Broadcast...
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth millions. While I definitely have a limited skillset, I've always gravitated towards making videos as I think they are great way to make a topic come to life & truly immerse the audience. However, as our school's broadcasting club (WABC) handles the official broadcast opportunities, much of this interest has manifested into mainly incorporating videos into articles and covering events live on social medias. I think this is a huge area of improvement for our staff with a lot of potential in the upcoming years, especially as audiences demand more engaging content & we familiarize ourselves more with the video capabilities of our camera. For as long as I've been on staff, we haven't explored videography in-depth and it is not a super common approach, but I have created a few (simple) videos, in attempt to test the waters.
Videos:
Typically, soundbytes are formatted as canva graphics with a picture of a person & a quotation of their answer to a shared question. While I've created my fair share of those, I decided to make this one - spotlighting the world cup & its presence at WA - a video. With a clear liveliness and clear buzz going around WA, I wanted to add a video element to the World Cup article a senior editor, Pravar, was writing at the time. I'm pretty proud of this one because although I just used my phone, I ended up exploring a lot of perspectives and even a student who was boycotting the World Cup. The video format also attracted more viewers and I felt it was an engaging way to show how so many students had found unity in a shared love for soccer. Now, though it doesn't always work, I always find myself encouraging people to turn their soundbytes projects into videos.
Video Soundbytes: World Cup
Valentine's Day Special: Kucajs
I came across this idea after looking through the Ghostwriter's old Youtube page from years ago, curious to see what sort of videos we used to produce before we stopped. In the depths of my stalking, I stumbled upon an video from nearly 13 years ago that interviewed two WA English teachers who had recently gotten married. Although we had brought up the idea of writing fun features on married teacher couples before, it was after this moment that I knew it just HAD to be a video. Inspired partly by Vanity Fair's "Same interview, __ years later" series, I scheduled an interview with the same teacher couple and brainstormed questions - many of which referenced back to the video made 13 years ago. With editing, I added glimpses of what their past answers were, and how, if any they had changed. There were many parallels between both time periods and the video format truly showcased their personalities & relationship dynamic. I had a lot of fun making and editing this video and interestingly enough, this 13 year update is the 13th most liked post of all time on our instagram!
Outside of School
Over the summer, I volunteered with the Westford Museum. Among others, one of our biggest projects involved the museum's annual "Wild Women of Westford" event. In addition to women of the past, the museum also spotlights one current-day influential woman. To help bring this year's spotlight on Mrs. Mason to life, I worked with the museum director and Westford Community Access Television (CAT) to create a podcast episode interview. With access to the CAT's recording studio, I was able to learn the more technical aspects of podcasting along with an enlightening conversation with Mrs. Mason.
In the upcoming months, I will be working with the museum director for a continuation of this series, interviewing all 11 influential women that have served on Westford's (male dominated) Select Boards over the last 40 years.
Miscellaneous / some quick ones...
For this article, I incorporated a quick video element that summarizes Whitman's incredibly rare feat of achieving a perfect score on the AP Chemistry exam & his study tips for students.
This was a continuation of a series created by a graduated editor-in-chief and also my first attempt at video-making as a freshman, along with two other members of the club. In hindsight, this one is a bit of a shaky mess, both in terms of sound and video quality and there is a lot I would change to make it appear less awkward. However, I do think it was a good way to "break the ice" with creating videos in general and feeling more comfortable approaching later projects. Familiarity with this project has also helped in encouraging staff/editors to take on more of this series, including video interviews with a new principal and new dean or changing the usual format of our valedictorian/salutatorian features at the end of the year to incorporate video interviews.
23 Questions: Class of 2025 President
In my coverage of a talent show, I incorporated videos into the mix as I felt they would better encompass the event than just photos alone.
In the works...
Currently, I am working with another editor to create a mini-documentary/video about a staff member who is retiring this year after decades. Despite much of his technology related works taking place behind the scenes, we are hoping to spotlight his tremendous impact on the school, which often goes unnoticed. As I don't think we have successfully completed this longer video style in the past, I am excited to explore this method of storytelling and the camera itself. I also hope to use this experience to create resources for upcoming staff to grow comfortable with video-making as well.
Instagram Live Coverage!
I've covered about 12 games live on social media. These involve updates on scores, significant plays, and interviews with key players/coaches. They are usually a mixture of photos and videos. We typically average anywhere from 300-500 views on each post. Here are a few examples of my work!
