Last week, we were delighted to welcome T-Level students and their teacher from Acland Burghley School to Maple Place.
The session was run in conjunction with Access NFTS, a national outreach programme designed to find and support a new, diverse generation of talent—a mission we at Dirty Looks are very passionate about.
The Art of the Client
The session kicked off with Tom Balkwill, who introduced the students to the inner workings of the company. Rather than just focusing on the “what,” Tom delved into the “how.” He walked the group through the lifecycle of a project: from the initial client contact to the delicate art of managing expectations. His key takeaway? Post-production is as much about communication and reassurance as it is about technical skill.
The Magic of Colour and Sound
The technical deep-dive began with Claire Winter, who broke down the role of the colourist. Using her recent work on Timestalker as a case study, Claire demonstrated the precision of Baselight software and gave an insightful look at how a colourist tones frames up or down to fit a specific creative brief.
We were also joined by Ben Baird from long-time collaborators, Aquarium Studios, who gave the students a fascinating insight of the audio post-production world. Seeing (and hearing) how sound layers into the visual narrative provided a complete picture of the post-production process.
The Impact
The feedback from the students reminded us why these sessions are so vital. One student reflected:
“The Baselight theatre was impressive, and everyone was so nice… getting to watch how colour grading and sound on a film was done and the amazing difference that it makes was incredible. The trip has inspired me to explore colour grading in my own time—it’s something I really wasn’t aware had such a significant effect.“
It was a pleasure to host such an engaged group of young, upcoming creatives. We’re already looking forward to our next session with Access NFTS!
