Project 1: Final Draft

Appealing to the doorknob attention span of high school students was no simple task. This was the most relevant piece of information manipulated by my high school film club - BraddockTV - to achieve the reach we desired. A weekly news show at an undistinguished public institution may not have seemed like it could touch and influence the entire student body but my team was determined to innovate for the uninspired, to produce for the unproductive. Nearing roughly fifteen minutes each week, the video newscast I worked hard to create was able to transform moods and sway opinions through bits of local and national news, humorous skits, and personal spotlights. The effect the production had on the students was powerful, and often, even disruptive.

When most teenagers turned on the television to a news channel, they scrambled for the remote to bring the mundane reporters to an immediate halt. Being stemmed in an educational environment, my main goal for the program was to inform and teach, despite the tempting draw of producing strictly for entertainment. Although our least-enjoyed segments each week, the news pieces we published received attention and consideration due to my strategic selection of what to cover. Aside from obvious major reports, like the election or the Zika outbreak, our news was catered to local students, providing scoops regarding the neighborhoods they all come from.

One of the greatest demonstrations of the widespread impact my club had on the students surrounded one of the school’s largest scandals. Over the weekend of prom, two students, intoxicated enough to create footage of their actions, were shown violating an unconscious female with an umbrella handle and cigar. As the school’s prominent source of information, it would have been a distasteful cop out and blatant lie of omission to not, at the very least, address the controversy on the show. After a heavy meeting with the principal, he and I determined that the script should be entirely objective and lack the gruesome details, so as to calm the commotion among the students. Surprisingly enough, our clearing up of rumors managed to settle the gossip in time for the trial, impressing not only the principal but my team as well.

Anticipated in every show was the comedy skits BraddockTV used to carry interest between the less colorful segments. From recurring sketches to spoof game shows, these were the pieces most recognized and celebrated. In a way, I believe these were the foundation of our audience’s intrigue and dedicated viewership as they targeted situations relatable to most of the students. While these bits could range from juvenile to parodical to cynical, they frequently doubled as announcements or contained significant underlying messages.

Albeit their whimsical and playful nature, these videos, like a bit entitled “That’s So Straight,” attempt to alter the way that students view certain aspects of the diverse and changing teenage society. The aforementioned segment was one that, with the cooperation of the gay/straight alliance, raised awareness about the use of homophobic slurs and phrases in daily conversation. Being from predominantly hispanic, conservative backgrounds, our students grew up thinking these jokes and outdated insults were the norm. I was inspired for the video by a commercial starring Wanda Sykes called “That’s So Gay,” where she mentioned the concern with using ‘gay’ as a derogatory adjective. We took the frequent use of term and adjusted it to lightheartedly poke fun at people and refer to their negative qualities and actions as being “so straight.” While it may have appeared childish or comical to some, it succeeded in my mission to bring attention to the issue of misusing queer terms as criticisms.

Although students received enjoyment from simply watching the broadcast, they coveted those ten seconds of fame offered by a spot on our show. Imagine, for one moment, a teenager’s longing to have their thoughts voiced and aired to their 5000 peers. Sometimes students were granted an entire two-minute segment if their story was moving and compelling. A senior that worked as lifeguard was featured after saving the life of a four year old boy and shared her tale of courage and the value of CPR training. These unattainable appearances on the show were too hard to reach for some of the less patient of our fans. This desperate need for attention birthed the art of student interviews, my most perfected work on the show.

While most news bits included student interviews regardless, a larger population wished to be featured on our less conservative pieces. “For a Dollar” was a segment that lasted over three years in the program and became increasingly popular with each episode. Students were randomly chosen from hallways and courtyards to answer trivia in return for one dollar. Although consistently silly and immature, most students felt honored to be embarrassed by our interviewers, editors, and cameramen as it entitled them to an instant of prevalence among everyone else. Within a semester of our debut during my sophomore year, we were being hollered at and begged for interviews as we walked the halls with our equipment. Not only did this boost our reputation as a club but increased viewership as it catered to the selfish nature of high school students and their insatiable thirst for popularity.

Although our TV production club juggled a variety of genres and media formats, our weekly newscast truly played a vital role in our purpose to inform and amuse the student body. The use of this particular genre was almost solely responsible for the success of our program and highlighted the importance of connecting to an audience to achieve an effective, rhetorically appealing composition. I was endlessly proud of the difference we were able to make in our miniature community and hope the show will continue to leave a lasting impression among students and faculty alike.