River City

Today we headed out to Dumbarton to see the River City set. No less than 5 mins in the fire alarm went off so we all poured out in the cold and stood about but when we got back in to start the tour, I felt really happy to be there!

I thought it was great that so many people had taken the trouble to talk to us and take us around the set. Seeing the backlot and the studio was a real eye-opener on how deceptive the programme is - when watching the show you'd never think that it was fake or that there was only three walls to the place!

I really liked some spaces but what I found most interesting is that you could tell instantly what type of character lived in this space and what class they would be or what kind of life from the bedspread or the way the kitchen was laid out.

The co-director (can't remember his name!) took us around the studio and answered all our questions. He made a point on how each person had their own job and that he wouldn't want to try and overtake them with it which I thought was a good piece of advice. He also mentioned that "everyone can make a contribution to an idea and I like it to be collaborative - but it's no democracy!" The main point he made was that the aim of every person on the show is to tell the story and at no point should it be lost. The director will see how it could be told and the editor should assemble them together in an understandable way etc.

The series producer took us round the backlot which was the most enjoyable part for me. Seeing how the place had been built from scratch so much of it was so believable! We saw a scene being cut and it was great seeing the crew in action. There were child actors and they shoot so that they spend as little time on set as possible. He also showed us how the schedule is broken down which was good to see and he explained how it might not always look like a lot but the when the director meets the 1st assistant it may become that one scene has a lot of detail and so most of a day may be spent on that.

Money came up quite a bit - their budget is quite tight and so they maximise every space they have and it was impressive what they had done with the spaces.

They obviously work very hard with crazy schedules and even though I don't watch River City I really enjoyed seeing the place and appreciated how they took the time to talk to us and I really respect that they work their asses off to make it work.