Universal Studios Hollywood

For our second group ICLA outing, we took a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood. We took our group photo at the Hollywood sign backdrop with the whole group and the professors. We all did a studio back lot tour where we got to see the 35 sound stages where they still film, some special effects, the Jaws shark, a 3D King Kong movie, the metropolitan and western sets, and Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives. It was a pretty fun tour, and it definitely showed how different Universal is from any other theme park. It's not just for people to go on rides, it's also for real movie and television shoots even with all that going on around it. Pretty incredible.




We all kind of split off into groups after that. I got to go on the Simpsons Rides, Jurassic Park, and the Mummy. All were pretty fun rides, but the Mummy was the biggest roller coaster Universal seemed to have. It was really different from Universal Orlando. It was a lot smaller and the focus was definitely more on movies and television than on rides. There were tons of shows to go see. I went to one that demonstrated how special effects are done, visual effects (computer generated effects added afterwards) versus practical effects (effects actually done in front of the camera). It was really cool. There were a lot less huge roller coasters, and it was a smaller park than the Orlando one that dad and I went to this summer, but it was something different. I'm glad to have gotten to go to both Universal Studios. It was another whirlwind of a day in LA with everyone.
Internships and classes start tomorrow. I'll be finalizing my internship, and my first class is Tuesday night.