Alexa, play “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin.
Today was a long day and our first media visit since Hearst UK last Thursday. I was very sad to leave Liverpool – I am making a promise to myself to return to that beautiful city – but at least the drive to Manchester today did not take as long as some of the other drives.
It took us a little under an hour to drive to University of Salford – MediaCityUK. There we were greeted by Dr. Annabelle Waller who gave us a short tour of the campus and some of its features including television and radio studios, a control room, a multipurpose room and more. I really loved her perspective on a studio – “A space is only as creative as your imagination,” she said.
Dr. Waller referred to a studio as a simple “black box” prior to designers, directors, etc. bringing their visions to life on a set, and that will probably be the main idea that sticks with me from her discussion today. I love thinking of media professionals as artists because we really are, just as much as any traditional form of art. We create by writing, shooting, editing, and our stories are told through our craft.
After the campus tour, she gave us a short lecture focusing on immersive storytelling, or virtual reality. The main idea of the presentation was, “Feeling your way forward,” as VR is seen as the ultimate empathy machine to make you feel, see and fully experience something that you not normally experience.
James Probert from Children’s BBC followed Dr. Waller, and he mainly discussed his role at BBC before opening the floor to questions. He is able to shoot, produce, direct and edit his own work, which is a concept we are quite familiar with at Point Park as Gina Catanzarite beats the idea of a one-man band journalist into our heads during any of her journalism classes.
In addition to his role, he talked about Blue Peter, the longest running children’s show at BBC that he has worked on. While it’s a children’s show, I would definitely find myself watching it because it’s basically a show about people doing insane things – similar to a series movies/shows whose name I cannot say (because I speak like a lady) but it stars Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Steve-O – and by this point I know you know what I’m talking about.
Following the discussions with Dr. Waller and James, the main visit of the day ensued at BBC led by tour guides Hannah and Lee. While we waited for our guides, we watched the end of Shrek in the lobby and watching the subtitles to “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” isn’t quite the same as hearing it.
We hit it off with our guides as Hannah revealed her first kiss was with an old member of Emma’s favorite band, and Lee met a member of One Direction – but no kissing was involved.
The studios of BBC were AMAZING. I’m not even a broadcast major, nor is anyone on this trip really besides Emma, but you had to be a numb human being to not appreciate the technology at BBC.
At the very end of the tour, Emma and Lexi hosted a show while Casey reported weather, and it was hilarious. That was the least serious I have ever taken Lexi, and Casey followed Hannah’s sweeping motion advice to a T.
Being the second journalism-centric visit, BBC is high up on my list of most informative and interesting visits even though broadcast is a less than desired profession in my opinion. The classes I’ve taken that are TV-centric have never been my cup of tea.
We stay the night in Manchester (well, outside of the city of Manchester) near the airport because we have a flight to catch to Edinburgh tomorrow, our last city of the trip. ):