Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends

“I wanted the grade to truly capture the beauty of the Greek island where the show is set, doing justice to its stunning locations. My goal was to reflect the island’s charm and enhance the visual appeal of the series.
To suit the vibrant and energetic tone of the show, the Optomen team envisioned a bright and lively grade. Given that much of the show is shot outdoors, I ensured the weather conditions felt consistent and summery throughout the series.

I developed two distinct looks for the key settings: the villa and the Bro Zone. For the villa, we aimed for a crisp, lush appearance, with a colour palette subtly inspired by the ‘Barbie’ film, incorporating pinks, blues, and whites. In contrast, we gave the Bro Zone a grimy, gritty feel, using browns, yellows, and oranges to create a darker, more rugged atmosphere. These colour schemes also extended to the interview locations, maintaining a cohesive look for the show.

With the large volume of shots to grade, I utilised Baselight’s Playback Filtering tool to streamline the process. By customising the filtering to sort and group shots more effectively, I could focus on perfecting each camera angle before applying the grade to similar shots—ensuring efficiency without sacrificing quality.

I also performed a little bit of compositing within Baselight for a few master interviews shot on green screen. Using the Colour Management tools allowed for a cleaner key and a final result that matched the original interview locations.”

“As this was the first series of ‘Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends’, I collaborated closely with the Executive Producers to shape the overall visual style and aesthetic of the show. Early discussions revolved around key design elements such as lower-third styles, colour schemes, and textures that would unify the series. For example, we tested various colour options for the lower-thirds to ensure they worked across diverse shots, including the two contrasting interview locations. Ultimately, we chose a baby pink with a subtle shadow, which provided a clean contrast against the background. This style was then carried through the entire series.

To enhance the sense of seclusion at the villa and its surrounding locations, I painted out any crew members and stray equipment from the shots—whether from drone footage or reflections in villa windows. Using a combination of Boris Mocha and Avid Symphony, I manually painted out unwanted elements in a single frame, while Mocha’s advanced tracking tools seamlessly followed the paint-outs across 3D camera movements, including scaling and rotation.

Additionally, I executed screen replacements by compositing videos onto blank TV screens and outdoor cinema screen set up. This process involved incorporating the natural reflections already present on the screen back into the final composite. In a more complex scenario, I used varying techniques using BCC Primatte Studio and SpectraMatte to achieve the client’s vision and on projected footage I added video FXs to make it more realistic. To achieve a realistic effect, I applied the ‘Damaged TV’ Sapphire plugin, introducing subtle noise and lines to the image, then layered reflections of light from the screen onto the contestants and surrounding objects. Some shots required additional masking when contestants sat in front of the screen.

With a wide range of tools at our disposal, it’s about creating a natural, polished final look that enhances the audience’s experience without drawing attention away from the onscreen action.”

“Mixing ‘Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends’ presented an exciting challenge due to the large number of microphones used, reflecting the high number of participants. Since the series is largely driven by dialogue, it was crucial to ensure clarity and balance throughout.

When I receive the project, the Tracklayer had already removed unnecessary tracks, allowing me to focus on specific sections featuring the on-screen cast members. I typically start by working on the interviews to camera. The room had a bit of an echo, but using the DX Revive plugin in Studio Mode, I was able to eliminate most of the reverb. Once these shots were treated and levelled, they served as an anchor for the other sound elements in the mix. DX Revive was also invaluable for locations with excessive background noise, such as bars and clubs, where it helped bring the dialogue to the forefront. Paired with Music Rebalance, which separates dialogue from music in the waveform, these tools allowed for clean and distinct sound.

Atmos tracks played a key role in filling the gaps between dialogue. Since much of the sound captured on location came from radio mics, I used various atmos tracks from sound libraries to recreate the environment where the contestants were living. For example, we used ocean wave sounds for the villa scenes, while the Bro Zone featured insect sounds to make the caravans feel far less inviting.

Music also plays a significant role in the show, which features a lot of commercial tracks. These were added during the offline editing stage, but I made sure the levels were properly timed for maximum impact, pushing them as much as possible within the limits.”