Goodbye London!

As I write this, the sun is setting on my last day in London. I sincerely apologize for the long absence, but the last few weeks have disappeared in a whirlwind! After a wonderful week spent in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Bruges—with an unexpected night in Brussels—I began my placement at the BBC. For five weeks I interned for a new show titled Evan Davis’s Business Nightmares, which airs in the Spring on BBC2.

I’m not sure how to begin to describe how much I learned working at the BBC. Everyday was different, some days I spent fact checking (How many pounds of chocolate does the world consume in a year? or How many photos are taken in a year?), other days I looked for locations. One day I was assigned the task of finding three “Punk Rock” girls to do some flower arranging. Although these may all seem like random tasks, each and everything I did taught me something new.

As my roommates will attest, I more or less didn’t exist during the five weeks of my placement at the BBC…wake up at 8, leave at 9 from Kings Cross St. Pancreas to arrive at White City by 10am. Left around 7 or 7:30 each night, arriving home around 8 or 8:30. I was a real working lady!

I also squeezed in a couple visits to Dublin and Paris. Both were spectacular, although most of Dublin was spent in the pub….I also made sure to explore other spots of London, spending a full day in the British Museum and a few hours in Churchill’s War Rooms from WW2.

This winter has been particularly cold, and London is on record to have had the most snowfall in something like 50 years! Many days the Tube (underground trains) would shut down, and it would be hard to get out to the BBC. In fact, when I went to Paris they had to take us by Ferry rather than through the Chunnel! And as I speak, we have a nice sprinkling of snow on the ground, threatening flights home!

This morning I woke up early and walked by all the sights one last time: Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The Thames…it is hard to believe I won’t be in London in two days time! Roommates and I still have a bit of packing to do, but we are sure to make our last night count.

Goodbye London, its been lovely!

Halloween Already???

Hello Fellow Americans:

In light of Obama’s recent appearance on The Daily Show—and more personally because I made the effort to vote all the way from London—I hope that those of you within the boarders of our great country visit the polls on Nov 2 and Vote!

I don’t know why I decided to start this post with that…

The past couple weeks flew. At the BBC we took our last course, concentrating on directing actors, setting up a scene, lighting, and finally shooting a 3-4 minute part of a film. I had a scene from Erin Brockovich. The first week we concentrated on working with actors and setting up a scene. This week was about prepping, doing a shot list, working through the script, rehearsing the actors, shooting the scene, and finally editing it all together. I didn’t realize it until Wednesday or Thursday, but Wow! Its been forever since I directed!

Last week also marked our last classes of Arts and Theatre in London. Our last theatre visit found us returning to the National Theatre to see a performance of Hamlet. Although I enjoyed the throwback to sophomore English, I must say, sitting though a 3.5hr show about an actor that is riddled with indecision is not my cup o tea. But my classmates here in the Shakespeare RADA acting program will be proud: I bought 3 of The Bard’s plays to read! In Arts in London, John and I reported on the National Gallery…presentation went well.

Recognize this, anyone?

Last weekend I took part in the UK HOST program. I went to a town called Didcot and spent a weekend with a British family. They are from South Africa originally, so I don’t know if they consider themselves British. It was fabulous. Not only did I have wonderful home-cooked food, but I got to hang out with the three children. Its’ weird how you don’t notice how much you miss kids until you are around them again. Every time I return to Tamalyn’s Dance Centre in my hometown, I remember how much fun I had teaching the 3-6 year olds.  The youngest of the three showed me a new computer game called Sploder…its definitely worth googling even if you only check it out for 5 minutes.

Checking out the cows...I realized later maybe not such a good idea considering Mad Cow originated in the UK!

Because Dicot is close to Oxford, we went to visit the college town on Saturday. I did a bus tour and then visited the Christ Church College, where parts of Harry Potter were filmed. (The picture above is from the scene when Harry and his classmates are at Hogwarts for the first time before getting sorted.) What a beautiful campus! The way university works in the UK is that you apply to a University, say Oxford, and you also choose a college to affiliate with, such as Christ Church. Oxford University has 38 different colleges! I’ve already told my parents, if I give up film, I am going to Oxford to get a masters or PhD!

Me in Oxford. Christ Church College is in the background.

On Sunday we walked around the village and then had a nice walk around the countryside. Saw lots of sheep and a few cows. Although London is great, it was really nice to take a trip outside of the city.

Today marked our last day of courses at the BBC! Its hard to believe 7 weeks have passed! We are on Fall break this week, and I am looking forward to setting off to Berlin in a few hours. Then we are going to Amsterdam before finishing our trip in Bruges. A week from Monday we return to the BBC to get our Attachment assignments! EEKKK! We are each assigned to a BBC show to work on for the next 6 weeks.

I look forward to sharing my travels with you next week! Oh and Happy Halloween!!!

October 9-17 Oh MY!

Ok so again, going back to last week: We got back from Wood Norton Friday Night. Saturday was more or less a day of catch-up. I have managed to keep up with all my US shows (Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, and Weeds to name a few…), but we did have to make up a play. “Or You Could Kiss Me” at the National Theatre is about a gay couple dealing with the imminent death of one of the men. It is performed with puppets, and was definitely well done, but for some reason I didn’t really enjoy it.

Monday brought our last class with Archie Tait in Writing for TV; bit hard to believe considering we are only halfway through the semester. For the next 7 weeks we are expected to complete a pilot episode for a TV series of our own creation…I have a lot of work to do!

In Arts and Theatre, we visited Tate Britain and saw an exhibition by Muybridge…who is famous for discovering the movement of horses through a series of fast-shutter images. It was interesting, however a bit repetitive as many of the works were different series of horses running. The Tate, I must say, is not my favorite.

Wednesday night brought us to the Hampstead Theatre for “Enlightenment.” I don’t think I have ever said this with such conviction: It was AWFUL. Many of us, including the Professor, laughed it was so bad. Also, the actors seemed very aware of the failing of the play, which was even more disgraceful.

Inside The Tower of London!!!

However, I was able to cope, for I spend the majority of Wednesday afternoon visiting the Tower of London! Although many of you may think I am silly for saying this, London continues to amaze me with its rich history that still survives. The coolest thing by far was to know that I was walking on the grounds in that Elizabeth I, Lady Jane, and Anne Boleyn, ect walked on more than 6 centuries ago! In many buildings carvings date to the 1500s! Enclosed in the Tower of London is also the Jewel house, where England’s Crown Jewels are kept. What beauty and lavishness! Another interesting thing: Although we think of the Tower of London as the last place people went before they died, only 6 people were killed in the tower and only 112 were killed on Tower Hill a few meters away!

This is where Anne Boleyn lost her head. 

Thursday and Friday were spent at the BBC doing an online course required of everyone that works on programming. It was boring but necessary. It’s hard to believe that we are almost through the training program at the BBC Academy!

Saturday morning marked my visit to the Houses of Parliament. I went with a group from NYU, and we were very lucky to get a tour, for after the Houses are in session they usually only give tours to citizens of the UK! It was very cool. We saw the Queen’s robbing room, the House of the Lords, the House of the Commons and a few more rooms running between these. Very pomp and circumstance. What struck me, however, is how small the Houses are. In fact, the guide said that neither offers enough seating if all the members of the Houses are in attendance!    

Not the best picture...

Visited the National Gallery and the Sherlock Holms Museum on Sunday. National Gallery was great, and full of paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Van Gogh. Went for class, but had a good time. The Sherlock Holms Museum was a bit of a disaster. I went with an NYU group. More or less, the guy that organized the trip was not on top of his game. He arrived 20 minutes late, then insisted we wait for another 15 minutes for his friend that was even later than he was, and then didn’t even know where the Museum was so we had to ask for directions! Once we finally got there, the museum itself was a bit of a letdown for anyone that isn’t a die-hard fan. I walked through in about 15 minutes. Oh well…

On a completely unrelated note, I have discovered the CBS show, “The Good Wife.” It’s very loosely based on the recent affairs of politicians that have been broadcast by the media while their wives stand faithfully by. Ran through all the episodes in about 3 days.

This week has been busy…beginning to realize that this semester will be over before I know it! Looking forward to sharing my adventures next week.

J

Emily

A Glance Back to the Week of 4 October

So it has been an embarrassing two weeks since my last post. Funny, how everyday I thought about writing a new post, and promised myself I wouldn’t go to bed until I wrote another post, but never actually followed through. Rather than overwhelm you with a super long update, I am going to just talk about the week of Oct 4^th (or 4 October as they say it in England).

This week was a very intense and busy one for the BBC students. We attended our last Writing for TV class—how crazy is that when we still have 2 months here???—and set off to Evesham, which is north west of London. It was a long and uneventful 2.5-hour train. Now why Evesham? It’s a small town in central England. What could be there?

Well during the years preceding WW2, the BBC decided they needed a stronghold outside of London that would be broadcast ready in case any unforeseen events—i.e. German Takeover. Wood Norton, as the area is called, was set up as a boom proof, high security site for this purpose, and it is located in…can you guess? Evesham.

Although I never saw it, this building is the Wood Norton Mansion that the BBC purchased in the 1930s. 

Even though the threat of the Germans is long behind us, the BBC still uses Wood Norton…for training. We spent four very dedicated days in a Multi-Camera Studio Course at Wood Norton.

Now before I get into the details of the course, let me tell you the perks. 1) We each got our own hotel room. 2) The hotel rooms had TVs! Not a big deal to you, but when you live without a television in your dorm room for a month and a half, it becomes a major perk. 3) We had full meals paid for everyday…I had steak twice and fish and lots of deserts that I can’t even name but tasted amazing. All in all, the room and board was impeccable. Oh and we had cabs shuttle us to and from the BBC site…no walking!!!

Each day we concentrated on a different form of programming. Day one was an intro to the studio…lights, camera, sound, gallery and then we directed a short interview. It was similar to Sight and Sound Studio except the job of each student as the director was to frame and offer shots while the “vision mixer” chose which shots to go to when.

Day two was a bit more complicated.  We each directed the same short mystery drama. It was all action and no dialogue. The trick was picking creative and interesting shots that you could succinctly explain to your cameramen and make sure they could be executed. We rotated rolls from camera to floor manager to sound, ect. In the afternoon we were introduced to the BBC magazine style scriptwriting program. Each of us was given a partially completed script and we had to fill in different images and clips, organize an interview, and block the cameras and presenter. We also had the use of a plasma to show video and images alongside the presenter. It was an interesting mix, and the challenge was to figure out how to shoot the show.

I was the first up on the third day as director. And it was a lot of fun, although I was very nervous. I found that as long as my script was clear and correct, I pretty much sat in the director’s seat and watched the whole thing play. Sometimes I would ask for a tighter shot from a camera or cue the presenter, but it was a smooth run. That afternoon we were given another partially completed script with more elements. Now there were two presenters, an outside broadcast, a two-person interview, and many other small additions that added complication. And another challenge: the show could only run 13 minutes!

All the BBC students expect Stacy who was taking the picture.  We were about to leave.

The last day we rotated through roles, sometimes being an interviewee or a cameraperson. Finally it got to my time to direct, and sadly on the last day, I got caught up and confused and had to give up some of my more complicated sequences. Disappointing, but the show doesn’t seem to be messed up, and had viewers been watching no one would know. But it was too bad to go out in that fashion on the last day. Bright side: You always learn more when you make mistakes!

Got back to London late Friday night, and felt like I was playing catch-up for being gone. We went to a show at the National titled “Or You Could Kiss Me.” It was about the inevitability of death, and it was very well done. Weird though how many older people there were in the audience. You would think they would choose an uplifting play? Oh well.

Lots of BBC info…hope it’s not an overload. I promise my update for last week is much more exciting! Oh yeah…this was also the week I booked my travel plans for our Fall Break. Berlin, Amsterdam, and Bruges here I come!

:) Emily

Strangers on a Train and Much More!

Hello All!

It has been a while since my last update, I know. Apologies!

Me with Edinburgh Castle in the Background

Our trip to Edinburgh, Scotland was fabulous. Went to Edinburgh Castle—which for all you Harry Potter fans is where JK Rowling unveiled the 6^th book—and then did a bus tour of the city. Saw the Scottish Parliament; it is one of the ugliest buildings ever and well worth googling to see more the monstrosity than is in the picture below. The next day I went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen’s official residence in Scotland as well as the home of many of Scotland’s monarchs, including Mary, Queen of Scots. Part of the palace even dates back to Mary’s time!

Scottish Parliament!

Although Edinburgh was well worth the visit, I was sadly disappointed to find how over-run the city is with tourists. The “Old City,” as is called the historical part of Edinburgh wall to wall tourist shops, street vendors, and tour buses. I haven’t seen so many Americans since arriving in the UK as I did in Edinburgh! Nonetheless, I bought a UK version of Harry Potter 7 and found Heathwood Plaid before we made our way back to London via train.

Me with Palace of Holyroodhouse in Background

But as much fun as there was to be had in Edinburgh, I must admit that the most amusing things happened on the traveling to and from Scotland. As we are silly Americans looking for the cheapest deal, my roommate and I booked trains on the way there that had a layover. A 1AM TO 6AM LAYOVER!!! We huddled in the cold for hours…

On the way back we were thrilled to have a train taking us straight to London! However, as I approached my seat, I found two guys sitting where I should be. I quietly told the man in my seat that I thought he was in the wrong place, when I am suddenly and angrily yelled at for not speaking up but a blustering—and quite dirty looking—Welsh man. I step out of the way, not sure what to do, when another passenger approaches and offers help. He tells these men that they are indeed in the wrong seats and need to move. Well, then Mr. Angry Welsh Man starts to yell at this guy, saying I didn’t have the ticket a moment ago and that I am a rude girl. I point out to Mr. Angry Welsh Man that it’s not him that is in my seat but his friend. Finally the two move, and I am able to take my seat! Turns out Mr. Angry Welsh Man didn’t have a ticket at all! But he made sure to tell me, as he exited the train, that “Love, you are very rude and I am (here is raised his voice and scrunched up his face) VERY upset by this.”

The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Went to see a Hugh Hughs performance at the Barbican that was very funny and well worth seeing again if he tours in the US. Visited the National Portrait Gallery, where they keep all the portraits of the rich and famous of Britain. Then saw an very broad interpretation of Faust at the Young Vic. The show itself was amazing, but I was a bit disappointed how different the story was from Marlow’s Faust.

Oh yes, The Raindance Film Festival began this week. I am volunteering as an usher, which means I get a free shirt and can go to any screening I want as long as its not sold-out. Have been meeting a lot of European filmmakers, and not surprisingly their gusto for the industry is like any you find amongst film fest volunteers in the States.

This week, I am off with the other BBC students to Wood Norton to take a very intense multi-camera course. We will be in class from 9am to 10pm every day from Tuesday to Friday and will be staying in hotels close to the BBC building. I’m not sure if I should be excited or wary…

Cheers!

The Week I was a Tourist...

With the third week of the BBC program almost at a close, I am starting to feel like I am actually back at school! I am taking a Writing for TV class that requires us to create a pilot episode by the end of the semester; this week we turned in the treatment outlining the entire storyline of the episode…this meant we had actual homework for the first time since arriving in London! At the BBC Academy we are in a DV workshop learning about using and operating the EX1 Camera. Hard to believe, but this is the first time I have been teched on a digital camera! Tomorrow we shoot short sequences and then have a professional edit them all together into one story-line. I should be prepping for that, but instead I decided to update all you lovely (this is the only word I can say with a British Accent) people on my life. 

The past few days have been filled with lots of sights and travel! Last week London was in a state of uproar with the official visit of Pope Benedict. All over the papers there were stories outlining his location and plans for each day of his visit; there was also a great deal of press protesting some of the comments from the Vatican of late. Regardless, I set out with my suitemate Saturday afternoon to see the Pope process (in the Popemobile!) down The Mall and to Hyde Park. We waited for over an hour for a five second glimpse. But it was worth it! We were less than 20 feet away from him! He looked scared to me…but as my father pointed out, he always looks scared. I guess if you are the pope, maybe that makes sense?

Bummer its a bit blurry...but still its The Pope!

On Sunday, I set off with a few friends to Greenwich. It is a small town right outside of London made famous for being the home of the Prime Meridian….0° longitude. Ya know when people say they use Greenwich Standard Time? They are referring to this place. The town itself is perfect for a day trip out of the city, for there are tons of small pubs and a very cool market—Greenwich Market—which is where we began the day. We then went over to the Royal Navel College, built in the 1700s and home to a very popular and well known military training base. Cool Fact: The man that designed these buildings, Christopher Wren, designed the current St. Paul’s Cathedral. We also checked out the Queen’s House, where we saw some great paintings dating from Henry VII’s time.

Greenwich is also known to be the favored location of the Tudors. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were born in the now demolished Greenwich Palace, and for many seasons out of the year, the royal court resided in Greenwich. It is a happy coincidence that the Prime Meridian is located in the same town.

On Tuesday, our Arts in London Class visited the Victoria and Albert Museum. One of the great things about Britian is that all museums are free—it’s a good thing cause it seems that every museum we go to is bigger than the next! We spent most of our time in the British history section, however there is still a great expanse of things to see.

Our Feet on the Prime Meridian Line!

Wednesday was another massive London tourism day! I began by visiting the State Rooms at the Buckingham Palace. These rooms are only available for Public Viewing during the summer months when the Queen is not in residence. She comes back Oct 1….so going has been on my priority for the last few days. Now for those who like the expression “Wow,” you have not properly used it until you have seen the inside of this palace! Everything is covered in gold…Everything! The carpets are so thick you could sleep on them and the ceilings are so ornately designed they could be art exhibits themselves. I felt as if I had stepped into a Disney Fairy Tale. One of the coolest things, however, is that I could work there next summer if I wanted! They higher seasonal help to monitor the rooms and grounds…usually college kids. Officially added to the things I want to do one day.

This is from the back of Buckingham Palace. Look how sunny! Who says its ALWAYS raining in London...

From there I went to meet my fellow BBC colleagues to see The Mary Wives of Winsor at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We were in the Standing Section—OMG my feet hurt after standing for 3 hours—but the performance was amazing! The theatre itself is very cool and realistic…it has an open roof, so there were no lights or special effects. And because we were standing by the stage, we were very engaged in the action of the play. This was by far one of my favorite experiences so far, but I must say I need to see a Tragedy before I leave. Otherwise, I may feel like I didn’t get the full Shakespeare experience. And if this isn’t enough for one day, Wednesday concluded with a visit to the West End to see Yes, Prime Minister. Based on an 80s TV sitcom of the same name, the show revolved around the politics of the Euro, the BBC’s national tax (which they call the license fee), and oil. Lots of laughs!

Tomorrow my roommate and I set off for Edinburgh, Scotland! Can’t wait, but fear I may not be a fan of the colder weather. Having a great time, only trick is when will I fit in this homework I’m starting to accrue? Hmmm….

London Eye, Oh My!

I beginning to realize that there is so much happening that it is hard to fit it into my posts…maybe I should post more than once a week? Rewinding to a week ago, my roommates and I attempted to make a traditional English dessert: a Swiss roll. And by attempted, I mean we had to completely start over half way though and it took us the good part of three hours before we were done. Future Reference: whisking without a whisk is pretty damn impossible.

We Managed to Make Something...

Last weekend was the Thames Festival. Not sure what it celebrates other than the Thames River, but it was a full weekend of parades, food, and festivities, which culminated in an evening of fireworks on Sunday. Quite spectacular.

Seems everyone is getting into the swing here, and with that comes the wave of people getting sick as well. I was greeted early last week with one of my best guests: The Sinus Infection!!! (cue haunting music). Sniffling, I went to class each day this week with a role of toilet paper in my bag, causing others to ask if I had a weird thing about only using my own toilet paper…

We saw Educating Rita on Wednesday night. After the terribleness that was Danton’s Death…this was two hours of pure bliss. The two person show is a revival of the popular 1980 show that made Julie Walters famous around the world (she plays Mrs. Wellesley in Harry Potter). Although I really enjoyed the play itself, and found the main point of the show—which was that too much academic knowledge causes one to loose their innocent a pure views—was fabulous, I was not in love with the performance. It will be interesting to see the movie, starring Walters and Michael Caine.

Official instruction started at the BBC Academy this Thursday! I must say, the program here is AMAZING!! I can already tell we are going to come back to the States so much more prepared for working in the industry than we imagined was possible. Our swanky ID badges are the same ones that full-time employees wear, and the building we are in is opposite the iconic BBC studios building where celebrities appear and tourists flock. This week, we concentrated on learning the role of a “Researcher.” This is one of the bottom people on a project, however it is these people that come up with the meat of a show, contact guests or experts, and any other odd-ends that need to happen.

On Thursday Night I joined other NYU students on a trip to the London Eye! (I’ve been calling it The London Eye, OH MY!!!) This is a really big ferris-wheel that tourists get on to see London from the sky. It is an iconic part of the London Skyline, and a humongous tourist attraction. Lots of fun, and really interesting to see the layout of the city from the sky…unlike New York, London grew in twists and turns, eventually spilling over to the other side of the Thames River.  Today, nothing makes sense at all!

This is from the bottom of the Eye...each pod holds about 20 people during the rotation.

View from the Eye!

Currently reading Bill Bryson’s “ Notes from a Small Island.” (My high school friends should remember the author.) Its about his last travels around the UK before leaving for the US after living in England for 20 years….very funny and insightful!

Going to see the Pope today and then off to Greenwich tomorrow! Looking forward to being at 0°, 0°!!!