The Look ends ‘Fleabag’ series in HDR with SAM’s Quantel

The new Amazon series, halfway between drama and comedy, will have a 4K version with high dynamic range (HDR) using Quantel Rio and Rio Assist from SAM.

The London studio The Look has completed the new Amazon series, Fleabag, in 4K with high dynamic range (HDR) using Quantel Rio and Rio Assist from SAM.

SAM's solution for online editing, grading and finishing has allowed us to achieve a look halfway between drama and comedy in this new six-episode Amazon series.

Thomas Urbye, senior colorist at The Look, highlights that “Fleabag It was our first HDR project and I must admit that I was initially skeptical about viewer appreciation of HDR. But when you have content such as explosions, water falls, metallic reflections or outdoor night scenes in cities, and you see them come to life… HDR in combination with 4K undoubtedly gives the viewer a sensation of a sharper image.”

At its London facility, with three grading and finishing suites, The Look supports a range of workflows designed around SAM's Quantel Rio workstations. Earlier this year, The Look purchased its first Rio Assist software to support ingest and export. The company also tripled its storage capacity to handle productions for Netflix and Amazon Prime in 16-bit 4K.

Urbye emphasizes that we “carry out forming, grading, online and deliverables with our Rio systems. Our initial approach with Fleabag “was to carry out color grading in SDR, subsequently switching our Rio to HDR mode (REC2020/PQ) and thanks to the excellent transfer curves, we reached the perfect starting point to begin our HDR color grading.”

Said Bacho, director of business development and marketing at SAM, acknowledges that "there is no better option on the market than Quantel Rio for post-production companies as busy as The Look, who have to deal with large projects with very tight deadlines. Rio handles any format, even 8K, with the highest quality, reliability and playback that our clients expect. An integrated system toolset also means that projects can be finished in a grading room through deliverables, eliminating the need of changing rooms and systems for the different elements of a project.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Uv6cb9YRs