I can’t quite remember what convinced me to sign up for WACS NEWS, I don’t think I remembered signing up even until the first day of school. I think the name “Media Production” just sounded appealing. Or maybe Mr. Currin had said something to me after I was in a video from the previous year.  Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed the class and the experience that came along with it. Even though I’m someone who didn’t necessarily, get very hyped up about creating some stories, especially when I felt at a stand still, I think it’s very involving, creative, fun, and a class to look forward to when you have something going!

I’m Brandi Persutti, a junior reporter for WACS news. I choose to be a reporter for 1.) The comfort in not having to be too much in the spotlight, 2.) Seemed like I had a lighter load, and 3.)Felt that it would be easier and I would have to carry less responsibility. And I was wrong on all of these reasons. No matter what position you are in the studio, you are a piece, an asset, and what you make matters for the making of the production. Your name is known, you are remembered, and you are required to put in equal work and effort to create a great outcome, no matter the position. Throughout the year I created more stories and wrote more words than I thought I would! I think I speak for everyone (Besides Jill) that when I first saw the iMovie screen I instantly felt that anxiety of not knowing how to work it or where to even start. I think is was after my 2nd video that I began to understand the simple edits with iMovie, such as adding music, outside clips, cutting up videos, and from there, there was only growth! As an artist who has worked with image capturing media, I felt that I had a strong eye for what would look good in a video, and I feel like when I had the opportunity to create a story that could involve a lot of accessible B-Roll and a lot to look at, that was when I made my best stories. When I created a news story, on a Brunch Event that was held at the HighSchool to promote the school Musical of Beauty and the Beast, I felt that was almost like a breakthrough video, my very best. I was in a comfortable, fun environment, there was a lot going on, I had great B-Roll, it was eye catching, there were cute interviews , good lighting, and I myself liked making the video. So I really think that your best work comes from your attitude towards your story and what outside information you have handed to you.

I think the worst stories came from the topics that were either so far ahead that you couldn’t get much b-roll or a real generic topic, where your best sources were imaging off the internet, and that could  just look sloppy. For example, my worst stories included my black history month video and informational video on the summer recreation program. What i’ve learned through this class is the art in video making and discovering what looks good and what doesn’t. Media producing really is an art, it takes a creative eye and a steady hand to really bring a video to life. I also learned through an unsuccessful trial, is that if you don’t have access to a camera and feel you need to use a phone, you flip it horizontally. I decided to cover the annual easter egg hunt using my phone, and would have been a quality video if it weren’t for the sin of using the portrait setting to record(this creates gross black borders around your footage) (it was a rookie mistake). Any advice that I would give to future students is to stay on task, keep and open mind to ideas and topics- having more video ideas is better than having less, and your opinion is always important. Same goes for when you’re filming, it’s better to have too much film than not enough. Stay ahead, it’s a lot more relieving to have your video done by the beginning of the last day or even sooner, then you’ll have the time for perfecting your story.  WACS News is a good class to not only keep everyone up to date with the school, but it explores a new interest that can lead to a future career. Have fun. This class is a fun and learning experience, you’re offered with the opportunity to talk to new people, learn new topics, and learn new skills. It’s been real.