RTS Craft and Design Winners 2006
Craft and Design Awards 2006 were presented on Monday 20 November 2006 at the Savoy Hotel, Strand, London WC2. The evening was hosted by Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby.
Lighting, Photography and Camera - Lighting for Multicamera
Tom Kinane and Svend Pedersen Dancing On Ice ITV Productions - Factual for ITV1
“The winner’s original approach achieved what is probably a visual first for British television. A daring and stunning visualisation on a canvas of ice.”
Nominees
- Chris Rigby Later With Jools Holland BBC for BBC Two
- Al Gurdon Soapstar Superstar ITV Productions - Entertainment for ITV1
Lighting, Photography and Camera - Multicamera Work
Paul Kirrage Dancing on Ice ITV Productions - Factual for ITV1
“A slick and very adventurous camera script by the director combined with the high standard of camera operation throughout the series, produced a visual gloss that left the viewers feeling they were spectators, rather than television viewers.”
Nominees
BBC Outside Broadcasts Camera Team Manchester Passion BBC for BBC Three
Sylvie Boden, Christopher Davies, Tony Keene & Donna Wiffen The Bill (Live Episode talkbackTHAMES Television for ITV1
Lighting, Photography and Camera - Photography (Documentary/Factual & Non Drama Productions)
Photography Team Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole BBC for BBC One
“Genuinely groundbreaking aerial, time-lapse and superb high-speed photography, all of which set new benchmarks for the genre and gave a cinematic style to the winning programme.”
Nominees
- Sasha Snow and David Katznelson Arctic Crime & Punishment Diverse Production & Angel Film for More4
- Neil Harvey The Tank Man Antony Thomas Productions for More4
Lighting, Photography and Camera - Photography (Drama)
Lukas Strebel See No Evil: The Moors Murders ITV Productions for ITV1
“Natural, realistic and sensitive work. The winning photography magnificently captured the brooding, bleak atmosphere of Saddleworth moor and emphasised the ordinariness of the streets and houses in Manchester, giving both a period feel.”
Nominees
- Sean Van Hales Hotel Babylon (Series 1) Carnival Films for BBC One
- Kieran McGuigan Bleak House BBC Drama/WGBH Boston/Deep Indigo for BBC One
Sound - Drama
Alison Davis, Donna Wiffen, Sylvie Boden & John Osborne The Bill (Live Episode) talkbackTHAMES Television for ITV1
“An outstanding demonstration of sound craft achieved within a live framework. A tour de force.”
Nominees
- Adam Severs, Les Honess, Helen Dickson & Lynne Hegarty Ghostboat ITV Productions for ITV1
- Rudi Buckle and Hackenbacker Spooks Kudos Film and Television for BBC One
Sound - Entertainment & Non Drama Productions
BBC Outside Broadcasts Sound Team Manchester Passion BBC for BBC Three
“A technically impressive achievement creating an excellent well balanced sound track in the face of complex challenges within a live programme.”
Nominees
- Andrew Wilson, Graham Wild, Kate Hopkins and Tim Owens Planet Earth (programmes 1-5) BBC (Natural History Unit) for BBC
- Ben Baird, Gregor Lyon & Brian Howell Tsunami: 7 Hours on Boxing Day Diverse Bristol/FBC India PVT for BBC One
Tape & Film Editing - Documentary and Factual
Editing Team The Apprentice (Series 2) talkbackTHAMES Television for BBC Two
“Stylish, cut beautifully to music and incredibly confident, this series has established a unique editing style that has already been and will continue to be widely imitated.”
Nominees
- Kim Horton Born in the USSR: 21 Up ITV Productions - Factual for ITV1
- Marc Davies The Armstrongs BBC for BBC Two
Tape & Film Editing - Drama
Paul Knight Bleak House BBC Drama/WGBH Boston/Deep Indigo for BBC One
“Editing at its most skilful– delicately treading the line between being modern, bold and fresh but also demonstrating the important skill of just telling a great story. Simple, clever, witty, emotive and exciting.”
Nominees
- Bill Diver Soundproof BBC Drama in association with Blast! Films for BBC Two
- Tony Cranstoun & Emer Reynolds Funland BBC for BBC Three
Tape & Film Editing - Entertainment & Situation Comedy
Post Production and Editing Team I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (Series 5) ITV Productions for ITV1
“The winner displayed ingenuity and flair within a very limited time frame – from dramatic, explosive music sequences to a lighter touch that brought everyday footage alive and told the story so well.”
Nominees
- Lucien Clayton & Billy Sneddon Green Wing (Series 2) talkbackTHAMES Television for Channel 4
- Tim Thompsett Derren Brown - The Heist Objective Productions for Channel 4
Make Up Design - Drama
Daniel Phillips Bleak House BBC Drama/WGBH Boston/Deep Indigo for BBC One
“The winner grasped the opportunities presented by the period setting, showing great courage in the range of looks and styles created for a huge cast of vibrant characters.”
Nominees
- Marella Shearer Riot at the Rite BBC Drama/BBC Classical Music for BBC Two
- Sheelagh Wells and Neill Gorton Doctor Who (Series 2) BBC Wales for BBC One
Make Up Design - Entertainment & Non Drama Productions
Neill Gorton and Vanessa White The Catherine Tate Christmas Show Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Two
“The jury commented that multi-character sketch comedy often presents as big a challenge for the designer as it does for the performers. Tonight's winner has allowed the same actress to portray a teenage school girl, a grandmother and an ageing gay man together with a wide range of characters in between.”
Nominees
- Lisa Cavalli-Green Little Britain BBC Comedy for BBC
- Lisa Cavalli-Green Little Miss Jocelyn Brown Eyed Boy for BBC Three
Production Design - Entertainment & Non Drama Productions
Art and Trials Team I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (Series 5) ITV Productions for ITV1
“Clever, witty, inventive and quirky design allied to genuinely impressive feats of design and engineering enabled the winner to master what must have been a difficult brief.”
Nominees
- James Dillon The House of Tiny Tearaways (Series 2) BBC/Outline Productions for BBC
- Jonathan Paul Green Green Wing (Series 2) talkbackTHAMES Television for Channel 4
Production Design - Drama
Jon Henson ShakespeaRe-Told: Macbeth BBC Drama for BBC One
“The design created a totally credible world which drew the viewer into the film. And the detail was perfect - stylish, inventive and spare.”
Nominees
- Edward Thomas Doctor Who (Series 2) BBC Wales for BBC One
- Alan Spalding Space Race BBC, NDR (Germany) & Channel One (Russia) for BBC Two
Music - Original Score
Martin Phipps The Virgin Queen BBC Drama/Power Co-production/BDi Music for BBC One
“The jury agreed that this was one of the freshest scores this year. It was bold and dangerous – beautifully crafted and imaginative – and it complemented the drama superbly.”
Nominees
- John Lunn Bleak House BBC Drama/WGBH Boston/Deep Indigo & Bucks Music for BBC One
- David A. Hughes Funland BBC for BBC Three
Music - Original Title
Rob Lane Elizabeth I Company Pictures/Channel 4/HBO/Lietuvos Kinostudija & Bucks Music for Channel 4
“A lovely, tuneful theme with a perfect marriage of music and pictures which was both elegant and witty.”
Nominees
- Ben Bartlett Ghost Squad Company Pictures/BDi Music for Channel 4
- John Lunn Bleak House BBC Drama/WGBH Boston/Deep Indigo & Bucks Music for BBC One
Costume Design - Entertainment & Non Drama Productions
Venetia Ercolani Strictly Dance Fever (Series 2) BBC for BBC One
“…the winner had very successfully risen to the challenge of coming up week after week with glamorous and innovative costumes which were both tailored to the musical genre and stylised to the individual personalities of the performers.”
Nominees
- Claire Finlay Nighty Night (Series 2) Baby Cow for BBC Three
- Stephen Adnitt Dancing on Ice ITV Productions - Factual for ITV1
Costume Design - Drama
Andrea Galer Bleak House BBC Drama/WGBH Boston/Deep Indigo for BBC One
“Brilliantly achieved, the range of costumes created for the huge cast was notable for historical accuracy as well as the richness of the on-screen look. The winner was a vital part of a quite extraordinary design effort.”
Nominees
- Amy Roberts The Virgin Queen BBC Drama/Power Co-production for BBC One
- Louise Page Doctor Who (Series 2) BBC Wales for BBC One
Visual Effects - Digital Effects
Red Vision Titanic - Birth of A Legend ITV Productions - Factual for ITV1
“The winning programme was hugely impressive in its ambition. The integration of CGI and live action was flawlessly seamless. Impeccable detail and scale brought a cinematic look and standard to the small screen.”
Nominees
- The Mill Doctor Who (Series 2) BBC Wales for BBC One
- Charles Darby, Barrie Hemsley, James Madigan & Joe Pavlo Rome HBO/BBC/Happy Fortune Films/Fortuna Felix Films Srl/Moreton Films for BBC Two
Visual Effects - Picture Enhancement
Jet Omoshebi Pepper Post Production Life on Mars Kudos Film and Television for BBC One
“The jury was impressed by the subtlety and sensitivity of the approach. Careful not to overpower the narrative, the look not only integrated a hyper real quality but also transported the viewer back convincingly to the 1970’s.”
Nominees
- Dan Coles Pepper Post Production The Somme Darlow Smithson Productions for Channel 4
- Chris Beeton Pepper Post Production Sweeney Todd Box TV/Size 9 Productions for BBC One
Visual Effects - Special Effects
Neill Gorton and Rob Mayor Millennium FX Bodies (Series 2) Hat Trick Productions for BBC Three
“The special effects in the winning programme demanded absolute realism for the drama to work. The attention to detail was impeccable and thoroughly convincing. A prosthetic masterpiece.”
Nominees
- Ian Rowley Emmerdale (Kings Development Disaster) ITV Productions for ITV1
- Daniel Acon, Bill Budd & Franco Maria Salamon Rome HBO/BBC/Happy Fortune Films/Fortuna Felix Films Srl/Moreton Films for BBC Two
Graphic Design - Trails & Packaging
Dave Faulkner, Kenny Reynolds & Tim Smyllie Pin Protection BSkyB Creative Services for BSkyB
“The jury felt that this sequence managed to convey a message in an imaginative, simple, fluid way, using a combination of great sound effects and graphics, told with captivating humour.”
Nominees
- ISO E4 Music Identity ISO for E4
- Dylan Griffith, Aled Phillips, Owain Elidir & Paul Nicholas Music on S4C
- Departures/No Brake for S4C
Graphic Design - Programme Content Sequences
ISO Conan Doyle for the Defence ISO for BBC Scotland for BBC
“The winning graphics not only captured the mood of the time in an excellent, unique and striking way but also managed to bring the content to life.”
Nominees
- Rob Hifle, Paul Greer, Jon Doe & Burrell Durrant Hifle Design Team Are We Changing Planet Earth/Can We Save Planet Earth? BBC Specialist Factual - Science for BBC One
- Gideon Bradshaw & Rob Chiu Making Slough Happy BBC Learning & Interactive for BBC Two
Graphic Design - Titles
Christopher Wilcock, Andrew Paraskos and Richard Vowles International Cricket BSkyB Creative Services for BSkyB
“This winning title design engaged the audience by modernising a theme in a stylish, punchy and fresh way.”
Nominees
- Gareth Price Nationwide Mercury Prize 2005 BBC for BBC Four
- Shynola IT Crowd talkbackTHAMES Television for Channel 4
Design & Craft Innovation – Neill Gorton and Team
“This winning team have worked across many genres in our industry but in the past year have been particularly responsible for two quite different and highly successful shows.
In 2004, the producers of the comedy show Little Britain came to the prosthetics team with the challenge of coming up with a convincing Fat Make-up for Matt Lucas to play the part of Bubbles de Vere. This resulted in the hilarious fat suit that was such a success in series 2 of Little Britain. For 2005, the bar was raised even higher. Not only did the suit have to be taken off and put on again the next day, but, learning from the previous year's experience, it had to be ventilated so that Matt could wear it all day long without collapsing from heat exhaustion. Our winners designed a system of running iced water to cool Matt down which worked very successfully. But this was just the beginning. It was decided that Bubbles de Vere would be joined by a new character called Desiree to be played by David Walliams. She would be as fat as Bubbles, but twice as tall...and black. Many of you will have seen the results on screen and I am sure will agree that the challenge was more than adequately met.
In the same year a BBC drama was being shot in Cardiff which also required significant input and innovation from the prosthetics team. The fabulous creations designed and produced by our recipient are a major contribution to the successful return of Doctor Who to our screens. Our team, with their amazing imagination and consummate skill were the perfect choice to realise the weird and wonderful creatures encountered by The Doctor. Millions of children across the world owe their nightmares to our recipients - a fact which we suspect they relish!
Doctor Who is a relentless machine, as a show it eats people’s creativity - in the last three years we have pushed this team to their limits and they have never let us down. The Doctor Who producers tell us that they are delighted that this talented, hardworking genius of a team are being recognised tonight.”
Lifetime Achievement – George Fenton
“Tonight’s recipient initially came into this business as an actor getting an early break in Alan Bennett’s play Forty Years On. Finding that he was often asked to play an instrument by directors he eventually decided on a career switch to composition. Possibly a great loss to the one profession he was most certainly a great gain to his new field.
He wrote his first television score in 1976 for Peter Gill’s production of Hitting Town written by Stephen Poliakoff.
He is so prolific that it would take all night to list his extensive and prestigious credits, to say nothing of his awards. However among the other award-winning dramas which he has worked on are The Jewel in the Crown, The Monocled Mutineer, Shoestring and Fox. He also composed the theme tune for Bergerac for which he actually received his first major award in 1982.
As well as his drama credits he has composed the music for a number of notable wildlife television programmes including The Trials of Life, Life in the Freezer, The Blue Planet and most recently contributed the arresting score for both series of Planet Earth.
Last but not least, our recipient also composed theme music for many long running TV series such as, BBC News, Newsnight and The Money Programme.
He is a wonderfully versatile and creative musician, who instinctively senses the mood of a piece. His wonderful soaring music for The Blue Planet and Planet Earth perfectly complements the magnificent visuals but also has the ability to contract and expand to complement both the most intimate moments and the most sweeping of panoramas. Even with his vast body of work he never seems to run out of ideas and is still working actively today.”
Judges’ Award – Planet Earth Team
“A couple of years ago many believed that the wildlife documentary had lost its power to thrill and surprise. That was before the winner of tonight's team award came to our screens and gripped over 10 million people every week.
It was a true landmark, with events recorded that even experienced wildlife filmmakers thought impossible. Take for example the Snow Leopard, which before this series had only been recorded as a few brief and very distant glimpses in the wild. Now we saw intimate mother and cub greetings and a startling hunt.
The show represents the pinnacle of wildlife filming. It required months of research, searching, and above all, waiting in often the harshest of conditions to sometimes capture just a few magic moments. The film crews operated in intense cold, stifling heat and humidity, below the ocean and deep underground. Despite the conditions they achieved stunning High Definition sequences throughout. Added to this were state of the art aerial photography, remarkable moving time lapses and enhanced satellite imagery which gave us a very fresh view of our world.
So often even the best cameramen can only capture brief moments of rare animals or new behaviour. The editing of this show was of such a high calibre so as to make these difficult 'joins' seamless, always drawing us into events without distraction.
However, the craft skills on the programme were not limited to its outstanding imagery. The intricate soundtracks, painstakingly recorded in the wild and then creatively mixed in the studio enhanced the atmosphere and action throughout. Combined with the exquisite score of George Fenton, the programme demonstrated sound craft of the highest order.
…the RTS wishes to recognise the extraordinary craft skills of the whole team who worked on the programme, a series which many have lauded as the greatest achievement in wildlife programme making and one which has drawn us all closer to our natural world than ever before!'”