Television Station Visit

The visit to the television studio was a very interesting experience. I have never attended the filming of a television show before other than a local program as a child. I found it interesting firstly that the television studio seemed to be located in the middle of nowhere. Television studios in the U.S. are more commonly found in higher populated areas. Secondly, the show definitely lacked some of the flair of American food television. Discussions were longer and the focus of the program seemed to be less on the food and more on the people themselves because although food was the topic everyone talked about on the show, it simply wasn't highlighted as much on screen as it is in American food television. Additional contrasts from American food competition programs could be seen in the fact that retakes were only made when absolutely necessary, the competitors themselves were by no means professionals, and the final editing of the program differed greatly. In the U.S., competitors are often interviewed after the competition and their interviews placed over the actual competition footage during final editing. This was not done for the Italian program, and the combination of this and the lack of background music during the show made the program seem too quiet and boring at times. However, it was interesting to see the actual filming process for the show. It was a good experience.