Global Campus programme students in London attended a live production of the comedy panel show Virtually Famous, which is hosted by Glee star Kevin McHale, who played Artie Abrams on the series.
Elstree Studios has been in operation since 1914, and has produced some of the world’s most famous TV shows; including the Star Wars film series, Indiana Jones films series, the popular quiz show ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’, and the talent search show; The Voice UK.
The show’s production team explained to students the importance of keeping to a schedule in live television production. Students learnt how to perform a quick, smooth, and efficient scene change between acts, which the production team explain should not take more than 10 minutes even for fairly major scenery removal and set redressing. Students also learnt the necessity of keeping the audience entertained during scene changes, hence the use of a ‘warm-up’ person, who is usually a stand-up comedian.
During the show, one of the students, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah Alouy Al Shihab, a Bachelor of International Business student, was selected to go on stage and compete in a fun dance routine. Abdullah was chosen as the winner of the contest, and his prize was an opportunity for whole Global Campus group to go on stage after the show to meet and take pictures with Kevin McHale.
Students were impressed with the speed and efficiency at which the production team worked, a concept they said they would be applying to their own academic productions and any future film endeavours, in order to produce industry standard film projects. Students also learnt important film aspects like the use of lighting, stage props, and selection of the best camera angle to get professional shots.