Universal Studios tour and theme park took up pretty much the whole of our last day in LA, and what a thrill ride it was. We started our day on the studio backlot tour, seeing historic sets built over 100 years ago for the many Westerns shot here and still in use today, alongside some of Universals most iconic films - Jaws, Psycho, War of the Worlds, How The Grinch Stole Christmas- whose sets and props are now part of the tour. We also enjoyed being attacked by dinosaurs, experiencing an earthquake and a flash flood (which made us all homesick), and being a part of a 3D Fast and Furious car chase that left everyone breathless.

From the tour to the theme park, where the most popular attractions proved to be the Minions Mayhem and The Mummy rides along with posing for photos alongside Scooby, Shaggy, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, Shrek, Fiona, SpongeBob, Bumblebee, Homer, Marge and the Universal Monsters - Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy (who ended their meet and greet session with the cry 'come on, guys, back to the castle!).

In the evening, we prepared ourselves for the sensory onslaught of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in IMAX 3D - though the day's exertions saw everyone (including, sadly, your author, dear reader) have a little snooze before the end credits rolled.

Our final day in sunny California dawned, and with heavy hearts the whole group headed out for our last breakfast at Jerry's diner. Many opted for the traditional American delicacy of pancakes and bacon, some the slightly less usual choice of spaghetti and meatballs. For breakfast. I was surprised too.

Later, we packed our cases and set off for an afternoon of beachfront fun at Santa Monica. The California sun continued to shine on us as we hit the shops, the restaurants and the pier at the very end of the legendary Route 66. We were able to enjoy the sunset over the Pacific as we made our weary way to LAX airport (where eagle-eyed students spotted British film actor Juno Temple)and our long flight home.

Day 4, and for many the highlight of the trip so far - the Warner Bros Studio Tour, Hollywood. Once we arrived at the tour and mounted our golf carts, the magic began. We saw sets and buildings used throughout Warners history, drove through the jungle (as seen most memorably in Jurrasic Park), visited the prop store (where we took turns to sit in the Presidents chair used in The West Wing) and marvelled at the work going on to prepare for a huge mounting of Grease to be broadcast live on TV on Sunday night. from the Warner archive, we saw costumes and vehicles from the Batman films, including the new Batmobile as used in Batman Vs Superman, and the always popular room of props from the Harry Potter franchise, where the sorting hat sorted the Hufflepuffs from the Slitherins.

Finally, we explored the new tour closing attraction, an interactive display of pre-production artefacts and opportunities to sit in the Central Perk set from Friends, hold a real Oscar statue, and be filmed against a green screen riding Batmans bike or Harry Potter's broomstick.

The afternoon afforded a bit of respite - time to swim, sit by the pool and relax after our hectic schedule. in the evening we ate an all-American buffet at the hotel, a monsterous amount of food that the 30 of us barely made a dent in. Revitalised, we were able to prepare for our last full day in LA at Universal Studio.

Day 3 of our tour of Los Angeles saw us hitting the film industry for real, first by making film then visiting our first studio backlot. We travelled the short distance to Burbank first to get a workshop in cinematography from the New York Film Academy, where we learned some of the secrets of of shooting using different lenses and lighting techniques before we got some hands-on experience. Students acted as Camera Operator, 1st and 2nd Camera Assistants and Dolly Grips to shoot a scene featuring the cream of Lancashire's acting talent, including an especially poignant performance from Ryan Hadley.

We then travelled across town to Culver City and the Sony Pictures studio tour. we walked under the worlds largest man-made rainbow, saw both the original and new Ghostbusters vehicles and peered through the bulletholes in the door of Walter White's RV as well as visiting the set of The Goldbergs and Wheel Of Fortune.

On our way back we experienced a must for any visitor to LA - a traffic jam. We spent 90 minutes,in gridlocked traffic being overtaken by pedestrians, but still made it to Universal City Walk in time for our reservation at Bubba Gump's. Full of shrimp and chocolate cake, everyone headed back to the hotel to sleep off the day's exertions and get ready for our trip to Warner bros in the morning.

Day two's tour of Los Angeles saw us hitting Hollywood, visiting the legendary Chinese Theatre to photograph the hand and footprints of the stars. From there to the Dolby Theatre, home of the Oscars, which everyone seems disappointed to discover was situated in a shopping centre. As we left, the street outside was being prepared for the premiere of nautical drama The Finest Hours, meaning the array of out-of-shape Spider-Man impersonators who live outside the cinema were presumably moved on.

Next, we wandered the streets of Beverley Hills, goggling  in wonder at the custom Rolls Royces and unbelievable tidiness of the streets. Purchases were made (trainers, make-up and, in my case, a can of pop) before heading to the slightly less pricy shops of The Grove for lunch. Time was well spent in the nearby Farmers Market, chatting to a man from Stockport and eating the biggest corned beef sandwich in the world, before heading to the beautiful heights of the Griffith Observatory, itself the star of films such as Rebel Without A Cause, and home to the best views over the vast sprawl of the city.

Finally we headed to Universal City Walk and the Hard Rock Cafe for more carbohydrates and a visit to the excellently-named comic shop Things From Another World before heading back to our hotel and bumping into fellow guest Mark Margolis, Breaking Bad's bell-ringing Tio Salamanca. Tomorrow, cinematography with the New YorkFilm Academy and our first studio tour at Sony.

LA trip 2016

Day one of the 2016 Film and Media Studies trip to Los Angeles is now over - more of a day and a half, really, and by the time bedtime finally loomed many of us had been awake for well over 24 hours.

We arrived in sunny California after a long flight that we shared with footballing (and crisp eating) legend Gary Linekar, though we were fed up of the sight of him by the time we'd queued for 90 minutes to get through US immigration. Even Allison Quinn had stopped winking at him after such a long wait.

After checking in to our hotel, all 27 students and three staff walked to local diner Jerry's, where they managed to create a table for 30 at no notice. After stocking up on Coney Island hotdogs and amazing looking shakes, it was off for some well-earned rest.

Day 2 promises more sun, with a tour of the city (including visits to the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and Rodeo Drive, among other highlights) and a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe on the cards.