Space Hospital - Robert Poe & Sigurd Ueland

Posted by Steve on 11 June 2010 | 3 Comments

Tell us about your sci-fi web series.

Sig: "M*A*S*H in space."

Rob: "A post-apocalyptic Love Boat."

Susan: More specifically, Space Hospital is a retro-futuristic, sci-fi soap opera that chronicles the adventures of the doctors and nurses stuck aboard a mobile hospital in deep space. It references film serials and classic TV but with a modern spin - analog comedy in a digital age, as we like to say.

Where did the idea/concept for your web series come from?

Rob and Sig: "An early concept for the series came from a scene we improvised in a class with Steve Carrell at Second City Conservatory. ‘Astronaut Reg and Action Billy' explored two characters bearing witness to the end of an era that had glorified an imagined space age and had given them a reason to exist. That kernel of an idea evolved over time into Space Hospital, which combines digital collage and live action along with puppet-like robots, handmade props and studio models to capture the spirit of an earlier time while satirizing contemporary culture."

Name some of your sci-fi influences. Any favorite movies, TV shows, novels?

Rob: "My biggest design and conceptual influences are Gerry Anderson, Terry Gilliam, Joel Hodgeson and Sid and Marty Krofft."

Sig: "Consumption-driven growth, neo-cons and Christianity."

Susan: "My favorite sci-fi book is The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Space exploration and human folly are favorite themes.

Tell us about the technical production of your show. What camera & equipment did you use? Editing software & hardware? For visual effects, etc?

Rob: "I process footage through AfterEffects to tweak color and create effects, and then the final edit is typically done in iMovie HD (though on occasion we have used Final Cut Pro). Music is a combination of original music, rearranged midis and ‘Apple loops' that are layered together in Garage Band."

Susan: "We shot most of Season I and Season II with a Panasonic DVX100A-24P camera that I'd bought to shoot a feature (Hard Pill by John Baumgartner). Certainly, there were strong financial reasons to shoot with a camera we already owned, but I also think the crisp look of HD wouldn't lend itself to the throw-back sort of show that we're producing. I think Space Hospital should look a bit like some lost transmission in outer space."

Can you tell us any interesting facts or trivia about your show? Any funny stories?

Susan: Tim Sullens, who plays Dr. Goode, had to bring his young daughter to set the day we shot "Happiest Surgeon in Space." During one scene, she refused to be separated from her father, so he performed the scene in which he announces his engagement to Nurse Barbara with his daughter crouched behind him. In certain takes, you can see her hands clapping behind him while the other characters applaud the news.

Rob: "An interesting challenge for us was writing two real-life pregnancies into Season II for Nurse Barbara (played by Anne Ford Galiana) and Nurse Ratknee (played by Adriana Roze). This was particularly interesting because while it is part of Nurse Ratknee's character to be perpetually pregnant, we had already shot the first episode of Season II without her being pregnant. These challenges became great creative opportunities to take the story in new, bizarre directions.

Also, people think that Lovable Robot is part vacuum cleaner. He is, however, descended from a 1950s hair-dryer, and Ikea Ice-crusher, a blender, a large salad bowl and miscellaneous plumbing parts."

Space Hospital can be found online, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
Space Hospital - SciFinal Page

More behind the scenes from Space Hospital below:

Day of the XRatknee in labor on set of Space Hospital

Reading, writing reactionary Aknar and Ratknee operate on set of Space Hospital

Snead Aknar Omacron at main desk on set of Space Hospital