2o11 set (exterior)
1960's set (interior)
Through out the years the Coronation Street set has changed massively, from the houses to the cobbled floor, there is a big difference from the set 40 years ago till now. From 1960 until 1968, the complete set of Coronation Street ( both interior and exterior) was positioned inside one of Granada Televisions studios in central Manchester, with the houses reduced in scale to of about 3/4. The small set made it awkward for the actors, who had to walk more slowly than normal to appear in scale with the houses. There were several reasons for the using a indoor studio; the main one being that the immaturity of production techniques at the time did not allow easy recording and editing of sequences filmed in different locations. The in 1967 the editing techniques improved enough to allow Coronation Street to be filmed on separate interior and exterior sets The studios were not big enough for the entire street to be erected at once, so it was split into two halves. The pavements and cobbled street had to be painted onto the studio floor. In 1967, Granada Television made the important decision to build an outside set. The new set was built on old railway sidings near Granada Studios. The new set was not all that different from the interior version previously used. The only real change seen on screen was natural light illuminating the street for the first time. In late 1968 the Street was constructed in brick, with roofs and back yards added later. Filming on the new exterior set was kept to a minimal, not only because the actors disliked the set, but because of the high cost of using film for exterior sequences. In 1982 a full-size exterior street was built in the Granada backlot, with the Since the set was intended to be permanent, the houses were constructed from brick and roof slates. The buildings were not complete, most missing interior walls. The chimneys are made of fibreglass since there is insufficient funds for brick ones. However, in preparation for the switch to high definition, the chimneys are now made of real brick.In the next few years staircases were added inside the doors of the houses. Towards the end of the 1980s more and more scenes were filmed on the exterior set after the show's location work switched from film to videotape in 1988. In 1989 the set welcomed some new buildings. The factory and Community Centre which had been on the site since 1971 were demolished. In replacement three new houses, two shop units, a garage and a factory were built on the site. In 1999 the exterior set was extended and updated. The Graffiti Club on was updated and reopened as a medical centre/surgery. A new street was built on set (Victoria Street) to house three shops and two houses. Also builders' yard backing onto the betting shop was built. A backdrop of some streets was put in place in 2005 allowing shots to be filmed looking up Rosamund Street and creating the illusion of other homes further along that street. As of 2011, the set consists of early 20th century terraced houses, with a public house, at one end of the set, and a corner shop at the other just like any other street. The other side of the street consists of a factory, two shop units, a garage and three semi-detached houses which were built in the 1980's.
What has changed with HD?
''The nation’s longest running drama serial enters a new era from Monday May 31st as Coronation Street begins broadcasting in stunning high definition on ITV1 HD''
ITV decided to make a multi-million pound decision into the latest technical facilities at ITV STUDIOS’ which then allowed the famous Coronation Street be shot and broadcast in high definition for the first time, just in time for of Coronation Street’s 50th birthday in December.
Peter Fincham, ITV’s Director of Television, Channels and Online, said: “It is fitting that, in its golden anniversary year, Coronation Street should be entering the era of high definition. This came as great news for the ITV viewers who were able to enjoy a better viewing experience of their favourite soap. Due to this massive change Coronation Street then joined an impressive range of high definition shows that are available on ITV1 HD, including the summer’s World Cup.”
Due to this decision the Coronation Street production team upgraded to the latest high definition equipment, including cameras, production vehicles, lighting and editing facilities. This includes a move from a standard definition tape based system to a state-of-the-art HD file based system. Also the exteriors of some of the sets have also been upgraded to bring them up to high definition standard for the viewers pleasure.
Coronation Street became the latest ITV programme to make the big jump to full high definition production.
Kieran Roberts, Coronation Street Executive Producer, said: “Coronation Street is known for its wonderful writing and performances but we're also very proud of the technical expertise and excellence that goes into making the programme. Our engineers and crews have done a fantastic job in taking the show to high definition and I'm especially pleased that it's happening in the year Coronation Street celebrates being fifty years young.”
How has broadcasting and recording technology changed?
Coronation Street was broadcasted twice weekly (wed and fri) between 9th December and 3rd of March. The Friday episode was broadcast live and the Wednesday episode was pre recorded 15 minutes later. Coronation Street was broadcast in black and white for the majority of the 1960’s but on the 29th October 1969 the prepared for their first colour transmission. In the event suitable colour film stock for the cameras could not be found and the footage was shot in black and white. The next episode, broadcast Monday 3 November, was videotaped in colour but featured black and white film inserts and title sequence. Similar to BBC1, ITV was officially broadcast in black and white therefore at this point the episode was seen by most in black and white.
There were no known reasons why episodes were produced in colour for monochrome transmission but it could have been that it was for the purposes of testing the look of sets and costumes using the new cameras. For example The Rovers Return set underwent a subtle change of colours in November 1969 without any on-screen explanation.
It is claimed that the first episode to be broadcast in colour was episode 930 shown on 24 November 1969. ITV began full colour transmissions on 15 November 1969. The last black and white episode was broadcast on 8 February 1971.
On 7 January 2002, was the first time Coronation street was broadcast in 16:9 widescreen format. Coronation Street was the last British soap to make the switch to 16:9. From 22 March 2010, Coronation Street was broadcast in 1080/50i for transmission on HDTV platforms on ITV1HD.
What impact has the HD format had on production?
In 2010 Coronation Street entered its 50thbirthday with a bang, it undertook a full HD makeover courtesy of ITV. But such a drastic change didn’t come easily to the show, With nearly two and a half hours of finished content being produced every week, the challenge was change what was necessary without interrupting ongoing production. May 31 was D Day for the show being the day they switched but in actual fact the planning started two years prior to the big change. The way the production team went around this problem was by using two SD studios to the the HD format, and upgrading two OB vehicles for HD location shooting. New HD camera technology was also added in the form of six Ikegami 79EXs with Canon lenses for the studios and Panasonic P2 camcorders shooting to 64G memory cards for location shooting. Two AirSpeed Multi Stream workflow servers per gallery were employed, allowing four streams of HD to be recorded to an ISIS 7000 shared storage unit. This allowed the craft, edit, and dubbing suites to playback HD media simultaneously.The adavnatages for the picture editors was that they were able to gain faster access to the material which then enable the directors and script editors to add comments directly.With information no longer spread across multiple locations, the operation at ITV Studios became highly organized, letting any staff member quickly locate content and its current status.
“Coronation Street's HD debut draws more than 500,000 viewers”
The first night of Coronation Streets HD broadcasting seemed to be a instant hit with the audience with over more than 500,00 viewers to the 9pm showing on ITV1HD. The popular ITV soap's first ever 9pm outing attracted 9.655 million viewers and a 38.2% share on the main network, with a further 509,000 (2.1%) on digital channel ITV1 HD. Coronation Street topped the previous ratings for ITV1 HD,459,000 (2%) for live coverage of England's friendly against Mexico
How have new grip technologies impacted on production?
Coronation Street decided to introduce the Polecam on a dramatic finale with a major character. The production team decided to use crane shots from a rooftop scene. The production team used the rooftop of the Granada building to shoot 4 stories high in the air. This was the first time a Polecam has been used on Coronation Street. Now shot on P2 High Definition at 100Mbps using Ikegami cameras the Polecam's Toshiba camera was able to compliment the other pictures and shots from beyond the roof line as well as craning moves to add drama to the scene for the audience.
What technological changes are in store for Corrie production in the future?
ITV decided to join the BBC moving Coronation Street from Manchester to the new MediaCityUk development in Salford. The soap is hoping to be moved in 2012.
ITV has decided they will build a production and studio centre for Coronation Street on a 7.7 acre site at Trafford Wharf. The move of the popular soap will result the sale of Coronation Street's existing Quay Street base at Granada studios Quay Street is expected to be vacated and sold by 2013.
"It's terrific news for ITV and all of our people based in Manchester that we have agreed this deal with Peel Media Ltd. This continues our long and successful relationship with the region which has played such a key part in ITV's heritage as a programme maker," said Crozier.He added that it was "vital" that ITV had a "modern, fit-for-purpose, creative hub outside of London". "Coronation Street is an incredible brand and as we celebrate its 50th anniversary, it's fantastic news that we are able to invest in the construction of a modern production centre to ensure that the nation's best loved soap remains at the top of its game for another half a century."
The development of the new set will include a new external film set but will remain still look the same to the original appearance of the show's precvious set, Weatherfield.
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