August 25, 2015

Technicolor delivers Full Picture and Sound Post for Top Coppers

Full picture and sound post delivered for BBC 3’s brand new comedy.
A cast made up of award winning comedians (John Kearns and Steen Raskopoulos) sets Top Coppers up to be one of the comedic TV hits of the summer for the BBC3. Inspired by the American cop shows of the 70s and 80s, it follows the adventures of two police officers in the fictional world of Justice City as they attempt to eliminate the criminal underworld.
 
Directed by Céin McGillicuddy and co-written with Andy Kinnear, they describe Top Coppers as fast and funky: ‘Imagine Father Ted if it was a 70s cop show. Fun, a bit silly and never quite what you expect. If you like your comedy to keep you guessing, this will be for you’.
 
The series is based on Céin and Andy’s love for classic British and American cop shows of the 70s - Starsky & Hutch, The Professionals, Mission Impossible, ‘We started imagining this world of Justice City, a huge American-style metropolis made up of old-school crime capers and outrageous villains but with a quirky British twist. We wanted to make something adventurous and exciting that takes you off into a whole different world, but at the heart of it, is still very, very British - with warm, endearing characters that you grow to love.’
 
Richard Straker, Sound Mixer at Technicolor London, described Top Coppers as ‘Incredibly funny and a joy to work on, the only challenge as a mixer was to stifle tears of laughter so that I could actually see what I was doing on the mixing desk!’ His favorite episode to mix for is the last of the six part series: ‘A cyber attack, the introduction of computers to Justice City Police Dept. and a cop disguising himself as Robocop all make for some great opportunities in sound!’
 
Straker described the sound brief for the fictional setting of ‘Justice City’ to be modelled on New York, “FX editor, Kevin Brazier gave me American style horns and sirens for the exteriors and also some very authentic sounding office atmospheres for the interior police station scenes. With minimal ADR recorded, it was important for me to clean up the dialogue and make it as clear as possible so the sharp witted jokes are understood immediately to keep the fast paced flow of the show going. The music is completely integral and composer, Holley Gray did a stunning job, creating upwards of 50 cues per episode in a very compressed schedule. It was a privilege to be the final piece in what has been a long journey for writer and director Céin McGillicuddy to get Top Coppers from concept through to broadcast - I hope the TV audiences enjoy the series as much as I did!’
 
Technicolor delivered picture, VFX, Titles and Sound for the show which airs on BBC 3 starting on September 19th.