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Three years of success for OnSight projects at the GSCA Awards
23rd October, 2023
OnSight have proved once more that they are the high bar for Giant Screen post production. After a clean sweep of the 2021 Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) awards for the BBC's Antarctica 3D, Terra Mater’s The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness won Best Film in 2022. Now comes further huge recognition from the GSCA for the BBC's Arctic: Our Frozen Planet as it becomes another multiple award winning giant screen film at the 2023 GSCA Awards.
At OnSight, part of our service is an expertise in delivering Giant Screen projects. This will often involve using our unique OPR (OnSight Picture Remastering) service. This covers full 6K picture post, 2D to 3D conversion, visual effects, shot extensions, bespoke giant screen deliverables and colour grading for both xenon and laser projection.
In 2021 BBC Earth’s Antarctica, picked up all six GSCA awards: Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Film for Lifelong Learning, Best Sound Design, Best Original Score and Best VFX. Directed by Fredi Devas (Planet Earth II & Frozen Planet), Antarctica captures the weird and wonderful creatures that thrive in abundance in the coldest and windiest place on our planet. Led by OnSight’s Senior Colourist Andy Lee, our creative team enjoyed working alongside BBC Studios Natural History Unit providing full picture post for this visually stunning documentary, using our unique OPR (OnSight Picture Remastering) service.
The 2022 awards recognised Terra Mater’s The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness for excellence in giant screen filmmaking, with the Best Film Award, another nod to the incredible work and passion that goes into the giant screen projects we are part of. The Arctic National Wildlife refuge, situated in the northeastern corner of Alaska, is the wildest place left in North America and represents a symbol of wilderness for the world. Filled with intimate moments with polar bears and musk oxen, wolves, grizzlies, golden eagles and more, The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness, written and directed by Myles Connolly and Florian Schulz, features the first-ever cinematic account of this little known land where people can experience a world untouched by time. Terra Mater Factual Studios produced, with Walter Köhler, Wolfgang Knöpfler and Connolly as Producers and Schulz as Field Producer. OnSight provided giant screen post production, with Andy Lee as Colourist, Adam Sample and Peter Amies as Online Editors and Alfie Mitchel as Digital Asset Coordinator.
This year, Arctic: Our Frozen Planet was awarded GSCA Best Film 2023, as well as Best Cinematography, Best Score, Sound Design and Lifelong Learning. A BBC Earth production and a SK Films release, Arctic: Our Frozen Planet is directed by Rachel Scott, produced by Mark Brownlow, Executive Produced by Jonathan Williams, with Giant Screen Consultant Phil Streather, and Joint Program Managers Jane Greenford and Kate Horvath (BBC). Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Arctic: Our Frozen Planet is an epic 3D adventure across the magical realm of snow and ice at the top of our planet. The film focuses on local communities dealing with the most immediate impacts of a warming Arctic, and the work being done with scientists to uncover how these changes will continue to affect the native environment, and ultimately all of us. OnSight once again provided full 6K Picture Post for this project, including , 2D to 3D conversion, visual effects, shot extensions for 1.43:1 and Dome projections, colour grading for both xenon and laser projection and deliverables. The project was completed with Senior Post Producer Joana Coelho, Senior Colourist Andy Lee, Senior Online Editor Adam Sample, Online Editor Dan Bourne, Edit Assistant Alfie Mitchell, and Digital Asset Coordinator Danielle Kidd.
It has been a pleasure to work with such brilliant giant screen filmmakers, and to be a part of these groundbreaking films. We pride ourselves on our years of experience in the giant screen field, and look forward to welcoming many more projects!
"Arctic: Our Frozen Planet is an epic 3D adventure across the magical realm of snow and ice at the top of our planet. The team at OnSight have helped to bring this incredible ecosystem to life in vivid colour and awe-inspiring 3D. OnSight have been a trusted technical and creative partner for BBC Earth over a number of giant screen projects, and continue to be the standard bearers for quality in this exacting and challenging medium." - Jonathan Williams, Executive Producer BBC Studios.
“In our industry of giant screen filmmaking, quality is the key to success. With laser projection and screens as big as 90’ x 120’, there’s nowhere to hide. Even the most minute issue is suddenly and glaringly apparent. For much of my nearly 30 years in this business, 70mm film was the gold standard for resolution and our ability to manipulate the cleanest image through the photo-chemical pipeline. But now, with OnSight and their OPR workflow, we have the ability to choose the very best digital tools and create images that not only rival but surpass the very best quality that’s come before. We now have more filmmaking option, more tools in our toolbox. This process has helped us succeed on projects like BBC Earth’s “Oceans: Our Blue Planet” and, more recently, “Antarctica 3D”. Audiences see the quality and come back wanting more. This industry isn’t for the faint of heart and I’m hugely grateful to Onsight for developing this groundbreaking workflow and helping our films look their best." - Myles Connolly, Producer for IMAX, Large Format documentaries, 3D and 4k digital production.
"It's been a long and happy journey with OnSight. From re-working PLF's IMAX classic Bugs! 3D for Sky 3D, to Meerkats 3D (again for Sky 3D); through Madam Butterfly 3D for RealD/Royal Opera House; and 3D specials for Wanda in China. At each stage the team at OnSight has evolved, as they continually strive for excellence. The recently minted OPR workflow is the zenith of this pursuit and is now, by far, the hands down gold standard for Giant Screen documentary post. Huge kudos to the tech team of Rik Tester, Andy Lee, Joana Coelho, Dan Bourne and Adam Sample. And of course to my other old friends Simon Craddock and Tony Maher. Long may the adventures continue." - Phil Streather, IMAX Producer and Consultant