Proper Content’s landmark series The Changemakers premiered on Paramount+ at the beginning of January, and Clear Cut Pictures are proud to have delivered full post for the series.
The Changemakers follows impassioned communities and campaigners from across the world. The scope of the series raised exciting challenges for our creatives. Each episode required a unique approach to manage the diverse range of cameras and formats that had been used in each location, to achieve a cohesive aesthetic and high-quality audio finish.
Damion Katwaroo, Colourist at Clear Cut, graded the series with Baselight, using a combination of Baselight’ s scene looks. In collaboration with the Executive Producers, Nick Betts and Rachel Harvie, Damion gave the series a warm, inviting aesthetic to reflect the activists’ positive impact. The verité style of the footage posed challenges in itself, as Damion had to contend with varying lighting conditions and uncontrolled shooting environments. He utilised the full range of tools available to him, such as denoise, de-flicker, and luma keys, to ensure seamless visual consistency.
Head of Online, Ben Salkeld worked alongside team members, Catherine Preece and James Lee, to create a uniform style across the individual episodes within the series. Whether delivering stylised lower thirds based on the colour palette available within the frame ; masking or blurring sensitive footage in an agreed style; or treating Zoom interview footage with a specific picture-in-picture effect and background, all these brought consistency to the series and gave the viewers a sense of being part of the activism themselves. Once these visual devices were agreed, this allowed the Online team to work independently of the client until sign off.
Nick Ashe, Senior Dubbing Mixer, led an audio team who worked on the sound edit and mix. Mixed in ProTools 2022.7 on an Avid S6 console, Nick worked to create a seamless blend of diverse sound elements including on-location interviews, Zoom meetings, production music and voiceover, archive and ambient environmental sounds. Having investigated some of the more challenging location recordings, whilst the series was in offline, Nick used Izotope RX10 Advanced to tackle issues like wind, hums and mic crackle; as well as AI based software like GOYO (now known as Supertone Clear) for general clarity of dialogue.
The timescales of the work were demanding, tight deadlines necessitated efficient collaboration with the picture editing and production teams. Embracing a hybrid workflow, Nick integrated remote and studio-based work, utilising Clear Cut’s bespoke infrastructure to allow for an easy and effective workflow. Nick’s work on the project restoring the production sound created a consistent dialogue track, with added atmospheres and spot FX produced an overall rich and punchy mix.
The finished programme is a unique series looking at activism across the globe. It has been a privilege for Clear Cut to contribute to this inspiring project and witness the powerful stories of The Changemakers unfolding.