Site Visits, Backstage Tours and TV Recordings

I really enjoy going on studio tours to see what goes on behind the scenes at television studios, and seeing how different aspects of programme making come together.

Before BBC Manchester moved to Salford I was able join the tour at the old Oxford Road studios.  As well as seeing the sound department and BBC Symphony Hall, the radio station and the gallery, I was lucky enough to go on the studio floor whilst it was set up for a CBBC programme.  It was fascinating to see how the flats were constructed with consideration given to access points, camera positioning and field of view.

This is a photograph that I took showing behind the CBBC set:  

I also made site visits to the Granada Studios in Manchester and got to sit on the recording of programmes in the studio there.

 

That was interesting as to get to the audience area we had to walk through the loading bay and storage areas where all the flats and studio props were labelled and stored, and I got to see the sets being moved and see how they were constructed. 

I'm also really glad that Imanaged to go on the tour of BBC TV Centre in London before it closed.  That was a really good, in depth tour where we were shown, and had a practice with the green screen used for the weather broadcasts, watched the filming of an afternoon chat show from the gallery and had tours of all the different departments and studios.  Here are my original notes from my visit:
 

We weren't able to go inside studio 1 as it was being used for filming a drama at the time.

Studio 2 was a medium sized studio which was often used for shows with limited space requirement, for example panel shows and interior scenes for dramas.

Studio 3 was one of the largest studios, and like all the BBC studios, was leased out on a commercial basis to other TV and film companies and advertising companies when not being used by the BBC.  When we were there they were using the studio to record an Alan Titchmarch chat show.  We were able to watch the recording from an enclosed gallery in the rigging.

Television Centre was an iconic building which was good example of how to utilise available space.  The building, affectionately known as the Concrete Doughnought, was designed by Graham Dawbarn and built in 1960.  The building was the world's first purpose built TV centre and studios.

The BBC studios have remained the blueprint for all subsequent TV studios.  This is because the Dawbarn design made most efficient use of space and access, with revolutionary lighting rigs and consideration given to camera requirements.

The lighting rigs are individually numbered with hydraulics to lower the lamps.  Lights can be be lit, and dimmed, and filters employed from the floor.

The studio is served by a track all the way around the studio wall from which curtains can be hung.  The use of the curtains gives the impression of infinity and extra space as you can't see the back wall.  This makes the space look bigger.

Dressing rooms and the green room are away from the studio, whereas the make up and wardrobe rooms are adjacent to the studio floor as these are required directly before filming.

The studio floors are freshly painted for each filming to ensure that the cameras roll smoothly without any bumps.  Any interior sets that should be carpet have the carpet in the back of the set but the floors which the cameras use (which may just be in shot) are painted with the pattern and colours of the carpet.

(The following photos taken from web)

Other TV recordings that I have attended include the Paralympics launch in Trafalgar Square in September 2011 and the Paralympics closing ceremony in 2012, SKY One's Wayne Rooney's Street Striker, Sports Personality of the Year 2010 and the Coldplay 'invite only' gig in the car park of BBC Television Centre.