIALOGUE WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT.

WE ALSO INCORPORATED ADDITIONAL VOICE RECORDING IN-HOUSE, ALLOWING US TO FINE-TUNE SPECIFIC MOMENTS AND ENSURE THE PERFORMANCES WORKED SEAMLESSLY WITHIN THE FINISHED EDIT.

THE RESULT WAS A SOUNDSCAPE THAT COMPLEMENTED THE CINEMATIC GRADE AND GAVE THE FILM A REAL SENSE OF DEPTH, ENERGY AND PERSONALITY.

OUR MOTION GRAPHICS ARTIST, JONNY NORTON, WORKED WITH DAZN'S SUPPLIED CREATIVE ASSETS TO DEVELOP AND ANIMATE THE CAMPAIGN TYPOGRAPHY AND END FRAMES.

THE APPROACH WAS DELIBERATELY BOLD AND RESTRAINED, USING IMPACTFUL MOVEMENT, SUBTLE SHAKE AND CAREFULLY CONSIDERED POSITIONING TO ENSURE THE GRAPHICS COMPLEMENTED THE ACTION RATHER THAN COMPETING WITH IT.

EACH ELEMENT WAS THEN ADAPTED FOR THE VARIOUS ASPECT RATIOS, WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION PAID TO COMPOSITION, LEGIBILITY AND PLATFORM-SAFE POSITIONING.

BY KEEPING THE GRADING, GRAPHICS AND SOUND WORKFLOWS CLOSELY COORDINATED, WE WERE ABLE TO PROGRESS MULTIPLE ELEMENTS OF THE FINISHING PROCESS SIMULTANEOUSLY, MAINTAINING CREATIVE CONSISTENCY WHILE ALLOWING FLEXIBILITY THROUGHOUT THE FINAL STAGES.

ALONGSIDE THE MAIN HERO FILM, WE DEVELOPED A SUITE OF SIX SUPPORTING SOCIAL TEASERS, EACH DESIGNED TO WORK AS PART OF THE WIDER CAMPAIGN.

THE FILMS WERE FINISHED AND VERSIONED ACROSS FOUR ASPECT RATIOS: 16:9, 9:16, 4:5 AND 1:1, WITH ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR SUBTITLES, BRANDING, PLATFORM REQUIREMENTS AND BROADCAST DELIVERY.

WE ALSO PREPARED DEDICATED BROADCAST AND IN-ARENA MASTERS, ENSURING THE CONTENT COULD BE DEPLOYED ACROSS DAZN'S DIGITAL CHANNELS AND FIGHT-NIGHT ENVIRONMENTS.

IN TOTAL, THE POST-PRODUCTION PROCESS INVOLVED APPROXIMATELY 30 INDIVIDUAL DELIVERABLES, ALL REQUIRING CAREFUL MANAGEMENT TO MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE CAMPAIGN.

AS WITH ANY MAJOR SPORTING CAMPAIGN, THE FINAL STAGES DEMANDED A COMBINATION OF PRECISION, FLEXIBILITY AND QUICK DECISION-MAKING.

WORKING TO A FIXED LAUNCH DATE, OUR TEAM COORDINATED THE FINAL GRADE, SOUND MIX, GRAPHICS AND VERSIONING WITHIN A TIGHTLY MANAGED DELIVERY SCHEDULE.

THANKS TO THE WAY THE PROJECT HAD BEEN STRUCTURED THROUGHOUT POST-PRODUCTION, WE WERE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THE FINAL ADJUSTMENTS AND TURN AROUND THE REVISED DELIVERABLES IN APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS.

EVERYTHING WAS DELIVERED IN TIME FOR THE CAMPAIGN TO GO LIVE AT 10AM ON 9 OCTOBER, AS PLANNED.

THIS WAS A BRILLIANT EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WHEN A CLEAR CREATIVE VISION MEETS A COLLABORATIVE, AGILE POST-PRODUCTION PROCESS.

FROM THE INITIAL ASSEMBLY THROUGH TO THE FINAL MIX, GRADE AND DELIVERY, THE PROJECT GAVE OUR TEAM THE OPPORTUNITY TO BRING TOGETHER EDITORIAL, COLOUR, SOUND AND MOTION GRAPHICS TO CREATE A DISTINCTIVE CAMPAIGN WITH GENUINE PERSONALITY.

A SPECIAL MENTION HAS TO GO TO WILL MCMULLAN AND ADAM AT DAZN, WHO WERE BOTH FANTASTIC TO COLLABORATE WITH THROUGHOUT. THEIR CREATIVE INPUT, OPENNESS TO IDEAS AND COLLABORATIVE APPROACH MADE THE ENTIRE PROCESS A GENUINELY ENJOYABLE ONE.

A HUGE THANKS TO THEM BOTH FOR TRUSTING US WITH THE WORK AND MAKING US FEEL LIKE AN EXTENSION OF THE DAZN CREATIVE TEAM.

A FANTASTIC PROJECT TO BE PART OF, AND ONE WE'RE PROUD TO HAVE HELPED BRING ACROSS THE FINISH LINE.

DELIVERABLES

32 VERSIONS IN TOTAL

• 1 HERO FILM IN 4 ASPECT RATIOS (16:9, 9:16, 4:5, 1:1), WITH SUBTITLED AND DAZN-BRANDED CUTS FOR SOCIAL

• 6 SOCIAL TEASERS, EACH IN ALL 4 RATIOS, WHICH COMES TO 24 VERSIONS

• 3 BROADCAST AND IN-ARENA MASTERS, FOR PLAYOUT ON FIGHT NIGHT