A little over a month ago, on Oct. 24, LMS students in Mrs. Roy’s Technology and Media Classes came to LHS for the first time to discuss a welcoming freshmen video project with high school students. Those students recently returned on Nov. 28 to wrap up pre-production for the video.
Though collaboration between middle and high school students in regards to this project was initiated just this year, this was not the first time the idea had been tossed around among Roy and high school Audio Production and Podcasting/Basic Video Production teacher Mrs. Robinson.
“Carolyn Roy at LMS and I have been informally talking and working together for the past couple of years,” Robinson said. “It was mentioned that there hasn’t been a video to welcome incoming freshmen to LHS for quite a while. So it made sense for us to work on creating a new one, working with the students that it is intended to serve.”
Teachers Robinson and Roy talk and plan among themselves.
That is exactly what the two teachers have set to accomplish this school year. Their two meeting dates within the last two months served to take the first step in making the video, which was to plan it. Robinson characterized the beginning as “chaos,” but now she says that the ideas have been “firmed up.”
“We have a much better plan,” Robinson said. “Our main focus is navigation. We want it to be through the eyes of an incoming freshman led by upperclassmen.”
Eighth graders were surveyed and were in agreement that what makes them the most anxious about starting high school is navigating the building and understanding how things work, which is why the primary video will highlight all of the different parts and hallways to the building.
During their meeting, the middle and high schoolers were broken up into groups and assigned sectors of LHS to take notes on. Everyone also had the opportunity to stand at the various outskirts of the lobby when the bell rang to view the disorder and confusion that goes on in between periods, which Robinson and her students noticed doesn’t look “as intense from the outside.”
In order to make the video realistic, the lobby portion (and others possibly) may end up being in first person point of view with the use of a GoPro. The concept of “staying to the right” when walking in the hallways will also be explained and incorporated, because that is something the high school students have highlighted as being important.
Using many types of filming techniques is important in video, so the students may include the utilization of time lapse as well because “real-time would be boring,” according to Robinson.
“There is too much content,” she said.
Besides packing all the material into a short video, there is another issue the project is facing: the rotation of students. The middle school breaks its school year into trimesters whereas the high school uses semesters.
Before dispersing into the hallways and lobby, students met in room 221 for instructions and discussion with their groups.
Since LMS’s trimester is ending soon, Robinson is hopeful a new group will come in to help with the actual preparation and filming. But LHS seniors will most likely still head things.
“The people with the best experience will create the best product,” Robinson said.
Based on availability and the difficulties accompanied with missing class, Robinson and her high school students are trying to figure out the best way “to make it happen.”
Right now, Robinson is hard at work transcribing all the notes students made while roaming the hallways to observe which elements are necessary to be filmed and explained.
She said they are ready to do the script, figure out the shooting sequence and make a list of the shots they’ll need. They also have to organize talent and the voiceover/narration.
The video should be done by April for necessary reviews/revisions. There is still the thought that separate projects may be created at a later date to address and answer incoming freshmen’s frequently asked questions.
“It seems that the combined efforts of both groups of students will make for a finished product that hopefully will address actual concerns rather than what we think incoming students are worried about,” Robinson said. “This way there is a much better chance that we can eliminate some of the anxiety and stress that comes with summer ending and freshman year rapidly approaching.”
