Goal

Ismo Leikola is the most internationally known and successful Finnish stand-up comedian. At last, his success story has been turned into a film. Ismo: Breaking Bad English tells the story of Ismo’s life and career, from childhood to the big stages of Hollywood. The film was produced by ICS Nordic and distributed by SF Studios, directed by Ilkka Hynninen and Saku Pollari. Karu had the honor of being part of the film’s creation, from production to post-production.

Execution

For the Ismo documentary, Karu’s responsibility during filming was to shoot, record sound, and light the interviews made in Finland. We had the chance to meet, among others, Angelika Leikola, Teemu Vesterinen, and Ismo’s mother Ritva Leikola.

In post-production, we handled the film’s material management. All the footage for the Ismo film was secured on Karu’s drives. We carried out extensive digitization of Ismo’s childhood home videos and gig recordings, and compiled them with all newly filmed material. At the final stage of post-production, we managed the film’s online editing, assembling all versions from DCP reels to DVD editions and digital copies.

Karu’s tasks also included color grading and designing and animating the graphics. The challenge in color grading was the wide variety of source materials—ranging from VHS tapes to footage shot with the Arri Amira. The goal was to bring a sense of unity and cinematic feel to the documentary’s look.

The graphics for the Ismo film were kept simple but playfully animated. Each title graphic was given rhythm and movement to match the subject, in collaboration with the sound designer. Additionally, map sequences inspired by old Hollywood films were designed and animated especially for the documentary.