BBC drama 'The Line of Beauty' post completed at St Anne's

Ascent Media facilities St Anne’s Post and Todd-AO have completed full picture post on 'The Line of Beauty', the new BBC drama based on Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, adapted by Andrew Davies.
Shot on Super 16mm and produced by Kate Lewis (Blackpool), the three hour-long episodes are directed by Saul Dibb (Bullet Boy) and star Gerald Fedden and newcomers Dan Stevens and Hayley Atwell. The film is set in the 1980s and tells the story of Nick Guest (Stevens), a middle class gay man who finds himself mixing in increasingly high political circles, coming into contact with ministers and even Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as the film unfolds.
The master grade was completed using Pogle Pixi by St Anne’s colourist Kevin Horsewood. A major element of the job was to create an authentic 80s look and feel, which was achieved with a combination of the grade and the costumes.
“I’ve worked with David Odd since the 1990s and more recently on The Virgin Queen for the BBC, so we tend to sit down and experiment with different looks to get the result we’re after. This time round we decided on a slightly saturated look to create the 80s look and feel he was after. David and the director Saul Dibb also wanted quite high contrast levels, so the whites were made nice and bright and the windows were burned out,” Horsewood explained. “There was also one scene that was meant to be set in the south of France but was actually filmed at a manor house in Surrey. In this the aim was to create a warm look to give the impression of a glaringly hot and sunny day.”
Todd-AO provided rushes processing, as well as on-line and off-line editing services. Editing and conform were carried out by Mike Williams and Tish Gourmelon using the facility’s linear suite.
The Line of Beauty is set to air on BBC Two from May 17.
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