A Fresh Helping of Porridge is Served Up at dock10
August 2016
August 2016
The BBC Picks dock10 as the Perfect Place to put 360 Video Through its Paces
Jim Cannon is an executive producer at the BBC. He is constantly looking to push technical boundaries, searching for the next big thing in programme entertainment formats. Jim wanted to test how entertainment formats could work in an online 360° world, and came up with an outline concept for a horror show using 360° camera technologies. The idea was to spook the contestant with tales of supernatural phenomena and then see how they would react when placed in a darkened environment with a few jump scares thrown in too!
Jim understood exactly what he wanted the program to achieve but wasn’t sure how to deliver it technically. Having seen the 360⁰ content used to promote the BBC’s 2016 series of ‘The Voice UK’ he approached Will Saunders, Creative Director at BBC Studios who recommended dock10 as the industry experts currently pioneering 360VR broadcast experiences.
After meetings with Richard Wormwell, dock10’s Head of 360 Production, and a site visit to the studios, Jim and his director, Ben Wilson, felt that dock10 was the perfect fit. The team had the level of understanding and expertise required to realise their vision, and they felt confident that with dock10 as partners they would be able to deliver a quality 360⁰ production utilizing many of the different services available including studios, post-production, 360VR and VFX.
"dock 10 has made 360⁰ filming respectable," says Ben Wilson. "Rich and his team were able to make shooting in 360⁰ feel like a proper studio record. Gone were the days of no monitors and video playback. The bespoke 360⁰ rig worked perfectly within the traditional studio environment. I had live feeds from all the cameras which was vital when trying to perfectly cue sound and lighting changes and the production crews on the studio floor. Working from the gallery, as I would for a traditional TV production, saved hours in post and meant that we always got the take we were after. dock10 also handled all the post-production and VFX work; it was vital to have editors, audio engineers and VFX artists who are fully experienced in 360⁰ production."
The project culminated in four short form episodes being commissioned, produced and broadcast across the BBC’s social media channels including BBC Taster, BBC Three’s Facebook page and the YouTube Channel.
