HBO drama, based on Philip Pullman novels, takes home two awards; ‘Chernobyl’ awarded in seven categories at the July 17 British Academy Television Craft Awards ceremony.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners of their British Academy Television Craft Awards, celebrating the very best behind-the-scenes television talent of 2019. The July 17 ceremony, which was broadcast online, was hosted by Stephen Mangan, with guest presenters Romesh Ranganathan, Rachel Parris, Jessica Knappett and Richard Ayoade, the host of the upcoming Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards on July 31.
His Dark Materials, the drama based on the series of novels by Philip Pullman, received two awards: Special, Visual & Graphic Effects and Titles & Graphic Identity.
Framestore, winner for Special, Visual & Graphic Effects, served as key creative collaborator and sole VFX studio on the eight-episode show, bringing Bad Wolf’s ambitious adaption of the Philip Pullman classic to life. Key to the show’s story are a rich, nuanced, convincing CG cast of photoreal creatures, from the dæmons that accompany every single member of the show’s cast to the huge, imposing, armour-clad panserbjørne - the formidable polar bears that play such a significant role in the first season’s story. Beyond its signature character work, Framestore was also pivotal in crafting the world the characters inhabit, from the show’s waterways and alternate Oxford to the frozen, hostile environments of Bolvangar and the the Svalbard mountains.
Russell Dodgson, Series VFX Supervisor, commented on the win, “We wanted to make sure the characters we created and the world we built around them did justice to Philip Pullman’s original work - every detail had to be perfect, and it’s beyond heartening for our artists to have their hard work and craftsmanship recognized by the industry like this. We’re currently deep in post for the show’s second season, and this is a tremendous boost for every single one of us.”
Framestore’s previous BAFTA wins include Walking with Dinosaurs (1999), The Golden Compass (2008), Gravity (2014), SSGB (2018) and Blade Runner 2049 (2018), as well as numerous Academy Award and Emmy wins.
Creative studios Elastic and Painting Practice took home the Titles & Graphic Identity award for the series’ main titles.
Chernobyl, the drama mini-series based on the nuclear disaster in 1986, was successful in seven categories: Costume Design, Director: Fiction, Editing: Fiction, Original Music, Photography & Lighting: Fiction, Production Design and Sound: Fiction.
BAFTA continues to shine a spotlight on the very best emerging talent in the industry with the Breakthrough Talent category, won this year by Aisling Bea for her writing debut This Way Up.
The award for Entertainment Craft Team was presented to David Bishop, Vicky Gill, Andy Taypley and Patrick Doherty for Strictly Come Dancing.
The new Scripted Casting award was presented to Des Hamilton for Top Boy, the crime drama series.
First-time winners included: Janet Fraser Crook, Director: Multi-Camera for Glastonbury 2019; Michael Harte, Editing: Factual for Don’t F--k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer; Arthur Cary, Director: Factual for The Last Survivors; Loz Schiavo, Make Up & Hair Design for Peaky Blinders; and Jamie Demetriou, Writer: Comedy for Stath Lets Flats.
Jesse Armstrong, creator of the satirical American comedy-drama series Succession, won the award for Writer: Drama.
The award for Sound: Factual was won by the Sound Team for Battle of the Brass Bands. The award for Photography Factual was awarded to Seven Worlds, One Planet.
Nicky Sargent and Vikki Dunn, joint founding directors of The Farm Group, were honored with the BAFTA Special Award, one of BAFTA’s highest honors. The pair received the award in recognition of their exceptional careers and dedication to the field of post-production.
The Awards are supported by Mad Dog 2020 Casting, the Official TV Craft Partner, and by Category Sponsors 3 Mills Studios, Hotcam, Jackshoot, MAC Cosmetics, Microsoft, Sara Putt Associates, Screenskills High-end Television Skills Fund, Shure, Spotlight and The Farm.
Click here for a complete breakdown of all the winners and nominees.
Source: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts
