|
SITE NAVIGATION |
Return to the Video Viewfinder
menu
Video Viewfinder
Keith Kyker and Christopher Curchy
Adding Technology to Your School's News Show
Over the past few years as your school’s media specialist, you have probably mastered the basics of producing your school’s news show. Turn on the camera, prepare the graphics, bring up the microphone on the audio mixer, and you are ready to go with today’s announcements. Are you ready to add a little "excitement" to your show? How about adding some of today’s technology to your daily news show! Your morning news show doesn’t have to be a "Teletubbies" production, but with the addition of one or more existing technologies, it can be a fun and informative way of disseminating information in your school.
Adding a Character Generator
One of the least expensive and very useful technologies for stepping up the appeal of your school’s news show is the character generator. A few years ago, a good character generator would cost thousands of dollars. With the advent of digital electronics, character generators are now available for $300-$600. Today’s character generators offer dozens of fonts, colors, backgrounds, and effects to add some pizzazz to your news show. Watch your local news show tonight. Notice how many pages of graphics are used to fill the screen during the course of the show. What would ESPN’s "Sports Center " be without the use of graphics? BORING! Not only are graphics used to heighten viewer interest, but also the viewer assimilates information easier as he/she reads along with the announcer. Colored backgrounds, varied fonts, and directional effects make even the most repetitive announcement (insert "lunch menu" here) more interesting. Add the fact that the younger students are actually "reading" along as they are listening, you will see increased learning accompanied by increased attention. A good general rule of thumb is to make a "graphic" for every third announcement. You will find watching your news show to be less tedious, because the addition of graphic pages will make the timing and flow of the show better. Afraid of the electrical connections needed to make this first step? Don’t be! Adding a character generator to your news show involves only one or two new "connections" and cords. Simply find the "video out" connection of your camcorder, and plug it into the "video in" connection of the character generator. Then connect the "video out" on the character generator to the "video in" connection on the recording/broadcast VCR. It is simple, fast, and effective.
Using Your Computer
Another readily available technology for enhancing your school’s news show is the computer. I know you have one…we all do! Figuring out how to use one to enhance a school’s news show took me just a few weeks of research and about $99. I wanted to be able to access the computer image easily to be able to show Internet pages during the course of our news show. We were especially interested in using pages such as www.weather.com to display daily and weekend weather forecasts. Several companies (Focus Enhancements and Aver, most notably) make VGA-to-TV converters that are readily available at electronics stores or via the Internet. These devices convert your computer's VGA to video signal that can be used by your video equipment. It only took 10 minutes to convert my computer to a video ready machine. Now I simply connect the "video out" (using VHS or SVHS cords) to the "video in" of my video mixer and "Whoop, There It Is!" Not only can I access fun, interesting, and informative web sites for my news broadcasts, but my students can also design and record numerous software projects from this computer and take them home on videotape! With some creative switching patterns, we can "split-screen" both the anchor and the computer screen during our broadcasts. I am sure you will find other creative and useful assignments for this technology.
Basic Chroma-key
One of the most interesting and fun uses of technology actually came from a creative use of an old "movie/overhead" screen hanging in my room. I haven’t used it in the two years I have been teaching at Windy Ridge, and my students were very anxious and curious to use the "Chroma Key" function on our new switcher (Videonics MX Pro, cost $1000). So, I want to Home Depot and bought a can of bright green paint for $9 (indoor, flat) and literally "painted" my screen. The color resembles the "green" of the carpet on miniature golf courses you find yourself on during family vacations in the summer. After two coats with a 6" brush, we were ready to test our new technology. And it really, really worked well!
We used it to do interviews with our girl’s soccer team members with the "field" and practice sessions behind them. The students also designed interesting backgrounds on the computer to "key" behind them for reports. And finally, we used it instead of our "tired" background for our monthly news magazine show "What’s Up, Windy Ridge?" And the best thing about it, when we are done it simply rolls up! No dragging backdrops or hanging curtains…just roll it up.
If your news show seems stale and unappealing, or if you just want to have some fun and excitement in your classroom, try adding these ideas and technologies. It is amazing how interested students can get in an "old" tradition with the addition of a few "new" ideas. Try some!
Return to the Video Viewfinder menu
070504