Cultural Studies and Humanities students go behind the scenes at ITV

From Woolpack Inn to the cutting room floor, we discovered there is more to the TV series than meets the eye. With nearly 9,000 episodes spanning from 1972, we were lucky enough to see how the process of making Emmerdale takes place at ITV studios. 

Our host Alison took us to the meeting room where we met Lynnie Walsh who had been working as a costume designer on Emmerdale for several years and explained how her team shops for outfits two weeks in advance whilst considering the characters’ flair and style which remains true to their identity. Not only that, but also buying in bulk to accommodate for the odd accidents and stunts, in this case purchasing five wedding dresses for a marriage taking place in Emmerdale. 

Afterwards we were taken to some of the sets, such as the Woolpack Inn, and to our disbelief we were informed that the floors were hand painted with incredible intricacy as well as some of the beers being real after a viewer complained about the beer not looking real enough. As well as this, the team on Emmerdale encourage responsible drinking as they tend to show those who do drink taking a cab instead of driving. It is attention to detail, such as noting the way an actress has held a handbag or whether they are holding a phone the right way up that makes the process of filming a 30 min episode quite a long process. 

The editing was by far the most interesting aspect, understanding the intricacies of splicing film to cut it down to allotted time whilst considering the main plot and dedicating more screen time to the main characters of that episode. Every shot is taken 3 times and to ensure they can get the best scenes, sometimes they might use parts of all 3 shoots to get a good scene. Trusting the gut as well as having a close relationship between director and editor is essential to making a good episode. The Dubbing suite ensures that the volume is level as well as getting cast in if the dialogue cannot be heard. 

Afterwards, we had a conversation about understanding the fan base, and using social media to identify the difference between the actors and the characters, as well as a platform to discuss the recent episodes. 

Ultimately, we realised there are many small cogs that are essentially needed to make a series that airs every weekday. Different departments no matter how small are incredibly important. We also learnt that starting from the bottom and working up is the best way forward as well as having the courage to be bold and grab opportunities where possible.