Home Time :(

Well we have all arrived home now, and I'm sure many of us are having withdrawal symptoms! We drove through heavy rain on the way back, which definitely brought us back to earth with a thud! We have had an absolutely fantastic time and I know there were lots of sad faces and possibly even a few tears when we had to leave - and that was just from the staff!

Our last day was probably the hottest day so far, around 24 degrees which was lovely! After we had packed and said our goodbyes we headed down to Santa Monica for some last bits of shopping. It was such a beautiful place - my personal favourite! Lots of shops and cafes where you can sit out on the street in the sunshine, and lots of 'LA looking' people rollerblading down the boulevard, going for a run or walking their dogs who were fully kitted out in the latest designer gear and even wearing nappies! Some dogs didn't even have to walk and were pushed around in little wheeled carts or prams! As it was Valentines day, love was literally in the air as we saw planes flying with marriage proposals attached on signs at the back, and even planes writing love notes in smoke in the sky! The shops then led down to a beautiful beach with a small fair ground attached on the promenade, so there were lots of things for us to see and do!

After Santa Monica we drove 10 minutes up the road to Venice Beach, which was a completely different atmosphere all together! It was a bright, lively, bohemian place with lots going on everywhere we looked. Music was blasting from every shop, and the shops were much more 'indie' and alternative than anywhere we had been. There were lots of people playing basketball, bodybuilders working out on muscle beach, a skate park, BMX ramps, street dancers and performers, graffiti art everywhere and then another beautiful beach. It was really nice to see a different side to LA, and to see how the locals spend their sunny Sunday afternoons. Films such as American History X and Romeo and Juliet have been based here, and it's easy to see why its such a famous area as there is so much going on and such a brilliant atmosphere.

At 5pm we made our way to the airport for our flight at 8:30, where we saw Stephen Fry boarding at the First Class gate! The flight went well and most of us slept right though it as we were exhausted after such a hectic week. We then transferred at Heathrow where we got to have a look round the new Terminal 5 which is lovely, and we saw Nicky Hambleton Jones from How to Look 10 Years Younger! The short flight to Manchester was great, and we arrived home on time at 6pm.

It seems hard to believe when I look outside at the hailstone that I was lay on a beach two days ago! It has been a fantastic trip that went way too quick! I would just like to say thank you to all the students who came, as they were impeccably behaved and I received so many compliments in restaurants and the workshops we visited about how lovely and friendly they were. I was also really pleased to hear that it wasn't just LA that the students would miss, but that they would miss each other, as the whole group bonded really well and many will remain close friends. We have had a fantastic time with so many laughs and so many wonderful experiences, and I couldn't have asked for a nicer group of students to take... thank you everybody for such a wonderful time!!

Another hectic day in LA!

Hello! Sorry for the delay on the updates, we spent the whole of Friday and Saturday away from the hotel, so I have only just managed to reach a computer now! We are all very sad to be setting off for home tomorrow, this has been the fastest week ever!

On Friday we started the day with a marketing workshop in North Hollywood, run by a lady called Nancy who has worked with stars such as U2 and Britney Spears. We learnt about traditional and radical ways of marketing products and artists, and then created our own concepts for marketing two different bands. Nancy also said that the students in bands could email her videos of their performances and that she would put in up on her website for talent scouts to see! She also commented on Evan's fancy haircut, it seems to be causing quite a stir here! Some of the girls have also been complimented on their 'fancy attire' and Dominique and Kate had their picture taken for a street fashion website. North Hollywood is famed for is promotion of the arts and also vintage fashion, so we had a browse around the vintage shops and found some lovely little bargains!

We then went to the Beverly Shopping Centre which is a huge shopping mall and treated ourselves there! And after that we went up to the observatory in the hills and saw the most amazing views of the whole of LA from the rooftop. We were so high up, our ears were popping on the drive up! This observatory is where James Dean visits the planetarium in Rebel Without a Cause, so it was really good to see it in real life!

We ate at Bubba Gumps (the restaurant based around Forrest Gump) and had the craziest waiters ever! They were dancing, singing, stopping the meal for random Forrest Gump quizzes and generally making this an absolutely hilarious time! This was definitely our favourite place to eat and we were really sad to leave. However we had to rush off as we had tickets to see Avatar at the IMAX. We LOVED it! A lot of us hadn't seen it before and were really impressed, but even those who had seen it said it was really good to see on IMAX. You felt like you could touch all the characters, and I'm sure I saw a few people jumping because they thought they were going to get hit by the objects in the film!

Today we went to Universal Studios, and went on all the rides and tours. It was really really sunny and lots of us had caught the sun by the time we had queued to get our tickets! I think The Mummy was voted the best ride, but we also loved the Simpson's ride, where you are sat in a simulator and the whole thing is done virtually, but you actually feel like you're on a rollercoaster and flying through the air, even going upside down, but the carriage doesn't move one bit! I felt very sorry for Olivia who had to sit next to us teachers screaming, we must have been very embarrassing!! We also went on the tour of the studios which was fantastic! We got to see some film sets such as War of the Worlds, Psycho and Jurassic Park, but my personal highlight was visiting Wisteria Lane - the set of Desperate Housewives!!

After one last walk around Universal City we headed home around 8pm, and some of us went for a quick swim in the pool or sat in the hot tub. But our main job for tonight is packing our cases as we are leaving the hotel at 9 in the morning. We still get to spend the afternoon here though as we only need to check in at the airport at 5:30pm, so we are going to go to Santa Monica and Venice Beach for one last bit of sightseeing and souvenir shopping! The weather is meant to be even warmer than it was today, which will be perfect for the beach, so we just need to make sure we don't pack away our sunglasses!

We will arrive home at around 6ish (english time) on Monday, so I will let you know all about our last day and upload some more pictures as soon as I can! See you back in England!

Celeb Hunt... Day 2!

Hello! Just thought we'd give you another update on our LA adventures! To be honest, I really don't know where to start with this one as we have had another fantastic day!

The highlight though has to be the 3 hour tour of Sony Pictures Studios that we had this morning. We got to walk around functioning film sets and past the offices of lots of producers, I just hope I can remember all the names that have been dropped today! We started off with a half hour screening about the history of the Studio, then entered the 'behind the scenes area'. It was here that we were told that the film Burlesque was being shot that morning, starring Christina Aguilera and Cher! Unfortunately we didn't get to see them, but we got to walk through some of the scenes that they would be working on, as well as their trailers outside the studios. Some of the group also saw Jordan Bratman, Christina Aguilera's husband, driving past, with their baby in the back!

We were shown the offices of Will Smith, Adam Sandler (we touched his super luxury golf buggy!) and the sound areas where Steven Spielberg and John Williams record the sound for their movies, as well as being the place where Judy Garland recorded Somewhere Over the Rainbow. We also saw all the Oscars that Sony have ever received for best picture, as well as looked around the Foley artists office, where they produce all the sound effects from scratch. We sat in the studio and green room of Jeopardy, stood outside the 'high school' where Peter Parker graduated in Spiderman, and also stood in the lot where many films such as Wizard of Oz, Hancock and Angels and Demons were filmed. As we were walking round the lot we met many up and coming actors auditioning for shows, but our biggest celeb spot of the day has to be Giovanni Ribisi, who plays Phoebe's brother Frank in Friends, as well as starring in Avatar, Cold Mountain, Gone in 60 Seconds, Saving Private Ryan, Public Enemies etc. We also saw Allen Covert, who is one of the key actors in Adam Sandlers Happy Madison Studios and features in all his films such as Little Nicky, Big Daddy, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, 50 First Dates etc. However, I think the real stars were 'T Zone', 'J man' and Patrick, our tour guides, who were the most excited people on the planet! They told us everything about every movie star they had ever met, and had us in stitches the whole time round the tour trying to do English accents. Dominique also impressed them with her American accent, and I'm so surprised she wasn't asked to star in a movie there and then!! It was such an exciting morning, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the lot so you'll just have to take our word for it!!

After lunch we went to the Music Centre for some photos near the fountain, where many of the group tried (and failed) to run through it without getting wet, and then we went down to Olvera Street, which is the original area where LA was created. It is a small village filled with Mexican cafes and restaurants and market stalls with a really relaxed and cultured feel which was quite calming and peaceful after such a hectic day. After browsing the stalls, wevwent back to the Chinese Theatre for a spot of shopping, then went for pizza!

It is now almost 9 pm and the group have just been for a swim in the hotel pool/hot tub. We are going to go bowling now down the road, so I shall be back tomorrow with more updates!

To be continued....!

We have arrived!

Hi all! Well we have finally arrived in sunny LA, and have already fallen head over heels in love! Some with the sunshine, some with the designer shopping, and some with the celebs we have spotted so far! As we were boarding at Heathrow, we met Luke Pasqualino, who plays Freddie in Skins. He was flying to LA to star in his new movie, The Apparition. Let's just say he caused a few hearts to flutter, and even sat with the group playing cards throughout the flight. Jason Statham was also spotted boarding our plane, although he was whisked away into first class unlike Luke... or us! After an extremely long flight we finally arrived at our hotel, 21 hours after meeting at the airport, so as you can imagine, food and sleep were the order of the day!

We woke up to fantastic weather this morning, around 18 degrees, and went to an original American diner to feast on pancakes with maple syrup. We then went to a two hour work shop at the New York Film Academy, where we learnt about the difference between wide angle and telephoto lenses, and then got a chance to make our own short productions experimenting with both types. The workshop was held by Michael Pessah, who has just been contracted as Director of Photography on the new James Dean biopic, and was very informative but also lots of fun! We were extremely impressed with Dawson and Jenny's acting skills, and think this could be the start of two successful careers in the industry!

We then made our way to the Chinese Theatre, where all the Hollywood stars have laid their hand and footprints at the front, and also looked at all their stars laid out on the streets. After a spot of lunch and shopping, we went to see the Hollywood sign and also the Kodak theatre where the Oscars are held. We then went to Rodeo Drive, the extremely upmarket shopping area famous for the 'Pretty Woman' moment, for a bit of window shopping, and then went to The Grove and the Farmers Market, where we could actually afford to buy things! This is a really pretty area full of cafes and shops where you can just sit outside and relax in the sun. Evan was spotted by a woman from Broadway who started taking pictures of his hair and took his contact details, so watch this space, he could be starring in a hair commercial before you know it! (Peter Jackson - you obviously have no idea about style!)

We finished the day off with a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe, where we ate giant burgers and had a look at all the music memorabilia! Isabel nearly fainted after touching Kurt Cobains guitar! We are now back at the hotel having a well earned rest, and looking forward to visiting Sony Pictures Studio tomorrow. All in all, this has been an absolutely fabulous day, and the fun has only just begun!

x

Follow our adventures in LA!

Hello everybody! Media and Film Studies are taking a trip to LA on Tuesday 9th February, so please follow our blog! We will keep you updated on all the sites we see, the workshops we attend and the studios we visit ...(and hopefully any celebs we spot too!!) Bon Voyage!