I usually watch the BBC World News each evening, for an angle on the day’s events that you can’t get from regular American networks.
One other thing you get is an angle on Washington that is slightly odd – through the “windows” on the set.
Behind the anchor desk are three vertical scenes of downtown Washington, appearing as windows. The views are of, from left to right, the Capitol, and White House, and the Washington Monument, all as seen from some location on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Well, like the many films set in Washington, the BBC have got it just slightly wrong. We Washingtonians love to pick out the flaws in the portrayal of our home city, and there are so many!
In this instance, there is no spot that could give you the view as seen from these fake windows. In real life, from left to right, the view would be the Capitol, Washington Monument, and White House. But the view they show is impossible, because Pennsylvania Avenue is both dog-legged and blocked by the U.S. Treasury.
The views in the windows are quite clearly captured by several disparate cameras. The windows are actually video displays – obvious when you realize that a street light several blocks away would not shine light on the edges of the window. The images are obviously taped – even though at 6pm here in DC it’s still relatively light outside, the images in the windows are nighttime scenes. There are also no piles of snow visible!
Isn’t it amazing how nitpicky I can be?
