Hidden amongst the group are the Traitors whose job it is to “murder” a player every night, without getting caught. The rest of the group, the Faithful, have the task of detecting the traitors and eliminating them from the game before they become the next victim in the killing spree. Those who survive to the end of the game have the chance to win a lifechanging cash prize, which the players raise by completing a series of challenges. But the twist being that if a Traitor is still among those who remain, they steal all the money for themselves.
The Traitors
In the return of the nail-biting psychological reality competition, Claudia Winkleman hosts as 22 strangers arrive in the Scottish Highlands to play the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust, in the hope of winning up to £120,000.
Release Date
3 January 2024
Services
Genres
Production Co.
Broadcaster
Capturing the Action
ENVY’s specialist onset workflow department, ENVY CAPTURE, were present and on-hand to assist with the record and media management alongside Studio Lambert’s production team for both the UK and US editions of The Traitors, which took place consecutively. The CAPTURE Team alongside ENVY’s Creatives discuss the part they played in delivering the second series of the smash-hit BBC show which had us all on the edge of our seats.
CAPTURE’s Solutions Architect Toby Weller explained that during the build up to shooting on location, “The show demanded extensive pre-departure preparation to guarantee we had all necessary equipment for both series. Additionally, the tight turnaround between the UK and US series emphasised the importance of finalising the UK version before transitioning to the US version of the series.”
The task of filming two series in quick succession was no mean feat so CAPTURE were enlisted by Studio Lambert to “help optimize the media workflows for this multi-camera project, aiming to create an efficient system for tracking all content and achieving a swift turnaround within hours of each shoot, facilitating a faster offline editing process.” says Head of Technical Operations, Ricky Martin.
Elliot Leigh, Location Supervisor added, “A whopping 200TB of footage poured in round the clock, emphasizing the crucial need for a streamlined workflow between the shooting location and ENVY to swiftly deliver the media for editing purposes.”
On the production there were up to 12 ISO’s recording from a selection of cameras throughout the castle and MIV rooms. In total there were approximately 50 cameras available to the production team to record from. Ricky adds, “Additionally for the benefit of the edit team, we, with the Director of Photography, detailed and drew out all shoots to give a visual aid to camera arrangements and positions.”
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Discussing the collaborative nature of the project, Ricky states “Our collaboration with both the camera and editorial teams was a close and strategic one.
Through the implementation of advanced adjustments, we achieved a continuous and effortless sharing of shoot metadata between these groups. This endeavour culminated in the development of a seamless protocol for the exchange of essential documentation and on-set notes, with CAPTURE taking on the crucial role of gatekeepers. Their responsibility was to guarantee that all media was meticulously accounted for and that accompanying editorial notes seamlessly accompanied it throughout the process.”
All the reality spaces were setup by the outside broadcaster to the series director’s requirements, whilst the challenges and games were overseen by another director and DOP. Each of these games required meticulous planning and CAPTURE were at the heart of these communications. Due to the nature of reality TV production, there was a chance that plans could have changed but together with the DOP, the CAPTURE team documented these plans and updated them as required. CAPTURE would then redraw and handover the final shoot setups to the edits.
Dominika Tomosvary, Location Supervisor explains “The show had a diverse range of shooting techniques across the series, utilising PSC cameras to capture the challenges and fixed-rig hothead cameras recording the reality aspect of the show. This allowed The Traitors to cover a lot more reality while also maintaining the style they had created from the previous series.
The primary challenge in the project was maintaining a balance between recording the reality streams and effectively managing and ingesting camera media, which were supplied at multiple drops.”
“The Traitors took advantage of the stunning Scottish scenery, ensuring that any footage captured looked exquisite”, says Leigh. Commenting on the onset experience, Dominika adds, “It was an exciting experience not only for its location at the castle but also for its challenges throughout the series which saw numerous twist and turns that has made the series so successful across the world.”
“The show captures the natural beauty of the Highlands and was a real love letter to Scotland, they wanted to elevate the show to the next level and leave the audience wanting to come back for more.”Sonny Sheridan, Senior Colourist
Post Production
Following the successful record of the series and the offline editing period that followed in ENVY’s facilities, the series was finished by our experienced team of Creatives to complete the full post production to final delivery. The team worked really closely to a brief given by Studio Lambert Executive Producers, Sarah Fay, Sam Rees Jones and Mike Cotton.
Sonny Sheridan, Senior Colourist
“The Executive Producers from Studio Lambert already had a clear vision of what the grade should look like. The look the team and I decided on was a very vibrant, bold look which allows the audience to warm to each of the contestants equally. The grade creates an enticing and safe environment but really it’s a false sense of security – in this game everyone is at risk.
We wanted to build a world to transport the audience. I started out by grading the shots from the main camera footage shot on the Sony FX9 and once I had that look established, all the other camera types like the fixed hotheads, the drones and Go Pro’s would all fall within the style that was created. It was my job to match each type of camera as they each had their own textures, feel and latitude.
Everyone is watching the show in January when it’s cold and we want to bring that light and happiness into people’s living rooms.” Sonny suggests, “The set design really plays into this style as well by creating a cosy setting with the choice of colours, furniture, and objects.
This world creates juxtaposition where the game being played is dark and ruthless yet we as an audience can’t help but warm to the players and feel safe. For example, one of my favourite parts of the grade were the Roundtable meetings where all of the players are fighting for survival. I leaned on using contrast to add to the intensity and pressure of being in the room and apply a vignette to make the players feel isolated and trapped.
I think what makes The Traitors so addictive is creating an environment that allows people to escape reality and invest their time into this deceptive game. The show brings so many contrasting elements together into one and that’s why the show has been such a success.”
Ben Ormerod, Senior Dubbing Mixer
“It was a lot of fun working with the team from Studio Lambert on a fantastic series of The Traitors, we all really wanted the audio to shine to compliment the stunning visuals of Scotland and the castle.
A large part of my job on the series was focused largely around the dialogue. With over 20 concealed radio microphones, I needed to bring out the voices and smooth out any dialogue edits. To do this I used Pro Tools’ selection of effects such as Denoise to remove clothing rustle, in addition to iZotope to isolate each individual voice, removing any unwanted background conversations or noise.
The music was the real driver on The Traitors and plays a key part in setting the tone whether it’s a tense confrontation on the roundtable or a suspenseful challenge. It was my job to enhance all these elements to maximise the effect they have on the show.”
All episodes of The Traitors are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
The Traitors was originally conceived in the Netherlands by IDTV, an All3Media company, the format was further developed with the RTL Creative Unit and produced by IDTV.
Envy Credits
Ricky Martin
CAPTURE Head of Technical Operations
Toby Weller
CAPTURE Solutions Architect
Dominika Tomosvary
CAPTURE Location Supervisor
Rosie Hargreaves
Senior Producer
Luke Gagin
Producer
CAPTURE
CAPTURE is our specialist remote workflow division that solves all the trials of record and media management within your production.
About CAPTURE
Our services solve collaboration end-to-end by bringing our expertise in media management, our knowledge of editing and our cutting-edge record technologies out to your location – giving you the complete experience wherever you are filming.
CAPTURE Features
Fixed Rig Record
CAPTURE’s record and ingest solutions are designed to overcome the challenges of fixed rig productions – creating high-resolution and proxy versions of the incoming video feeds, straight into edit-ready media – removing long and arduous backup and ingest workflows out in the field.
Media Management
Our robust verification workflows will look after all your camera media needs – backing up all cards to multiple secure locations onset, then ingesting and preparing media to go back to the edit – once all verified, cards are cleared down and returned to your team, ready to go again.
Archive
We create a secure, reliable copy of all your media in a format that can be removed from location – giving you absolute peace of mind that all your content is protected. All the archived assets are handed over alongside interactive content logs allowing for quick retrieval of any media.
Logging
CAPTURE can offer a variety of logging options to suit every size production, from the small scale to the largest of rigs, from gallery based to a remote shoot with your camera team – we can make sure your loggers have the tools to add tags and descriptions to those important moments.
Grading / Colour
Adding a splash of colour to your project is the Grading team. Our team can design particular looks to match the visions of how you want your show to look.
We have six Baselight TWO colour grading suites all with the latest Dolby and Sony monitoring allowing our grading team to work at resolutions from HD up to 4K HDR. All suites are connected to a high-speed SAN and supported by a Baselight Assist, allowing imports/exports to happen in the background without interrupting the session.
Grading Team
Online
Once the Offline is completed, our experienced Online team will bring your project to life with their knowledge and skills.
Our online team operate across ten Avid Symphony suites and two Autodesk Flame systems all connected via high performance shared storage, working at resolutions from HD up to 4K HDR and beyond if required. They offer the latest plugins from both Boris and Sapphire, as well as the highest quality broadcast monitoring available. The team are highly experienced in large-scale multi-episodic productions as well as fast turnaround ‘day of transmission’ style projects.
Our Online Editors
Audio
Our Sound department are able to create thrilling soundscapes, record and edit voiceovers and mix the most complex of projects.
Our Broadcast division has nine sound studios, all with VO booths alongside two additional Audio Prep rooms. All our studios are 5.1 capable with three studios being Dolby Atmos 7.1.4. All suites run the latest ProTools 20.12 software with the latest plugins. As well as mix, we also offer ADR, Foley and remote voice over.
Our Audio Team
