Sherwood Hu films video for the Shanghai 2010 World Expo

Sherwood Hu, director of Prince of the Himilayas (2006), was in Shanghai this past week filming a video for the Shanghai pavillion of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo. The video is meant to convey the Shanghai experience of the past century and the grand development of Shanghai in the current era. It is a very feel good piece, so do not expect any wartime scenes or period of cultural revolution struggle. 

The most interesting thing was the camera rig they used to film this. Since it is intended to be projected in around the walls of the pavilion, it was necessary to film 360 degrees. The camera team used 5 Canon Mark II SLR cameras rigged together (one up and 4 at 90 degrees to one another) 

The camera team and the impromptu Canon 360 degree rigThe crew was a combination of local talent and a photography department from USA that will be doing some of the work on Spiderman 4. The photo rig was their solution to film for a 360 degree projection on a severely low budget. The production was commissioned by Shanghai so it was done on a limited budget that would not allow a typical IMAX-style camera but they needed the same results. The resolution is only in HD from these cameras but the results are still admirable.

Christian Bachini (L), Richard Trombly and Alex Genneopoulos pose as 1930s stock traders Many of the local expatriate actors were called on to act in this piece to fill some of the grand old dance halls and galleries on the Bund. The mandate was to show the grandiose scale of Shanghai in the 1930s before WWII and Shanghai's current grand scale of modern development.

"It is great to be in the project and work with a director like Sherwood Hu," said Christian Bachini. He is a young actor from Italy who came to China specifically to work on martial arts films, learn from Chinese martial artists and is also  studying the Chinese language. He and Alex Genneopoulus have taken part in several short films as stuntmen, extras or actors and were cast in the upcoming film Chen Zhen.

The Shanghai 2010 Expo will run from  May 1 to October 31, 2010 in Shanghai, China.