We had a long day today since we left Liverpool for Manchester. It was about an hour drive to the Media City. We arrived on the bus at the University of Salford and met with our tour guide Annabelle Waller who showed us around the studios. First, she took us outside to show us the outside of the buildings and the area that was full of media companies. We headed inside to check out the studios they had in the university while some of the film students were working on their projects. I loved the studios because they were professional grade with loads of lights and great equipment. I think I would have a lot of fun if Point Park had a set up like that.
Annabelle also showed us the radio room, sound booths, and control room. At the end of the tour, we listened to an interesting lecture from her about the future of virtual reality in media. She brought up some great points that I hadn’t thought about as the creation of the entire immersive experience with all the senses.
She was followed up by James Probert who is a writer/director/producer on a children’s show Blue Peter at BBC. He had so many interesting things to say about his job and how he ended up in his career. I thoroughly enjoyed his visit because I could genuinely tell that he was passionate about what he does. It also was helpful to know that he shoots on the same equipment I use. I wouldn’t mind having a job like his someday.
After the lectures we were free for lunch, so a group of us decided to go to Nandos because several of them hadn’t tried it yet (and I didn’t mind eating there again). I got the Sunset Burger with mango lime sauce because I loved it so much the first time. Then when we finished we walked back to the university to grab a coffee from Starbucks before our tour around BBC.
At the beginning of the tour, our tour guide mentioned that she was from Wrexham and I got really excited because my favorite band, Neck Deep is from there. She then told me that her first kiss was their old guitar player, Lloyd. It was just really funny to me that we shared that moment. I loved the whole tour because the studios were full of lights and we got to learn the secrets of their shows. The end of the tour was the best because Lexi and I got to pretend to host the news which is totally different from me being behind the camera. I had a lot of fun.
We then departed for our hotel which was about an hour away by Manchester airport. We had a little free time after checking in to the hotel. We had a short walk to the restaurant for the group dinner. I had the Hunter Chicken that had ham and BBQ sauce with onion rings and fries. Since it was Kelsie’s birthday, we had cake and ice cream for dessert. Tomorrow we are off to finish out the trip to Edinburgh!
