Colourist Gary Curran talks to TVBEurope about his work on the hit BBC drama
By Contributor
Published: July 10, 2020
Colourist Gary Curran talks to TVBEurope about his work on the hit BBC drama
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Colourist Gary Curran talks to TVBEurope about his work on the hit BBC drama
https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/case-study-the-making-of-normal-people title=Share via Email class=share-email>
Affording viewers a much welcome distraction from the global pandemic, the release of BBC and Hulu's romantic drama series, Normal People, couldn't have been better timed.
Produced by Oscar and BAFTA award winning production company, Element Pictures (The Favourite, Room, The Lobster) the will-they-won't-they relationship between Irish teens, Marianne and Connell, was highly praised when first broadcast to US and UK audiences.
In fact, the BBC revealed that Normal People has beaten Killing Eve's record in terms of total viewer requests on iPlayer, already reaching 54 million requests.
Starzplay has now acquired the series, where it will be available to watch across Europe this summer.
Staying True to Fiction Adapted by Sally Rooney alongside writers Alice Birch and Mark O'Rowe, Normal People tracks the tender but complicated relationship of Marianne and Connell from the end of their school days in a small-town in the west of Ireland to their undergraduate years at Trinity College.
Staying true to Sally Rooney's book, body language, gestures and looks were all key parts of the storytelling. Ensuring viewers were always present with the actors, and almost observing them, directors Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald created an intimate, tight, interior world for the couple's turbulent romance to play out, with the camerawork sometimes being placed very close up.
The series was shot by DP Suzie Lavelle BSC and Kate McCullough, using the ARRI Alexa with Canon K35 Vintage Primes. Irish facility Outer Limits completed picture and sound post.
Gary Curran, colourist and company director at Outer Limits, enjoyed the effect the glass had on the final look. They flared quite a bit, and had a real softness to their highlights and contrast. I didn't actually have to do very much in the DI as there was just this beautiful filmic quality already.
He continues: Grading is an instinctive process for me, and I've been lucky to work with Lenny for more than 20 years, so there wasn't a formal or prescriptive brief. We wanted to keep things as natural as possible, and just embellish on the amazing work that Suzie and Kate did.
Catering to Locations Throughout the series, each location and point in time has its own world. This wasn't just in the grade, but in everything; from production design and costume, to cinematography and direction. Curran adds: When the characters are in school, we reflected the greys and blues of the uniform.
Then the story evolves to their university years at Trinity, where the colours get richer a warmer hue of reds, oranges and browns. The following sequences in Italy were bright and sharp, which made a stark contrast to when Marianne's character is in a dark place in Sweden.
Curran explains that many of the interior shots in Sweden were actually filmed in Dublin, so there was some shot matching to the exterior scenes, which were graded with low, bleak light, reflecting Marianne's state of mind. I used DaVinci Resolve's offset button to get a base grade as a first step, which is almost equivalent to the printer lights in the old way of doing things. You really find the sweet spot of what the DPs have captured, and after that it was about allowing the footage to sing.
A Timeless Classic Looking back we had a feeling that Normal People might be a show that lasts, reflects Curran. And I'm not surprised at its success, it was a very talented team. I made the decision early on to grade in the ACES colour space so that we had the option to go back to it in a couple of years and remaster the footage in HDR.
He adds, ACES is excellent for future proofing, but it does get a little difficult with bright lights, such as on a police car or with fairy lights. I used the colour space transform node in DaVinci Resolve, which was particularly handy in terms of managing the extreme brightness and colour in ACES. That was the only real technical challenge during post.
Normal People was the first time Outer Limits has handled all aspects of post production. We did the VFX, the offline edit in Media Composer, the sound mix in ProTools, as well as the online and final deliverables in Resolve. It was a big step in terms of being a one-stop shop for us, says Curran.
The series has become such a phenomenon, and as a smaller company, it's amazing to have something like this on your profile, on your resume.
When potential clients are coming and looking at our work, we can say not only do we do big projects - we did Normal People.
SubscribeFor more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to our newsletter here.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
Colourist Gary Curran talks to TVBEurope about his work on the hit BBC drama
