Kudos took the post for Occupation to several houses including Shepherd’s Bush facility Clear Cut Pictures to obtain the high level of authenticity demanded for its Iraqi war drama.

The 16mm shoot used locations in Morocco and Belfast to trace the lives of three British soldiers from the invasion of Basra in March 2003 to the present. 

“The most important aspect of the sound design was to ensure that the dub and effects were as real as possible,” explains Danny Finn, Head of Audio, Clear Cut Pictures where the mix was made. “Obtrusive sounds were used deliberately throughout, even during some of the most intense, emotional scenes, to help portray what these men and woman were actually going through.”

Finn found the correct calibre of AK 47 and SA80 gun shell casing to achieve the authentic sound of them falling to the ground.

A series of visual effects shots compiled at Lola needed to be blend invisibly with the live action, to offer a convincing sense of place and scale.

Lola’s 2D team created digital matte paintings of the Basra airbase complex at Basra; designing architecture, control towers, signals, signs and street furniture typical to the military set up - and then composited these elements to build up establishing wide shots of the airbase. 

“Military aircraft in flight were tracked into shots and composited into the sky for a number of combat scenes,” explains VFX producer Michelle Martin. “Combined with CG mortar fire tracers, bullet impact shots and explosions the visual effects work to create the sense of a real war zone.”

Rushes were processed by Soho Film Labs and transferred to Clear Cut for offline by Victoria Bodell on Avid. The 3x60’ piece was graded by Vince Narduzzo and delivered on Digibeta to BBC One.