Whose fan fiction about a new opening is quoted above? No way GH does a new opening until all the financial cuts and casting turmoil is settled.

Their opening would be seizure-inducing in HD, as if it already isn't.

More on the hi-def thing.

ABC has spent $3 million upgrading GH's Los Angeles studio and control room to HD, which included renting a temporary control room setup from January to March to keep the show in production while its permanent home was retrofitted.

Besides going to higher resolution, the GH set also has a new look, part of a storyline that has the hospital reopening after an explosion. ABC was able to repurpose set components from the primetime spinoff GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT, which ran for two seasons on Disney-ABC cable network SOAPnet. The new set, which has 14 different pieces, “will allow the realism of General Hospital to grow bigger than it's ever been,” says Brian Frons, president of daytime for the Disney-ABC Television Group.

Doing an HD upgrade on a show that's in production 48 to 50 weeks a year takes some logistical juggling, according to Dom Nuzzi, senior VP of production for ABC Daytime. Fortunately, there was an empty control room next to GH's Stage 4 in ABC's Prospect Studios facility. During the show's two-week hiatus at the year-end holidays, Nuzzi and his technical team installed a temporary control room from rental firm Sweetwater Digital while they broke down the old one. The fill-in control room was then used from Jan. 4 through March 13.

ABC had already purchased high-definition Ikegami HDK-725 cameras (six and a backup) for GH. Key new gear added since January includes Fujinon HD lenses, a 48-input Grass Valley Kayak production switcher, and an upgraded Avid Unity ISIS server system with Nitris editors that uses Avid's DNxHD 145-megabit-per-second compression rate. The system is capable of storing 20-30 episodes for post-production and on-air promo applications.

The new control room takes a scaled-down approach to monitoring; instead of a giant virtual monitor wall, it uses five 65-inch Panasonic professional plasma monitors fed by an Evertz MVP multi-image display processor system.

When production on GH went dark the week of March 16, the crew was able to install the new set pieces and switch out the lighting for the 20,000-square-foot-studio, which operates at much lower light levels for HD. Camera operators and technical directors received training for working in the 16:9 aspect ratio, and makeup artists and actors got to experiment with the more subtle makeup best suited for HD.

“We wanted to make sure that the actors were comfortable,” Nuzzi says. “But we're settling into a good routine.”

Counting post-production time, it takes three to four days to produce each episode of GH, and the show is usually shooting three to four weeks ahead of air. So, full high-definition production using the new set actually began March 30 to produce the HD shows that will be seen starting April 23.

Frons was impressed by the first HD test shoots. “Because the cameras operate in less light, you get much more of a filmic, primetime look,” he says.

ABC doesn't have any concrete plans to convert its other two soaps, ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE, to HD. But Frons is hopeful that all of ABC's daytime shows will be in HD in the next year or two.

“In this economic environment, it's about two things,” he says. “One: how much life the equipment in the studio has left. Two, can you get the capital expense [for new equipment] approved? The second one is a little different now than it's historically been, but we hope to coax it along.”

Frons really likes this crappy show...

lower lighting?

orly?

Frons really likes this crappy show...

$3 Mil is a significant investment in this era. GH is not going away in the near future.

$3 Mil is a significant investment in this era. GH is not going away in the near future.

this mass panic and hysteria that all soaps are getting the axe in the next two years needs to stop.

aside from ATWT i dont see any soap going anywhere sooner rather than later.

you are correct, GH isnt going anywhere anytime soon.

this mass panic and hysteria that all soaps are getting the axe in the next two years needs to stop.

aside from ATWT i dont see any soap going anywhere sooner rather than later.

you are correct, GH isnt going anywhere anytime soon.

If they "save" GL (which suddenly I'm getting an iota of faith in), I agree.

Because that means the model has changed, and suddenly the HH ratings and the 18-49 Demo on broadcast networks is irrelevant...because these shows are positioning for a viable post-network life.

I have to say, my heart DREAMS that GL--specifically GL--can be the one to make the transition from network/commercial TV, since it led the charge off radio so long ago. That would be a cinderella story we could all cheer.

This morning has put a much-needed smile on my face.

If they "save" GL (which suddenly I'm getting an iota of faith in), I agree.

Because that means the model has changed, and suddenly the HH ratings and the 18-49 Demo on broadcast networks is irrelevant...because these shows are positioning for a viable post-network life.

I have to say, my heart DREAMS that GL--specifically GL--can be the one to make the transition from network/commercial TV, since it led the charge off radio so long ago. That would be a cinderella story we could all cheer.

This morning has put a much-needed smile on my face.

I agree.

However really, im not pinning my hopes on GL. A show that honestly should have gotten the axe years ago. If this was a soap ranked in the top 4 or 5, i would agree.

MORE subtle makeup? Really? Most of the GH women look like they're barely wearing any as it is.

If the new hospital set is just a recycled version of the Nightshift set then a) I'm not going to be impressed and I take it that means there's no hope for more Nightshift. Still, I guess there's not long to wait until this new stuff plays out on screen.

Still, I would guess that this would guarantee a new opening sequence if the show is now going to be shot in 16:9 and the opening is in 4:3...

MORE subtle makeup? Really? Most of the GH women look like they're barely wearing any as it is.

If the new hospital set is just a recycled version of the Nightshift set then a) I'm not going to be impressed and I take it that means there's no hope for more Nightshift. Still, I guess there's not long to wait until this new stuff plays out on screen.

Still, I would guess that this would guarantee a new opening sequence if the show is now going to be shot in 16:9 and the opening is in 4:3...

Y&R does something interesting...it shoots the opening in 16:9, but then shrinks it down (so names aren't cut off) so it appears in widescreen-letterboxed format on a 4:3 TV. It does this shrinking EVEN on the widescreen HD broadcast. They implemented this a little while ago, after people started complaining (on 4:3 TVs) that they could no longer see the "sides" of the credits.

Y&R does something interesting...it shoots the opening in 16:9, but then shrinks it down (so names aren't cut off) so it appears in widescreen-letterboxed format on a 4:3 TV. It does this shrinking EVEN on the widescreen HD broadcast. They implemented this a little while ago, after people started complaining (on 4:3 TVs) that they could no longer see the "sides" of the credits.

So wait....they shrink down the credits now for HD broadcasts too? I thought it was just a YouTube/CBS thing.

How LAME! People need to get their damn converter boxes and shut up!

More on the hi-def thing.

To give you an example, Y&R did not have to switch out lighting at all-

GH having to redo their lighting is a very, very, very good thing.

I was so looking forward to this show looking even more like a trainwreck to match the stories. lol

I have a feeling GH is gonna at least look good.

To give you an example, Y&R did not have to switch out lighting at all-

GH having to redo their lighting is a very, very, very good thing.

I was so looking forward to this show looking even more like a trainwreck to match the stories. lol

I have a feeling GH is gonna at least look good.

Well you when it comes to upgrading the production values, that gets JFP soaking wet every time. She must be in her glory right now!

Well you when it comes to upgrading the production values, that gets JFP soaking wet every time. She must be in her glory right now!

JFP! She's soaking in it!!! ROTLMAO

I am clueless as to why GH has looked like a garbage dump under her leadership.. She makes her shows look lush generally. I don't know what happened here. They don't even light the actors, they seem to have big fog lamps up and just light everything in one big flat murky mess of lighting.

I cannot wait to see GH on the 23rd. I won't be able to call it the ugliest soap on daytime anymore. A complete lighting overhaul will change the entire feeling of the show, not to mention the HD!

And I have said it before, GH does not appear to use makeup on anyone- male or female. It is weird.