I've been on the outdoor set twice and was lucky enough to be on the indoor set just last year. I have a friend who had a contact and was going to be in Manchester the same time i was and she offered to bring me with her when she went to the set. She didn't need to ask twice!
The full description of the visit is here on my website, scroll down to May 25. There are photos here and you don't have to sign in to Kodakgallery to view them. The photo here is of the three of us, me, my fiance Graham and Christine who was the star of the day for bringing us along. We're behind the bar on the tiny set of the Rovers. The colour is miserable because the set was lit for filming and we were told that the lights would play havoc with our camera's light meter and it did. This is the best "fix" of the photo i could manage. Our visit was a bit rushed so we didn't get to do much more than pose behind the bar. Would have been nice to sit in the booth too! The walls are all moveable and the set itself is smaller than you think. All of the sets are, in fact and it's amazing when you think about how many people can be in the Rovers or in the cafe in one scene yet they don't bump into each other or knock things over!
I remember the first visit, to the outside set only, back in September 2000. We were a group of about 45 and walking through the darker Baker St. set into the sunshine and seeing the cobbles and the Rovers? Awesome! Actually you came out of the covered Baker St. set onto the Victoria St. area, walked down there first to Rosamund and then on to Coronation St. proper. We didn't know which way to look first and every single one of us, even those that had been on the set before, were grinning ear to ear. Pretty much all of us headed for the Rovers first, for photos and group photos and then scattered to walk around and explore.
When i went back last year, we did walk through the outdoor set though didn't have much time to wander. We were taken down the street, between the two studios and into the new police set which is where Underworld used to be. We did get to take pics on the outdoor set and in the back alley, the "ginnel" as well as over on Rosamund and Victoria Streets. I like comparing the pictures from the two visits, nearly 6 full years apart and seeing the changes. Victoria Street had a bakery in 2006 which was the DIY shop in 2000 and in 2000 the Butchers was just being built. Wong's wasn't there, it was the old chip shop and Alahan's store in 2006 was post-fire from the Mad Maya story so it was all different on the inside and the outside now has the door on the corner of the shop instead of beside Number 13. Number 9 now has the Old Rectory sign up. The back yard of one house, i think it's Emily's at Number 3, now has a lot of greenery grown up where in 2000 there was only the beginnings of it.
Of course the first visit didn't include the inside studio sets and it was very cool to see that! We saw the Rovers bar (but not the back room), the cafe, Number 1, 11 and 13, we saw a bit of the Kabin but couldn't go right in, Underworld, Number 4, 6, and 8 on the new side, Charlie's flat, the Italian restaurant, Streetcars, the Rovers toilets, the police station, and the outdoors of everything. A lot of the sets are not permanent and are pulled apart to make room for others. They also use large painted backdrops so that when you are inside and see the Street through the window, you're actually looking at a backdrop. Staircases only go up a little way to a platform. It's also interesting to see all the props on shelves and tables such as family photos, books, dishes, phones, ornaments on the tables and walls, artwork etc. they try to reflect each house owner's personality a bit, too.
Anyway, I could witter on about that all day. Enough to say
No comments:
Post a Comment