Work Done: Production, Editing, Visual Effects, Color Grading. Client: Brian Graden Media, YouTube Red Format: UHD/4k & DD5.1
Escape the Night Series 1 was a thirteen-episode series and comprised of over 300 minutes of editorial material from a six-camera multi cam shoot. We managed the capture of the 4K footage, supervised on set VFX, styled and created motion graphics, created hundreds of visual effects and color graded the look of the show.
Pre-production & Planning
Chariotdrive broke down the scripts for all ten episodes of Escape the Night into VFX lists and put a comprehensive budget together followed by a schedule for post-production and visual effects.
We worked closely with the Executive producers, showrunner, Director and Producers to provide creative planning and support for pre-visualization of complex VFX sequences and design and planning of motion graphics that were consistent throughout the series.
Post planning and project management were done using Ftrack, which allows a waterfall style gaant project management as well as agile task management and planning.
Preparation & Onset Ingest
Chariotdrive outlined media needs and oversaw media management and ingest on set. We provided VFX supervision, taking thousands of photos and numerous measurements.
Editors put key scenes and sequences together on set to make sure the production had exactly what it needed before it moved on to the next scene.
Escape the Night Editorial
Visual effects for the show were primarily done in After Effects. Some 3D elements were created in MAYA and some compositing was done in NUKE.
There were over 800 individual effects throughout the 10 episodes. Motion graphics were built in Photoshop and After Effects.
Effects include animated sequences, on-screen titles, rotoing fixes (crew members in shots, non-1930’s fixtures, etc), 2D composites, particles, 3D CGI, background replacements, smoke, fire, gunfire, blood hits and more.
Effects time for each episode ranged from 1-2 weeks so it was an insane schedule to get sometimes more than 150 effects shots completed with never more than 2 or 3 artists.
Visual Effects
Visual effects were primarily done in After Effects. Some 3D elements were created in MAYA and some compositing was done in NUKE.
There were over 800 individual effects throughout the 10 episodes. Motion graphics were built in Photoshop and After Effects.
Effects include animated sequences, on-screen titles, rotoing fixes (crew members in shots, non-1930’s fixtures, etc), 2D composites, particles, 3D CGI, background replacements, smoke, fire, gunfire, blood hits and more.
Effects time for each episode ranged from 1-2 weeks so it was an insane schedule to get sometimes more than 150 effects shots completed with never more than 2 or 3 artists.
Some of the effects can be seen in our reel below.
Color Correction & Grade
Color correction for Escape the Night was done partly in Resolve and partly in Premiere using the Lumetri engine and Colorista.
Grading and the look of the show were pushed to a slight pink overall (which host Joey Graceffa loved) and the levels brought way up to account for the majority viewership being on phones or mobile computers.
Each episode had a cinematic intro and these were graded more cinematically and stylistically which elevated the look of the show overall.
