A Shanghai express to HD - High Def Watch - production of Flatland, an action-adventure series; article looks at setting up production facilities in China

Post, July, 2002 by Ruth Ratny

SHANGHAI, CHINA - Chicago editor Bob Schneiger was working on one of his own projects when he got a phone call from TV show creator/producer Steve Feke, who is based in Napa Valley, CA. "I've got this project in China," Feke told Schneiger, "how about working with me on it?" He didn't have to ask twice.

Six months later, Schneiger (schneiger@earthlink.net) added to his already illustrious 20-year editing/production career by building from scratch a remarkable $700,000 high definition editing facility - the first one in China.

Despite knowing only the most rudimentary Mandarin, which improved through daily use, Schneiger as producer/post production supervisor found space, installed equipment and assembled an international staff of 20. Of the 16 Chinese staffers, 12 had never set foot in an editing room. The challenges that arose would have sent a less resolute guy packing.

The on-site suite was built to accommodate the schedule of Flatland, a fantastical 22-episode action-adventure series created by Feke (Profiler and Beastmaster). Schneiger called it 'basically about good and evil, or the archangel Michael vs. Satan in Shanghai in the year 2010." Dennis Hopper stars as the immortal good guy Smith, who is pitted against several incarnations of the evil Kahan. All 22 episodes are expected to be edited, onlined and mixed this month.

Produced for international distribution, Flatland was shot with Sony 900 cameras in 2.5p and edited in PAL, at 25 fps. It was a seven-day production schedule: five days for shooting and seven days for post. One crew shot action scenes while another crew captured dialogue-drama. With a large polyglot assemblage of American, Australian, Canadian, English and Chinese actors, production crews and post staff, production meetings were held in English and Mandarin.

The Ruddy/Morgan Organization of LA produced and American and Chinese interests put up the $14 million-plus budget At around $650,000 an episode, it's a bargain by anyone's standards. (Albert S. Ruddy is the famed producer of The Godfather, Morgan heads a Hong Kong company that produced early Bruce Lee movies.)

WHERE TO BEGIN?

Schneiger's first order of business was to make the 16-hour flight to Shanghai to finalize editing procedures with the executive producers. Building their own HD facility would be a daunting prospect, but really the most practical and least expensive.

Schneiger knew it would take about 10 weeks to get the post facility up and running. Schneiger set out to "find and create the space, bring equipment in and make it work, train people and create the workflow and systems of a normal post house," he says. "It was an intense experience for everyone. The Chinese and Western staff had to adapt to each other's work habits. And the Westerners experienced the frustrations - and joys - of living in a foreign culture."

The complicated production was to start in July 2001 and his department was supposed to be be up-and-running in tandem. But unforeseen problems such as the waiting five weeks for 46 boxes of equipment to clear customs effectively halted their schedule.

The 20-person editing/graphics staff came together over a period of six weeks. Among them included two online editors from Australia and one from Shanghai, as well as four assistants - one from Beijing, and the others from Shanghai.

He commended them for being willing to take a chance, since many left their stable, benefits-rich jobs with the government for the short-lived but exciting experience Flatland offered.

Structural buildout of the facility took about a week and Schneiger serendipitiously found three vacant apartments in a building next door to the show's production office. The actual "putting all the pieces together technically" took six weeks and technicians were brought in from London to install, load and fix what didn't work.

When the gear finally cleared customs and was installed, the facility was powered by three offline Avids, an Avid softimage/DS HD for online graphics/composition and an Avid UnityThere was also two Sony HD decks and monitors. Production cameras and monitors came from Plus-8 in LA. Schneiger commissioned a local Chinese supplier to build six "white box" graphics computers loaded with Pinnacle Commotion software. They were dedicated for simple graphics and to remove wire rigging in the many stunt scenes. A Gig-Ethernet high-speed network to transfer frames tied the graphics computers together with the Avid/DS. Small things added up, such as mixers, racks and monitors, which were purchased locally.

By then it was August and his department started playing catch-up. He says, "That meant longer hours and an inevitable delay in finishing." But a schedule had evolved, the pace quickened and Schneiger's staff was functioning side-by-side with production.

Back home in Chicago since December 2001, Schneiger has been developing two TV shows, one for the Chinese market using the wealth of experience he gained in Shanghai. "As much energy as it took to build the facility," he says, "I think the process enlarged me professionally and personally."