Last month, the College arranged for our drama scholars to visit the renowned Pinewood Studios, one of the UK's iconic studio locations where many of the most well-known film and television productions have been created.
Pinewood Studios is home to 24 stages, three television studios, a permanently-filled Underwater Stage, an exterior tank, acres of backlot and thousands of square feet of production office and workshop space. It is the go-to place for big and small screen productions, including films such as No Time To Die and Jurassic World: Dominion, and television programmes like Afterlife and Taskmaster. It is, therefore, the perfect location for our drama scholars to explore more about the intricacies of filming, stage setup, and also post production.
One of the pupils who visited Pinewood Studios was Year 7 pupil, Danny Petrov. Below is a write-up of his day:
"Dad and I arrived at Pinewood Studios at 1.00pm, and signed in for the event. The site, filled with hundreds of studios and attractions, had storm troopers flooding the area around us which was quite overwhelming. Our first stop was the hall, where we were given lanyards and tote bags. We continued the tour around and R2-D2 welcomed us with his flashing lights. The quirky robot was attracting visitors and gaining a lot of attention.
We spent a lot of time exploring and learning about sound and effects, and about the art of 'behind the scenes'. A very talkative cameraman shared with us some interesting facts about his job. We learned that he records popular television shows as well as The National Lottery. I learned an interesting fact - it takes a full 7 minutes to take apart a simple camera set which includes the lens, stand, tripod, elevator and lighting.
Another interesting part of the tour was the talk we had on the later stages of filmmaking (post production) which includes sound, background music, and action music. As well as this, we went to a Disney talk, which explained the gruelling and complicated process of creating a Disney film/series.
My personal highlight was the camera room. To create fascinating films like Paddington and Life Of Pets, the team would use a 3D model of the animal and take a scan using over 200 cameras! The scanned image is divided into its separate body parts to allow the animation crew to perform their tasks and create visual effects.
Even though the experience at Pinewood Studios was a memorable event, I believe that it's still too early to decide on my exact career path. Therefore, my search continues..."
