The TV Productions Elective Shares Its Many Advantages
By Lilianna Medina
At Timber Creek High School, students of the TV Productions elective go to Mr. Cameron Stevens’ classroom and prepare their videos. Some would record and upload their films; others would edit them to create expressive masterpieces. But the class doesn’t just film and edit videos. Students have the opportunity to run a morning news show or live stream sporting events at the school. VNN for example, is an after school club where students learn to live stream sporting events as well as learn how a scoreboard works. “Our new video board at the football stadium provides my students with more opportunities to learn about a new technology, and use that knowledge beyond high school,” said teacher and co-sponsor for the VNN sports crew, Mr. Stevens. “Also, there are multiple special projects that come up throughout the year, where you can shoot, produce and edit a video for your demo reel.”
One particular group, WolfTV, uses the studio for morning reports. Some of the anchors would upload their videos from home so the other members can edit them to be broadcasted on the announcements or posted on Youtube. Every day, members of the news outlet would roll in the team’s call as well as make sure every single puzzle piece was submitted for a show. Then, editors would get to work, inserting the final touch to. “It’s the same thing every time. We just put in the different anchor clips,” said WolfTV member, junior Alex Flores. “And from there we’ll upload that, and that’s Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you get to do that in class.” Due to the pandemic however, things would be a bit different. “Usually, if it was like a normal class without the pandemic, we would be here (the recording studio) every day about to go live,” said junior Andrey Smirnov, another member of WolfTV.
Another big part of the class is managing the Timber Creek sports events. Students would learn tons of different techniques, from how to livestream things like football games to understand how a scoreboard for soccer works. “You do a lot of editing of course, and a lot of different types of videos,” said Flores. “Whether it’s like you’re gonna do a video on sports or you have to do a video on this or that. Usually, there’s more things to do. But once again, pandemic. But different people would say we have to make this video and we’ll make it for them, as usual.”
The benefits of learning how to use all the techniques vary. One advantage is that the class strengthens students’ creativity and social skills. In other words, it opens up a student’s mind to a whole new world of ideas and new friends. “You’ll learn a lot of valuable info that you will use later in your life,” Smirnov stated. “You’ll learn responsibility and you know, all the editing software. It will be a great help in the future. Just knowing how to edit videos on the programs opens up a lot more possibilities for you, even if you are doing a scoop project.”
The emotions to how students feel about being part of the class vary, too. Some students really enjoy the activities of being in TV Productions. Others feel a sense of responsibility because what they learn in class would possibly be used later in life. “I think when students get into TV 1, they think they will immediately go right into using cameras and make all of these cool videos they see on Wolf TV,” said Stevens. “There are a number of things they need to learn through the textbook or video tutorials first before they are handed a camera, a computer and a storyboard. Once you make it into TV 2, you are really able to start producing content for Wolf TV, and I think most of my students enjoy that.”
Breaking News! Juniors Alex Flores (left) and Andrey Smirnov (right) are sitting at the anchor desk in the WolfTV Studio. This is where members broadcast several morning news reports. “It’s a class that I’m never bored in and always fun to do,” said Smirnov. “We have so much fun in this class and we do so many cool things, so I would say it’s one of my favorites,” said Flores.