/Grace Beside Me

Grace Beside Me is a thirteen-part, children’s television drama adaptation of the award-winning novel by Sue McPherson.

Produced by Magpie Pictures, Grace Beside Me follows the adventures of an Indigenous pre-teen, in a charming coming-of-age story. It’s here we meet Fuzzy Mac, an ordinary teenager who just wants to have fun with her mates. But when her 13th birthday coincides with a new-found ability to communicate with spirits, she realises her journey is to belong in both the Indigenous realm of culture, country, and spirits and the world of a 21st-century teenager.

To deliver Grace Beside Me, Magpie Pictures was provided dailies support, on-location Avid stations, suite dry hire, remote operational set-up and technical support. Cutting Edge supplied VFX, sound, and picture-post, including the design of the opening titles and credits, and more than 80 VFX shots.

Given the spiritual nature and audience demographics of the programme, VFX shots were composited to elicit soft tones, while maintaining a menacing on-screen presence. Our VFX team created the dream-like spirit character, appearing as Fuzzy Mac’s antagonist, the ‘Black Mass’. In totality, VFX shots for Grace Beside Me incorporated general compositing, digital matte paintings, covering FX and clean-up shots.

Our sound engineers handled backgrounds and atmospheres to create the soundscape of the town of Laureldale, which was anchored in the sounds of Australiana. To complete the polished final mix, the soundscapes were coupled with ADR records, natural and supernatural sound effects, dialogue and music.

To craft the opening titles sequence, a rough edit was cut then layered with filters and brushes to digitally produce and animate a pencil-sketch look. Nuke composited frames mixing it back with the original live action. The sequence was complemented by additional animated elements including colourised leaves, feathers and particles from Maya and After Effects, to give the surreal world some extra playful colour and depth.

Tara Wardrop, Post Production Supervisor, at Magpie Pictures explained the level of technical expertise and creative solutions made the process smooth and hassle free.

“Cutting Edge was a pleasure to work with, always professional, and accommodating. The team met deadlines with a smile - even if they were very last minute”

Tara Wardrop / Post Production Supervisor / Magpie Pictures