Film, Media and Critical Thinking LA & Hollywood Study Trip
26th February – 3rd March 2011
By Steve Fitzgerald, Critical Thinking Teacher
On Saturday 26th February, 32 students and 3 staff left the college at 6.30am for a 6 day study trip to Los Angeles and Hollywood. After a long flight, and several movies later, we arrived in Los Angeles, to be greeted by bright sunshine, blue skies and palm tree lined avenues. On arrival at the hotel, we rested up in preparation for our exploration of the Film and Media capital of the world.
The following morning we headed off to the most famous meting point in LA – Third and Fairfax – the sight of a legendary market and iconic shopping development. After a bit of retail therapy we headed off to Hollywood as the Oscars were to be held that same day! We made our way to the Hollywood Walk of Fame where we saw the star lined street, the movie star handprints, the Kodak Theatre, where the Oscars where to be held, and saw the red carpet laid out for later that evening. We then headed back to the hotel to watch the ceremony live on TV – what a night for the Kings Speech!
  
On Monday morning we toured the Sony Pictures Studio where we saw where movies such as Spiderman and the Men in Black were shot, in addition to a huge array of TV shows including the set of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. From there we moved on to the LA base of the New York Film Academy, where were given a fascinating workshop from a movie director in the Hollywood film industry. Later that night we had a real slice of American life at the Pinz bowling alley, where we had a go a Rock n Bowl 10 Pin Bowling!
 
On Tuesday we headed for Universal Studios, were we spent the day on the movie lot and theme park. This included a fabulous guided tour of the studio, where we saw the real life set of movies such as ‘War of the Worlds’ (with the destroyed jumbo jet used by Steve Spielberg), Jaws, Psycho as well as driving the Wisteria Lane, the set of Desperate Housewives, and experiencing the amazing King Kong 3D experience! In addition we tried some of the amazing rides in the park, such as The Simpsons, The Mummy and Jurassic Park as well as enjoying fabulous interactive shows such as the re-enactment of scenes from Waterworld, Terminator 2 and Shrek 3D. After the park we took a stroll down Universal City Walk, an incredible, neon lit street full of shops, stalls and restaurants and rounded off our evening having dinner together at the world famous Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Restaurant.
  
On our final day, we set off for possibly the best tour – the legendary Warner Brothers Studio, where we saw an amazing array of sets and costumes from the Harry Potter movies, cars from movies such as Batman, Scooby Doo and the Matrix, plus the Friends set and a chance to sit on that famous sofa! After a quick trip to hippy hangout Venice Beach we reluctantly set off for the airport, filled with memories of a fabulous week in Hollywood. Plans are already underway for next years trip to New York – where we see Manhattan at midnight from the Empire Sate Building, the Statue of Liberty, Madison Square Garden, a Broadway show (Last time it was ‘Wicked!), Central Park and much more. Come and join us!
  
|
