Prime Focus has completed full post production on Raw TV's 'Liquid Bomb Plot', the incredible true story of the surveillance operation that stopped a mass terror attack and saved thousands of lives. The 90-minute documentary premiers in the UK by today, 18th April at 9pm on National Geographic Channel.
Back in August 2006, a UK terror cell was planning to launch a series of suicide bombs which would have resulted in the world's largest and deadliest attack since 9/11. The plot involved exploding devices disguised as soft drinks on transatlantic flights. If it had succeeded, it would have killed 2,000 people in a single night. The failed plan has changed the nature of UK air travel to this very day - with restrictions still in place on the amount of liquid passengers can carry. Featuring dramatic reconstructions and interviews with the men who worked to stop the slaughter, this is the tale of Britain's biggest surveillance operation. Travelling between the upper ranks of Washington, the dusty streets of Pakistan and the inner cities of Britain, the fast-paced documentary brings together the work of the UK police, MI5, the CIA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Pakistani officials and others in their efforts to stop the bombers.
Discussing the post work done, director Ben Chanan said, "We were very well looked after by Nicola, Alex and the team at Prime Focus. The post-production crew worked above and beyond the call of duty to make the finished product look and sound so special and I am very happy with the feel of the show. Phitz and his team did a great job creating the natural-yet-dynamic soundtrack which befitted the doc-style drama so well. Rich's grade was so distinctive and expressive it truly developed the whole feel of the piece from that of faux-doc to cinematic faux-doc - a grade as significant to the success of the show as the music, the locations and any other department - a great achievement."
Working closely with Ben, Colourist Rich Fearon provided a filmic grade, moving away from the clean digital look of the rushes. "The Baselight has a new 'Add Grain' plug in that I used to give the picture more texture and life, a bit like 16mm. Along with this I used the 'Cross Process' plug in to help achieve a more photographic/filmic grade." said Rich.
"We also did quite a lot of work with the interviews; Ben didn't want them to feel too generic and had found some brilliant locations in London and Washington so it was up to me to use the grade to enhance these even more. The production team had unique access to serving members of Counter-Terrorism Command so we needed to conceal their identities and set the mood of each interview without going over the top."
Phitz Hearne and Rada Danilvoic in the Prime Focus Audio department created a soundtrack to add to the feeling of surveillance and the use of hidden cameras in the programme. "We had two tasks; we had to make it seem real, but also create a good sonic soundtrack that was pleasing to the viewer" said Phitz. "There were scenes where they had put little hidden cameras in a flat so a lot of the time I was degrading the signal by slowing the bit-rate, to give a lower quality recording to match the pictures. We then tracklayed stuff on top to try and match that feeling of a surveillance camera, but would then flip back to a very full soundscape in an operational control room environment."
Alex Pickering completed the online in DS Nitris and Nicola Whitehead was Post Producer.