Art Matters

“It’s time the arts stopped being thought of as the cherry on the cake. We are the cake!” So argued Lord Bragg in his address to the House of Lords earlier this year. His speech was the catalyst for this Sky Arts special, a passionate manifesto calling for an ‘industrial revolution of the arts’, placing them at the heart of British life. This feature-length documentary sees Melvyn and special guests from across the artistic community exploring the power of the arts to enrich our lives, strengthen our communities and our democracy, supercharge the economy and shape the future. Melvyn also reflects on his own life experiences and transformative artistic encounters and makes the case for why the next generation deserves greater opportunities for self-expression and social mobility as he opens the debate on our cultural life. 

Michael Town – Post Producer

It was clear from the outset when Sky Arts and Oxford Films approached us that this was a passion project for Melvyn and the whole team, and it was vital to them that the Post team working on it shared that same level of commitment and enthusiasm. We were asked to book in full post production, to include nine weeks of Offline plus Grade, Audio Mix and Online. 

Throughout the process Oxford Films were a dream client to work with. They were collaborative and open from the get-go, making it very easy for us to handpick who would be best suited to deliver the show that they had in mind. For the Offline we wanted to choose someone who had a knack for storytelling and could work closely with the Director for what was scheduled to be an involved and busy edit as well as being familiar with Sky Arts projects. Melissa Holton was the standout candidate. Similarly, when choosing Monica Ramirez for the Mix, I wanted someone who understood the feel of the channel and who could take into consideration both the creative vision from Oxford Films as well as the needs of the broadcaster. In Online, Jen Ford was the perfect choice with her meticulous eye for detail to make sure the utmost care was taken to deliver the show. And with all the high-profile success that he’s had with documentary work over the last few years, who better to bring a touch of colour to the world of the Arts than our RTS-nominated Colourist, Mark Mulcaster. 

The schedule was constantly evolving as locking down dates for the all-important interviews brought challenges to the production team. In response, we made sure that the ingest process was as smooth as possible so that as soon as there was new material to work with, it was immediately available to the Editor and Director so that no time was ever wasted. Kudos to our Workflow team for making all of this happen. 

Melvyn was particularly delighted with the outcome and expressed his praise for the work done by Melissa Holton in the offline and to the rest of the team. The documentary premiered on July 17^th, 2024 at the Tate Modern and both assistant commissioner Leanne Cosby, and Director of Sky Arts and Entertainment Phil Edgar Jones, expressed their appreciation as well. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better result and hope to be able to work with the team at Oxford Films again. 

Mark Mulcaster – Colourist 

Lord Bragg has spent the last six decades championing the Arts on TV with the Southbank Show. This documentary highlights the decline in funding for the Arts and how Melvyn feels that it needs a modern “Industrial Revolution” given the importance of the industry to the British economy and how it is downplayed in both the news and by politicians.  

I spoke to Melissa Holton and John O’Rourke during the Offline about what they wanted for the look of the film. The initial brief was to “do what you can” for the more challenging shots and to embrace the different environments in each part. I very much had free reign; however, I didn’t want to take away from the message that Melvyn was at pains to get across. With the film posing some tough questions about the lack of funding for the Arts in its broadest sense, it was important to not unduly bias the viewer by adding too much subtext from the Grade. The look shouldn’t distract or cheapen the story and should support the images. 

Some of the scenes that were shot in Melvyn’s front room were challenging. There was little in the way of lighting and we didn’t want the grade to look too dark, so we spent some time trying to lift the darkest parts of the scene and to manage the bright light from the windows. It was a fine line between too much lifting and introducing lots of noise. One particular interview with Melvyn in his front room had him completely backlit by the window and this plunged the room into darkness. I had to use a combination of highlight keys and a keyframed shape around Melvyn to be able to separate him from the background and to add some light and depth into the set-up. 

During the interview with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, the camera on Melvyn was over exposed and incorrectly colour balanced. I was able to rescue the shot so that there wasn’t a need for a reshoot. The clipped and burnt-out highlights weren’t recoverable even in S-log, so I tried to make them somewhat more pleasing and less distracting. The Lemn Sissay interview was also challenging as it was shot outside on a park bench and the lighting and sunlight varied from cut to cut which made it difficult to keep consistent. I believe I was able to smooth out the jumps in the weather without it being too jarring to the viewer. The final part with Antony Gormley had a mixture of footage that was shot on a different camera for a different project that was reused and when John viewed it, he mentioned that he wished I had graded the original project which felt like high praise indeed. 

Jennifer Ford – Online Editor 

I was asked to seamlessly deliver this 90-minute documentary in HD for Sky Arts. I'd spoken to Melissa about the project throughout the Offline, so I was fully aware of what the Online would entail. Similarly, I also received a great handover from Mark in the Grade, who again was on hand to answer any additional questions. Guiding it all was Mike Town who kept an eagle-eye on the project from start to finish. I'd spoken to him about how best we deal with the archive so by the start of the Online all the material had been ingested for me exactly as I had asked and it was all very organised. John O’Rourke was excellent to work with as he knew what he wanted and was able to communicate really well so that I could make any changes he asked for quickly and easily. 

Archive replacement took up a large proportion of the Online. Working alongside an Archive Producer in the suite really helped to ensure that nothing was missing and that everything received was the final version and the highest quality available. Making all the archive look tidy, removing blanking and making sure all 4x3 material had the same uniform pillarbox blanking was very time consuming. Much of the footage was old with film hairs and other artefacts but John was happy to leave these as it was all part of the look of the piece. Instead, I focused on fixing any repeated or skipped frames and fixing some digital dropout using the Avid Paint/Clone tool. I improved some of the work that was done quickly in the Offline putting images into televisions. Melissa had done a really nice job, so I just added a slight texture to some of them and a Sapphire lens flare to one or two just to make them seem a little less clean.  

By the end of the project I found myself angry at the under-investment in the Arts and also quite emotional about the effect that art has on individuals. The passion from the contributors, their personal journeys and the devotion to the arts of Melvyn Bragg really comes across in the programme.  

Melissa Holton - Editor 

I was so pleased to be asked to edit Art Matters because it’s a subject that’s particularly close to my heart. I love going to galleries and exhibitions whenever I have time away from work and having recently edited Dickens in Italy for Sky Arts, I was really keen to get involved in another longform arts-based project to further hone my skills.  

I was also thrilled to be working with John O’Rourke. He's incredibly creative and easy to work with so, despite the volume of material, it all went really smoothly. Ahead of the Edit we met and discussed our mutual love of documentaries, and he even gave me some homework, which was a great way to get an inkling of where we might be headed in a creative sense. The programmes that he suggested, ranging from Simon Schama’s History of Now to David Dimbleby’s Days That Shook The BBC, were brilliant and inspiring. Also, to be working with veteran broadcaster Melvyn Bragg and to be using archive material across the span of his career was a real treat. As Tracy Emin says in the film, Melvyn is someone that we've watched on television our whole lives and it was such an honour to work with, and meet, a broadcasting legend. I have to admit, I was a little bit starstruck! 

In terms of the Edit, I had to view and collate a large amount of archive footage. It took about three days to go through everything, including ten shows spanning Melvyn’s career at the BBC and ITV, as well as some black and white BBC documentaries about post-war life in the north of England which we used to illustrate his childhood. I received about half at the start and then the rest throughout the Edit as we worked out what extra material we might need having built the interviews. We only had about 30% of the rushes at the start so things became busier and busier as time went on, with John going out on shoots to secure the remaining interviews, leaving me to construct the overarching narrative. 

Preparation really was the key along with taking the time to watch through all the programmes and material. Ultimately, Melvyn and his wife really liked it which was so pleasing. And John O’Rourke mentioned how impressed he’d been with Sky Post, especially how quickly Edit Operations ingested and synced up the rushes (thanks to Becky Johnson). He was also impressed with our music department, especially Matty Turner who managed to clear pretty much every track that John asked for. Oxford films involved me all the way from the development meetings through to Final Post which meant I really felt a part of the team. John O’Rourke, especially, was a joy to work with. I hope we get to work together again. 

Monica Ramirez – Re-recording Mixer 

I am always excited to Mix content for Sky Arts. I knew Lord Bragg was conducting the interviews and that the objective was to showcase the importance of the Arts in our society and why they should continue to have a place in the education system. I’m very familiar with the interview structure but this time it felt different. We were not discussing an art movement or a period in history; we were focusing on its relevance. It's a very philosophical exercise. I love the Arts; I can't imagine life without them, and I believe they are an important part of the conversation, especially in this world increasingly shaped by technology. I have had the privilege to mix a great deal of content for Sky Arts, and this project — if I may take the liberty of loosely paraphrasing Lord Bragg — has been the cherry on a wonderful cake. 

My main focus was creating a pleasurable and seamless experience for the viewer. This is a heavily dialogue-based show. Throughout the six parts of the documentary, we witness Melvyn Bragg having insightful conversations with different artists, writers, and thinkers, while also sharing personal anecdotes that showcase the importance of the Arts in his life. The disparity of locations presented a challenge; any sudden changes in background or location can distract the viewer from the content, and I wanted to avoid that distraction. I aimed for a gentle and engaging experience.

There were several interviews with interesting audio and I got involved in the project early on while it was still in Edit. Melissa and I spent some time together going through the project, pre-selecting what audio was more likely to be used and organising it as much as we could before it came to me. Melissa made sure I had extra elements with the dialogue edit which helped immensely in adhering to the delivery deadline. Jen was the Online Editor, and we worked together to replace the audio supplied later in Post. The communication and collaboration with the entire team was excellent and John O’Rourke was especially brilliant. Working with him was an absolute pleasure; he is deeply passionate about the Arts and we shared many interesting conversations. I'm very pleased. It's a meaningful and inspiring show and I'm very happy with the results.