Post-production uncovered: Evolutions on First Dates (E4)

The latest series of Twenty Twenty’s First Dates and Teen First Dates are currently airing on E4 in the UK.

Evolutions began work on the productions just weeks before the first lockdown.

When production restarted, Evolutions wanted to implement a fresh workflow that would enable as much collaboration and accessibility as possible in a time where we couldn’t come together as you traditionally would.

As a regional commission, the post-production process begins in Manchester where Evolutions records 11 streams of footage on location, with everything backed up at source and pre-ingested to Avid.

This enables Evolutions to be in control of specifics such as naming conventions and structure, and also enables a smoother transition into post-production.

Being on location with Twenty Twenty in Manchester at this stage also helps Evolutions build a good relationships with the team prior to the edit.

Selected footage has auto-transcript software applied at the point of ingest, with timecoded scripts returned the following morning. This is then uploaded to Evolutions’ data centre rather than being held onsite. By using the remote data centre, it provides remote access to all editors and executive producers wherever they are based.

They can then collaborate to complete the edit phase, all accessing the same media and being able to watch the edit live. Multiple episodes can also be worked on at once by everyone accessing the same centrally stored media. This also means the production team can check in to view the output of any edits at any time.

Simultaneously to this, the production team can book an on-site offline suite both in Evolutions’ Bristol and London facilities, as required, allowing everyone to come together and interact with the remote edits as if they were together in person.

The final stage of post-production is then split across Evolutions’ facilities, making it possible for the team to pick up any episode at either location. Having all the media stored in the data-centre also enables access to all media at this later stage, in case any final changes need to be made. Nothing needs to be copied or in multiple locations at once, and no duplicate copies need to be made.