Whilst on a visit to York last weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the following visitor attractions;

Jorvik Viking Center - http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/

York Castle Museum - http://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/Page/Index

York Castle Prison - http://www.yorkcastleprison.org.uk/home.html

Jorvik Viking Center is a ride that takes you back to the viking aged streets of York, I think I was interested in the way that they made you feel part of the the Viking Village by taking you through it on a small monorail type thing! Pretty cool even if you are aged 20 or ahem... over. The not so pleasant part was the smells that came from the 'fish market' and the man on a make shift toilet type thing at the end!!! But I wont go in to that - maybe it's funny if you are aged 20 or under. Anyway the important experience I took away with me from this ride was the way smells made you feel, and how they added to the experience as I mentioned in my first blog this is something I intend to experiment with, especially after that experience!

York Castle Museum gave me the opportunity to walk down a Victorian Street, it was similar to being in a film set! I enjoyed the way the street changed from day to night with the help of lighting effects and a few street lamps, and how they strategically placed speakers in hidden places to give you the impression that people where walking and talking past you about victorian subjects.

My favorite experience has to be the York Castle Prison! I was intrigued when I saw an idea in there that I had thought of in the studio a week or so before. Basically they used projectors to project recordings of people (one in every cell) on to the walls. It gave them a ghost like appearance as they told the visitors of there past and why they where in the prison, people like Dick Turpin where portrayed .etc. I had thought of doing this type of thing myself to see how people would interact with a fictional character who they thought she might be etc, again something for me to think about. It was an effective way of getting bringing you to the reality of the kind of place it once would have been.

I have attached the Videos of the 'projected people' to this blog so you can see what I mean, I'm never the best person at explaining things, but there we go.

Rach x

P.S I can only upload this one video at this time as it takes 'blinkin' light years to upload.... but you will get the idea.

Thomas Ward - Prison 'Turnkey'