'Epic theatre makes epic cinema and television' - Undertow

Undertow is going to air on Māori Television

Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua. People disappear, but the land remains.

In January 2017, Te Rākau Theatre Company presented The Undertow, written by Helen Pearse-Otene (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine-Kahungungu). The Theatre Marae project, had been six years in the making, the multi-layered narratives and ideas for each play developed individually. Undertow is the four plays recreated for cinema and television. The stories follow the 180 year journey of six generations of one family and bring to life pivotal moments in Aotearoa's colonial history.

POW Studios provided the Whakarite Ataata Rongo / Sound Editorial Services.

“Te Rākau have made a spectacle that’s vital and unlike anything being made in Wellington, and perhaps in New Zealand, today. It’s audacious, often beautiful and a welcome antidote to the state-of-the-nation plays that too often avoid wrangling with the colonial pollution of New Zealand's history. It’s an uncompromising communication of the poison that runs deep in our land, a powerful challenge to remember a history that never stopped living, and a stirring invitation for us to come together, to connect, and to start healing.”
Pantograph Punch | Adam Goodall
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Part One: The Ragged premieres this Thursday at 9.30pm on Maori Television. Don’t miss it!

Kaituhi / Playwright - Helen Pearse-Otene

Kaitohu / Director - Jim Moriarty

TV Concept / Co-Producer / D.O.P - Waka Attewell nzcs

Kaihautū / Producer - Te Rākau & Aneta Pond

POW Studios Credits: 

Supervising Sound Editors - Matthew Lambourn & John McKay, Re-Recording Mixer - Matthew Lambourn

Sound Editors - Callum Scott, George Palmer, Yong-Le Chong, Sound Editorial Support - Marie Silberstein & Georgina Conroy

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Creating Your Final Picture - Colour Grading for the Big and Small Screen

The language and communication in colour grading … there is no one way to talk about colour.

Nakhia (POW Sound Editorial Apprentice) and Yi (POW Sound Editorial Intern) went to a WIFT workshop yesterday at Park Road.

The workshop covered important topics surrounding colour grading and the post-production process; designing the look and tone for a film or television series, how to schedule out time for each project and what needs to be covered within the timeframe available, who is in control (Director or Director of Photography), common terminology. The workshop then delved into the new technology of EDR and HDR for streaming and theatrical screens with some of the Park Road team before opening the floor to questions.

"The workshop really helped me understand the high level of technical skill and important creative voice colourists provide to the filmmaking process". Nakhia

The workshop was in conversation with:

Clare Burlinson - Colourist - Daffodils, Savage, Yellow is Forbidden

David Stubbs - Director - Daffodils, Catching the Black Widow

Tammy Williams - Cinematographer & Photographer - The Deadly Ponies Gang, Give Kate a Voice: Suffrage 125