River City

I have to say before coming to Glasgow I had never watched of River City, unlike most of the other soaps. Im not even entirely sure if it is broadcast in England. However when I found out that Kim was a storyliner for the show I thought that it was important to check it out. So since then I have watched an episode or two, I have to say that it has not become my new favorite TV program (nothing could beat Grey's Anatomy) but it isnt to bad. I found it slightly weird to watch a Scottish soap opera, simply because I am so used to seeing ones set around where I live, such as Hollyoaks and Corrie. Obviously it is not a requirement to only enjoy tv shows set in the place you come from, but it does help. I think it is nice to see places you know on TV or have actors speak in a similar accent to your own. That is one reason why it is good that River City is on television, as I have not really seen that many Scottish programs since being at university.

However when Kim told us that she has arranged a trip for us all to go to the set of River City I was extremely excited. I had never had the opportunity to visit a real TV set before so i fully relished in this opportunity when we set off on our trip to Dumbarton on Monday morning. When we arrived I was really surprised to see what the exterior of the building looked like, it was not at all glamourous or fancy like I imagined, in fact it looked a little like a prison. However when we went inside it began to look a little more like I envisioned, after a fire alarm as soon as we entered the building ( I am beginning to think that fire alarms follow me everywhere, as we had just had one at halls that very morning), we began to look around the back lot of the set where the majority of the external scenes on the soap are shot. I was really impressed with the set and it was much better than I had pictured in my head. I couldn't get over how realistic everything looked. If my mum dropped me off on that street one morning, i probably would have been convinced that it was infact a real street. The set design was excellent and all the tiny details that were paid attention to really helped to create a natural looking environment. All accept the exceptionaly clean kettle in the garage. It may sound silly but i wasn't expecting the set to be open air, for some reason I thought that it would all be indoor, but i thought that it was a really nice touch, and i suppose it would look alot more realistic filming in natural light.

After having lunch in the BBC canteen, sat on the next table to the stars of the show (how cool our we) it was then time for our tour of the studio. The indoor studio was like a giant maze, it was really interesting to see the wide variety of sets and the different houses the characters live in. Some of the sets, in particular the pub, looked alot smaller than they appear on television . Most of the sets also looked like the mini kitchen and livingrooms you see in Ikea as opposed to actual homes. I suppose that it is the actors and maybe the props that make these sets look realistic and lived in. I loved the fact that I was able to recognize some of the sets off the tv and i will be watching River City in more detail in the future to see if I can spot any of the sets we visited or the actors we saw.

I really enjoyed the day at the studio and really appreciate the fact that I am on a course which gives me the ability to visit such interesting places and meet a wide variety of industry professionals. The visit was very beneficial and I am happy that I know what a real television set actually looks like. Im really grateful to Kim for arranging this visit, I have really enjoyed her lessons as she has opened my eyes up to a wider variety of roles within the television industry that I was previously unaware of. I hope to have more lessons with her next year as they have made such a positive contribution to the course.