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!