Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Blair Wallace Grades Award-Winning Chimp Empire for James Reed and Netflix

30/07/2024

The traditional approach to filming chimpanzees in the rainforest is to use a relatively large camera and a very long lens, but Oscar-winning director James Reed (My Octopus Teacher) wanted to try something different.

Reed and director of photography Ben Sadd wanted to make a truly character-driven series and so needed to be able to track the chimps continuously and to immerse the viewer in the details of their lives.

They also wanted a cinematic look mastered in High Dynamic Range and turned to Blair Wallace, Head of Grading at Evolutions, the respected Bristol, UK post facility. The Evolutions Bristol team provided all picture finishing for the series, winning Wallace the HPA Award for Outstanding Color Grading - Documentary.

It was an exciting project and a pleasure working again with James who is a special storyteller, says Wallace, who has worked with Reed on projects including Jago: A Life Underwater. There's scope for creativity in the grade when I work with James, but there's also so much work the Bristol Evolutions team provide, under the hood', before we explore the films visual potential further.

Shot over 18 months in the forests of Ngogo, Uganda, Chimp Empire is a KEO Films and Underdog Films production which follows the fortunes of the largest group of chimpanzees ever discovered. The four-part series, narrated by Academy Award Winner Mahershala Ali, explores the chimp's complex society and how their ambition and that of neighboring rivals threaten to destabilise their empire.

The Ngogo forest can be dark at times, the light spilling through the tree canopy can be dappled, bright and difficult to control both whist shooting and then in post, Wallace describes. The subjects' themselves will not wait for any sort of set up or to be lit! And when they move, they move very fast.

That means Wallace's first job in post was to access and unite' the footage. He was involved in early camera tests and with the help of the Finishing and Mastering Team that supports the grading suites at Evos Bristol chose a selection of processes including noise reduction and texture refining tools. A principal job on every Natural History project is to consider the texture differences between cameras.

It's common to have a dozen different formats to blend together, says Wallace whose other credits include Queens (Disney+/NatGeo), the recent Emmy Winning Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory (Wildstar Films/Disney+/NatGeo) and Earth from Space (BBC Studios NHU).

Wildlife docs can be shot on everything from a GoPro to an 8K RED Digital Cinema camera. We almost have to switch our color perspective off with some of the shots to smooth the links between formats.

After the first technical pass I'll grade exposure, contrast, white balance and color to further match the rushes and provide an even playing field to then manipulate further in the direction of the story and look.

For Chimp Empire Wallace created a series of show LUTs by blending the look generators and style grades in Baselight and tested them over the rushes before fine tuning the look.

Because there was a risk of the forest environment becoming samey' throughout the series James wanted me to avoid a generic look. We achieved this by injecting some other color palettes into the grade to reflect the mood of the scenes and the narrative of the story.

In Natural History filmmaking quality over content is often a discussion during the finishing of process. We'll even consider shot changes in the color suite such as bringing out material that the director didn't think they could use at all from a technical point of view, Wallace says. We can do so much nowadays in the grading suite to bring problematic material to life. James is intimate with every second of his rushes and is able to revisit footage he though unusable or suggest alternate shots which might work from a different visual perspective.

The cast' of chimps were carefully selected during filming and it was vital that the viewer saw who was in frame however fleetingly during important moments of the story.

Often the light coming from above meant special attention was taken to create post fill light for the chimp's faces, Wallace says. We needed to see their eyes, understand their personalities and how they are communicating.

He used defocus, multiple tracked shapes for faces and relighting techniques to draw the audience's eye to the part of the frame intended by Reed.

The colorist was also contacted on several occasions by Sadd whilst on location in Uganda to discuss scenarios playing out in front of him.

Ben discussed ideas as how best to capture in current' conditions and what would suit further manipulation once in post.

Wallace says his long history of working on reality shows, drama documentary and factual entertainment like Top Gear prepared him for working with diverse camera formats and styles of shooting common to Natural History projects.

The biggest change over the last few years has been the gradual adoption of HDR mastering.

That's a move closer to opening a window and seeing the world closer to how we see it as far as light and contrast are concerned, he says. All our high-end projects are mastered, first, in HDR.

RAW footage is favorable in that regard, he says. The bigger the CCD and file format the better we can expect the translation of clean wide color and dynamic range images. However, it's not always possible in production and we know that camera teams can't always send large files from the field so, as a post house, we are realistic and aware of the differences in received rushes from the shoots.

The series was mastered in UHD HDR Dolby Vision with an ACES color pipeline working with IDT and meta adjustments to native where appropriate
LINK: https://hpaonline.com/blair-wallace-grades-award-winning-chimp-empire-...
See more stories from hpa

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

11/04/2026

Federal Judge Extends Nexstar/Tegna TRO, Softens Some Provisions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/04/2026

Sling TV Launches $19.99 a Month Sling Essentials with ESPN

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/04/2026

NAB Show Launches Content Creator VIP Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/04/2026

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for April Open Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/04/2026

GARR and Cubbit launch the first geo-distributed storage...

Pilot phase begins for a new national infrastructure designed to safeguard academic and research data with full local data control, sovereignty, resilience, and...

11/04/2026

How to Stream Coachella 2026 at Home

How to Stream Coachella 2026 at Home Check this years stacked schedule for the annual music festivals full lineup, including when Berklee artists from Laufey ...

11/04/2026

Time Travel

Time Travel As Berklee on the Road programs in Puerto Rico and Italy mark decades-long anniversaries, we journey into the past and step into the future. Apri...

11/04/2026

April 10, 2026

Improving vaccine design for Ebola, HIV and more Scripps Research scientists and colleagues develop a nanodisc platform that offers a clearer view of how key vi...

10/04/2026

The Invisible OPEX Killer: Is Your Server Room Dragging You Down?

The Invisible OPEX Killer: Is Your Server Room Dragging You Down? In the broadcast world, we talk a lot about uptime. We talk about talent retention, latency...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: Imagine Communications to Showcase Expanded Multiviewer Portfolio

Imagine Communications will showcase its multiviewer portfolio at NAB Show 2026 (April 19-22, Booth N1328, Las Vegas Convention Center), including Prismon and t...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: Chyron Releases PRIME VSAR 2.3 with Updated Unreal Engine Integration

Chyron has released PRIME VSAR 2.3, an update to its virtual set and augmented reality solution for broadcast. The release adds compatibility with Unreal Engine...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: Techex to Showcase New tx darwin Capabilities

Techex will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2267, April 19-23, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating new tx darwin features including consumer multiview,...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: NDI to Showcase Ecosystem and NDI 6.3

NDI will exhibit at NAB Show 2026, demonstrating its IP video ecosystem through live partner integrations, NDI 6.3 features, AI metadata workflows, and creator ...

10/04/2026

FOR-A Acquires Tamura Corporations Information Equipment Business

FOR-A has announced the acquisition of all shares of Tamu Radiance Corporation, a new company spun off from the Information Equipment Business of Tamura Corpora...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: InSync Technology to Unveil New Video Processing and Frame Rate Conversion Products

InSync Technology will showcase new and updated video conversion products at NAB...

10/04/2026

TNT Sports and DAZN Announce Monthly Boxing Event Series in the United States

TNT Sports and DAZN have announced a partnership to air monthly boxing events in the United States under the brand The Fight. The series will be promoted in p...

10/04/2026

Panasonic Introduces SQ3 Series 4K LCD Displays for Professional Environments

Panasonic Projector and Display has announced the SQ3 Series of 4K LCD displays as part of its MEVIX professional display portfolio. All sizes will be available...

10/04/2026

Amagi Adds Agentic Capabilities to Its Media Operations Platform

Amagi has announced the addition of Agentic Media Operations to its Amagi NOW platform, integrating AI reasoning agents across its media supply chain workflows ...

10/04/2026

LTN Announces Network Enhancements Ahead of C-Band Spectrum Auction

LTN has announced enhancements to its global IP video network targeting broadcasters transitioning from satellite distribution. The updates come ahead of US fed...

10/04/2026

Daktronics Installs New LED Displays at Yankee Stadium

Daktronics has installed new LED displays at Yankee Stadium, upgrading the main centerfield board, two flanking boards, and two ribbon displays spanning the 200...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: Harmonic Announces AI and Cloud Updates to Hybrid Streaming Solution

Harmonic has announced updates to its hybrid streaming solution, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectivity for AI applications, cloud-native deploymen...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: MultiDyne to Debut FiberSaver-10G and VF-9100

MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will introduce two new fiber transport products at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C4425, April 19-22): the FiberSaver-10G waveleng...

10/04/2026

NAB 2026: Telos Alliance and ip-studio to Demonstrate STUDIO ZERO

Telos Alliance and ip-studio will demonstrate STUDIO ZERO, a cloud-hosted virtual studio, at NAB Show 2026. First introduced at NAB Show 2023, STUDIO ZERO integ...

10/04/2026

Pixotope and d&b Solutions Announce Strategic Partnership for XR and Virtual Studio Production

d&b solutions, a London-based audio-visual, lighting, and media integration grou...

10/04/2026

ARRI and SmallHD Announce Lens Data Monitor Overlay License for Hi-5 and Hi-5 SX

ARRI and SmallHD have announced a new expansion license for ARRI's Hi-5 and Hi-5 SX hand units that displays lens data overlays on supported SmallHD monitor...

10/04/2026

Roku to Stream Exclusive Savannah Bananas Game Package on Roku Sports Channel

Roku and the Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL) have announced an exclusive streaming partnership to bring five BBCL games to the Roku Sports Channel in 202...

10/04/2026

Ratings Roundup: More Than 18 Million Fans Tune Into 2026 NCAA Mens March Madness on TNT and CBS Sports

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

10/04/2026

No Other Land, Mr. Nobody Against Putin,and More Sundance Institute-Supported Films Nominated for Peabody Awards

The Peabody Awards don't just recognize great storytelling, they spotlight t...

10/04/2026

Fans Crown Winners at the First Spotify Podcast Awards in France

After launching the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico last year, we brought the fan-voted celebration to Paris this week for its first edition in France. Hosted ...

10/04/2026

Yamaha launch the DXR/DXS & CXR/CXS Mk3

Powered and unpowered live PA ranges upgraded Yamaha have just refreshed four of their hugely popular PA speaker ranges, delivering significant improvements...

10/04/2026

UJAM open Gorilla Engine to third-party developers

Underlying plug-in & VI technology now available to others UJAM's latest announcement sees the company open up' Gorilla Engine, the development pla...

10/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insight: Bitcentral

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/04/2026

Bitcentral To Feature Connected Media Workflows At 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/04/2026

Bitcentral to Showcase Connected Media Workflows and Inte...

Bitcentral, a leading provider of professional media solutions for broadcast and digital video, will showcase its latest innovations at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W28...

10/04/2026

Ikegami to Introduce Expanded Range of Broadcast Production Solutions at NAB 2026

Ikegami to Introduce Expanded Range of Broadcast Production Solutions at NAB 202...

10/04/2026

AJA Debuts SMPTE ST 2110 and openGear Solutions Ahead of NAB 2026

AJA Debuts SMPTE ST 2110 and openGear Solutions Ahead of NAB 2026 Brie Clayton April 10, 2026 0 Comments New gear and updates address evolving hybrid ...

10/04/2026

Portland Fire+ Streaming Platform Launches

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/04/2026

Tod Musgrave Joins Proton as U.S. Sales & Marketing Director

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/04/2026

Proton Expands Minicam Portfolio With Proton Pro At 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/04/2026

FCC To Vote on Changes to Audible Crawl Rule

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/04/2026

Frequency Launches AI Platform for Streaming Television a...

Frequency, the engine behind the worlds leading streaming television channels, today launched its AI platform for Frequency Studio, powering the entire channel ...

10/04/2026

UKTV Highlights: Saturday April 25th - Friday May 1st 2026

What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week? This week on UKTV and the free streaming service U, viewers can watch a range of new and returning programm...

10/04/2026

Jnger Audio Joins EBU ADM Integration Group as Founding Member to Help Advance ADM/S-ADM Integration

J nger Audio Joins EBU ADM Integration Group as Founding Member to Help Advance...

10/04/2026

Multi-BAFTA-winning Chernobyl makes its free-to-air debut, marking 40 years since the disaster

Five-part Sky Original drama airs nightly on Sky Mix and Sky Atlantic from 20 Ap...