AlphaDogs Post Production Battles It Out In New Series For ESPNU

Online, November 17, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Burbank based AlphaDogs Post Production is pleased to announce it has completed work on the new ESPNU series The Battle. Presented by AT & T the series will air five 30-minute shows during four straight weeks, every Thursday from November 4 to November 25, on ESPNU at 6:30pm EST.

Producer Eric Page faced extreme challenges to meet the deadlines for the show. AlphaDogs was chosen as the post facility based on their experience in providing creative and technical solutions in the fast paced world of television. Page comments; "The team at AlphaDogs is an affable bunch with top rate talent. General Manager, Paul De Cham runs a tight ship while creating an environment that makes you feel confident your production is being handled with care". Page continues; "We are extremely pleased with the final product and would certainly be up for a second season under their roof. I would definitely take future projects to AlphaDogs. Terence Curren has a talented group and it was a great comfort to know this project was under their care".

The tight turnaround of less than two weeks per one half hour episode necessitated a streamlined workflow. Since the client had already started editing in Final Cut Pro, the team at Alpha Dogs created a workflow with four Final Cut Pro systems on shared storage working at ProRes HQ so the locked episodes would be ready to send to Color. One of the challenges the post team faced was the wide array of mixed formats and frame rates. The majority of the footage was shot on the RED camera at 23.98-frame rate. In addition, a 7D and 5D were used at varying frame rates including 30P. The final master had to be delivered in 720P 60.

Projects can become corrupt quickly and cause delays if these types of situations are not handled efficiently. Finishing Editor Sean Stack used various proprietary techniques to convert the various footage to a common frame rate. High quality motion compensated techniques were also applied to remove the jitteriness and stuttering that can be caused with such conversions and in turn rejected by the network. Final color correction was achieved in Apple's Color with veteran colorist Brian Hutchings at the helm. "The great thing about RED footage is the latitude available in post to pull out stunning images," notes Hutchings.

Re-recording mixer Marcus Pardo utilized a Pro Tools HD2 system, with a plethora of plug-ins. In particular, the Waves Renaissance EQ's and L2 limiters were used to deliver crisp dialog and a thumping soundtrack that was very important to the subject matter. Also, the Cedar DNS One is a crucial tool in his audio arsenal. With the DNS One, he was able to minimize background noise in real-time, without introducing digital artifacts. "With Pro Tools, Waves and the Cedar DNS One on my side, I can deliver exactly what clients envisioned, sonically"

The Battle is an inside look at the HBCU (Historically Black College and University) marching band world. Created by Music producer, fashion designer and filmmaker Dallas Austin who was also the executive producer and music director of the movie Drumline, the series picks up where the film left off. Band Director Donovan Wells conducts no holds barred military style methods in preparing the bands' for competition. Bands of over 300 plus are required to learn over twenty songs with dance routines, military style formations and chants in between. The bands' hard work will culminate at the 31st annual Florida Classic that pits the two Sunshine State rivals in an end-of-the-year showdown at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando Saturday, Nov. 20, at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

For additional information please contact Julie Leibovitz 818.456.4149,[email protected] or visit the AlphaDogs website.

About Alpha Dogs: Alpha Dogs is a full service post production company. Operating in the heart of Burbank's media district, Alpha Dogs offers state of the art editing bays, color correction, audio mixing, visual effects, production offices and equipment rentals.