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EastEnders gets HD kit

Though no date for switch yet (March 2010)

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NG
noggin Founding member
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/technology/bbc-moves-closer-to-hd-eastenders/5011846.article

The Elstree facilities used to make EastEnders are being upgraded with Sony HSC-300 HD triax cameras, and XDCam HD 422 PDW700 optical disc-based location cameras. Both of these types of camera can run in SD mode - so this doesn't mean that once they start being used EastEnders will be shot in HD - but it is a sign that it will happen at some point I guess.

(They also have to upgrade the post-production systems and the studio control rooms - though EastEnders use quite basic 'gallery' facilities so this bit might not be too complex - though the post stuff might be. I wonder if they'll be using Ingex or similar for studio recordings. Ingex was the BBC R&D developed Linux video recording box that was designed to provide cost-effective recording in a format that suited NLEs)
PE
Pete Founding member
Didn't they say they'd have to rebuild the entire backlot to go up to HD due to it being a far cheaper construction than the likes of Corrie's.

IIRC they were also suggesting leaving Elstree and moving to Pinewood when they did so. Any updates on these bits and bobs?
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
Hymagumba posted:
Didn't they say they'd have to rebuild the entire backlot to go up to HD due to it being a far cheaper construction than the likes of Corrie's.

IIRC they were also suggesting leaving Elstree and moving to Pinewood when they did so. Any updates on these bits and bobs?


I believe Pinewood is still going to happen, but not any time soon, an ETA would suggest somewhere around 2014. Apparently the local council rejected planning permission to expand the studios.

Regarding EastEnders in HD, the entire set would have to be reconstructed for HD viewing otherwise it would look incredibly naff and (interior sets) suddenly looking fake (though it's not exactly difficult to work this out in SD but still...)

An article in The Independent last year compared the situation to the Board Room in The Apprentice:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/highdefinition-television-forces-bbc-to-fix-its-sets-1757472.html posted:
Cath Pater-Lanucki, who worked on the notorious boardroom set - originally designed by Colin Pigott - where candidates on The Apprentice suffer the wrath of Alan Sugar, said the BBC had told her it would like to film the series after next [the 2011 series] in high definition, which was a "really scary" prospect.

"Those Perspex sheets that we use to make the glass walls are about eight years old now and they are quite scuffed and scratched. Any dust, fingerprints or smears on them are definitely going to show.

"If we go to HD, I think we'd have to replace all the Perspex on the set and we would literally have to have a props man on set the whole time polishing surfaces."

The set used about 60 Perspex sheets which cost £300 each, she said. Replacing them would cost the BBC £18,000. She estimated that the cost of shooting The Apprentice in HD could come to as much as £40,000 – equivalent to 287 licence fees.
NG
noggin Founding member
AIUI the Pinewood thing was shelved for a number of reasons - not least that the bottom fell out of the property market and the potential income generated from selling Elstree dropped so much that it stopped making sense to sell the site and sign up a lease for a new location. I guess if they have signed a new 5 year deal with S&PP then that means they're likely to stay put until 2015ish (assuming the new deal starts this year?)

I suspect the moment to move to Pinewood may have passed. If they're rebuilding the backlot at Elstree for HD, one of the benefits of moving to Pinewood at the same time as moving to HD will no longer exist?

I guess they're biting the bullet and upgrading the backlot whilst shooting around the works schedule?
NG
noggin Founding member
Neil Jones posted:

An article in The Independent last year compared the situation to the Board Room in The Apprentice:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/highdefinition-television-forces-bbc-to-fix-its-sets-1757472.html posted:
Cath Pater-Lanucki, who worked on the notorious boardroom set - originally designed by Colin Pigott - where candidates on The Apprentice suffer the wrath of Alan Sugar, said the BBC had told her it would like to film the series after next [the 2011 series] in high definition, which was a "really scary" prospect.

"Those Perspex sheets that we use to make the glass walls are about eight years old now and they are quite scuffed and scratched. Any dust, fingerprints or smears on them are definitely going to show.

"If we go to HD, I think we'd have to replace all the Perspex on the set and we would literally have to have a props man on set the whole time polishing surfaces."

The set used about 60 Perspex sheets which cost £300 each, she said. Replacing them would cost the BBC £18,000. She estimated that the cost of shooting The Apprentice in HD could come to as much as £40,000 – equivalent to 287 licence fees.


Hmm - but equally if the set is 8 years old the chances are it is beginning to be a bit tricky to keep it looking good in SD...

The other thing that people forget when you move to HD is that you can often play with depth of field a bit more - which can mean that some bits of set are permanently slightly out of focus, and don't show imperfections as much as you might first fear.

Designers often hate HD because a lot of their "tricks" no longer work...

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