Discovery · China production case study
Beauty and
the Feast
China production for Freeflow’s Discovery series.
Alchemist Films helped Freeflow Productions plan and prepare the China episode of its Discovery series. Our producer and Lareesa Hu handled contributor preparation and production coordination, then followed up on archive requests during the edit.
- Production company
- Freeflow Productions
- Broadcaster
- Discovery SEA
- Assignment
- China production service
- Shoot / series release
- 2018 / 2019
The China episode
The China episode’s
three contributors.
Chef and presenter Aaron Craze meets an inventive cook, a bodybuilder and an online eating personality. Working from Freeflow’s editorial brief, we explored the activities, working spaces and questions each contributor could bring to the episode.
Ms Yeah
Inventiveness at work
Preparation for Ms Yeah’s segment covered the food in her videos and the process of making them. After speaking with her team, our producer proposed a sequence of locations: collecting materials, working in the office and cooking at the family home.
Those conversations gave the director concrete activities to develop around her inventiveness. The preparation also explored the people behind the videos and her family’s relationship with cooking.
Vivian Bo
Food, training and discipline
Vivian’s approach to food was tied to her training and competition goals. Our discussions focused on that connection.
Our proposals included training, coaching, ballet and a restaurant scene as ways to explore how food and discipline fitted into Vivian’s everyday life.
Duoyi
Eating for an audience
As the contributor line-up developed, the preparation turned to Duoyi and the world around her online eating videos. Freeflow’s questions covered her routines, her work and the performance involved in eating for an audience.
A later brief asked the China team to explore a Chengdu venue for a food challenge with Aaron, consulting Duoyi about possible locations and participants. The episode brings the host into that experience himself.
From field notes to filming days
Let the story shape the itinerary.
The China plan developed through discussions between Freeflow, Discovery and the local team. After talking with the contributors, we sent the producers proposed locations and activities so they could refine the story and the practical filming arrangements.
By May, our producer had prepared a draft shooting schedule. The producers asked us to hold the domestic flight booking while the filming order and finish date were still being adjusted around the story.
Preparing for Freeflow’s camera team
The practical details behind a playful programme.
In May, the camera team sent us its final China rental list, identifying items for local sourcing. Any changes in brand, quantity or specification were to go back to the cinematographer or camera assistant. Equipment brought by the travelling team was discussed alongside the local rental requirements.
Shortly before filming, Freeflow sent references for portraits against pink, blue, yellow and green paper backgrounds. The request specified the mood and saturation for the programme’s quick, playful portrait sequences. We passed those references to the local team.
After the shoot
The contributor connection continued into the edit.
After filming, the editors still needed material from the contributors’ own histories. Lareesa followed up on archive videos. The producer confirmed receipt of Duoyi’s material, while Vivian’s clips required further exchanges about quality and usable files.
In June, Lareesa supplied video links and then found alternative 1080p material when higher-quality versions of particular clips were not available. As the rough cut neared completion in July, the producers returned to the team for photographs of Vivian and another video from Duoyi.
The programme
Beauty and the Feast
Beauty and the Feast is a factual entertainment series about food and online culture in Korea and China, released in 2019 as two 30-minute episodes. This case study covers the China episode.
- Produced by
- Freeflow Productions
- Presenter
- Aaron Craze
- Director
- Mark Chua
- Writer
- Mark Kwan
- Director of photography
- Nils Clauss
- Production managers
- Sarah Zoe Tay · Ansell Tan
- Production service (Shanghai)
- Alchemist Films · Lareesa Hu
More from the programme 7 frames
Opening graphics, archive imagery and sequences from the wider series, including Korea. Alchemist’s assignment described above concerns China.
For your next production
Planning a contributor-led shoot in China.
For documentary and factual entertainment shoots in China, contributor research, location scouting and production coordination work together. A useful early brief connects the story you want to film with the people, places and crew it depends on.
Contributor activities and access
Share the story you want to explore, the people already approached and the activities you hope to observe. A location becomes more useful to the director when it is connected to an action: preparing food, demonstrating a process or taking part in a challenge. Use contributor conversations to check which activities, spaces and dates are realistic before building the filming plan around them.
Story, route and schedule
Identify the sequences that anchor the filming plan and the questions that could change it. A contributor’s availability, a different activity or a change of location may alter the order of the shoot. Share provisional dates and travel assumptions with the local team so that editorial choices and production logistics can be discussed together. For a shoot involving several places, explain what each stop needs to contribute to the film.
Crew preparation and archive needs
Set out the crew and equipment travelling with the production, the support needed locally and the person who will review technical alternatives. Include visual references when a sequence depends on a particular background or setup. Discuss archive needs at this stage too: existing contributor videos, photographs and the versions available may require further follow-up during the edit. Explain which scenes depend on each requirement.
A useful first brief includes your editorial outline, likely contributors, provisional filming dates, crew size and a split of travelling and locally sourced equipment. Open questions can then be discussed alongside the parts of the production already in place.
Factual production in China
Planning a food or
factual series in China?
Tell us about the contributors, places and activities you want to explore. We can discuss the research and local production support your China shoot needs.
Discuss your China shootExplore our documentary work →