BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College TV/Film Studio class traveled to Los Angeles Feb. 27 through March 8 to visit film studios, participate as audience members on shows and talk with people in the industry.
“The purpose of the class is to give students an understanding of the television, film industry and process,” Senior Instructor of Communication Studies at Bridgewater College, Benjamin Erickson said. “The purpose in taking them to LA is to show them firsthand what it looks like.”
Sophomore Emily Reynolds said the trip was a mixture of group visits to different studios and free time to explore the city of Los Angeles.
Erickson said the group participated as the audience for an episode of “America’s Funniest Home Videos”. They were instructed to laugh, talk and applaud during videos to give background noise.
Reynolds said the trip provided students with opportunities to explore subjects they were interested in.
“I’m interested in doing foley,” Reynolds said. “So I was able to go behind-the-scenes of that and watch somebody do different walking patterns for a movie.”
According to the Pro Sound Effects blog, foley is the act of performing and recording sound effects, such as footsteps, in sync with moving images.
Junior Kaylie Diaz said the foley lecture at Sony Studios was her personal favorite of the trip.
Erickson said they tried to give students time to explore the city and be independent.
“I know a couple of students went to one of the big theatres in LA and a few others were really interested in the different shopping opportunities available to them,” he said.
Reynolds said she and other students enjoyed being in Los Angeles and getting an opportunity to navigate the city themselves to go shopping and explore.
“I love hiking, so I really liked going to the observatory to be able to see the mountains from there and getting to go look up at the Hollywood sign,” Reynolds said.
While on the trip, students were assigned a vlog assignment to complete.
Diaz said she and her partner chose to do “LA on a Budget,” filming videos and activities of themselves finding cheap activities in LA that were not already a part of the trip.
Reynolds said everyone on the trip bonded well with each other, that it was not cliquey and people built new relationships with each other.
Both Reynolds and Diaz said they would absolutely recommend the course to others.
“There was a bunch of things that I’ve never thought I’d be able to do before like seeing the Hollywood sign,” Diaz said. “I got to ask a question to Vanna White from “Wheel of Fortune”. I was like ‘this is otherworldly. Am I doing this right now?’”
According to the Worldstrides blog, students who participate in educational travel improve their academic performance, gain individuality, get personal growth and create new friendships.
“I would tell people to, if they can, to take the class or to at least go into a class that you can travel with,” Reynolds said. “I had a great time, and I think others will too.”
