Thank you, Honors College

da Vinci drawing

Studio set for The Archers

Katie at the BBC

Teleprompter on the news set

Today honors paid for me, 8 of my friends, and Tracy to go to Birmingham. As a part of our honors colloquia about pirate radio stations, we went out to research how radio stations work and are run. And where better to learn about radio and media 

production than in at the BBC studio in England. We had a personal tour of the station set up for noon, but by the time we got to Birmingham, we had an hour or so to kill first. We killed that hour at a free art museum where we saw art by Sir. Francis Bacon and Leonardo da Vinci. The special exhibit was filled with sketches by da Vinci, and they were epic. He's such a renaissance man because he really could master anything from drawing to science to painting, and that's so impressive to me. After the museum, we headed to the BBC and began the tour. Our two tour guides took us onto the real sets and studios that are used every day. We got to sit in the chair where radio announcers sit, and they told us how all the equipment and systems work. My favorite thing was when they took us in the studio where a radio show called The Archers is recorded. Our tour guides described to us how all of the sound effects are recorded, and the funny thing was that so many of the sounds came from random things. For example, they recorded the sound of a sheep being born in the studio with a cup of yogurt and a bag of flour, and it sounded so realistic. What they use for the sound of ice in a glass are Lego blocks, the gate sound is an ironing board opening and closing, etc.--everything was so innovative. The technology they have there is just incredible, and their creative ideas make for some great shows to be produced. They even let us in the control room where all the cameras, lights, and sounds are tweaked before the news is broadcasted live. I really loved seeing what all happens behind the scenes because it's so much more complicated than first meets the eye. At the end of the tour, they gave us scripts to read from and stuff for sound effects, and we recorded our own little radio show. They're going to send the recording to us, and you'll get to hear it when we get it. This was easily one of the best tours I've ever gotten ever because the BBC is just so cool. They told us that BBC World reaches 300 million people and is the biggest news network over CNN or anything. Basically, I'm a big fan now. After the tour, honors decided to be lovely and pay for our lunches too. We went to the cheapest place ever though; I got a huge spicy chicken banquette sandwich, a baked potato with chili and cheese on it, and a tropical fruity drink for just over 3 pounds. That's unreal! But what Birmingham is really famous for is it's shopping. It has this thing called the Bullring, and it's a GIANT shopping center with lots of covered markets and shopping stalls. The best thing I got was a hippo sweater that I bought at a second hand store for a pound. It's funny. Birmingham was an awesome day trip, and it's even cooler that I was actually required to go have a fun day and spend no money on it. Yes, I think that's a good deal.