Senior Celebration

Congratulations to the class of 2013! The seniors celebrated their last year of high school on Friday, November 16th at the Fitzgerald Gym. Here are a few highlights from the evening:


Remember to check out the Video Yearbook in May for highlights from the class of 2013's senior year!

Join the SADD Club!

Great news! I am now the club sponsor for SADD - Students Against Destructive Decisions! That's right, the club that sponsors the Mr. Fitz competition, and brings in a crashed car to spread awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. We have had a few meetings so far, and would like to invite you to join us at our next meeting - Monday November 19th.

**** Right now we are collecting winter coats, boots, hats, gloves, etc for Homeless Awareness Month. **** All coats collected will be distributed to Fitzgerald Families, so do something sweet and help keep our Fitz families warm this winter! Coats can be dropped off in the main office of the TV studio!!

Lanyards for Sale!!

Purchase your new lanyards from E-268 or the Spartan Shop and support the TV Production classes! Lanyards are just $5.00!!!

Video Response: Public Speaking

Have you ever watched a video and thought - hey I can do that better! Well, I certainly have! As I was preparing a lesson on proper delivery techniques for my Public Speaking class, I came across this video:



Two speech teachers decided to put together examples of what to do and what not to do when delivering a speech. Although the teachers are hilarious, and the information is great - I found myself distracted by the lack of a tripod, microphone or white balancing in the shot.

So, I said to my students - let's do this...better! Here's what we came up with:



What do you think? Did we accomplish our goal? What videos have you seen that you think you can do "better"? Comments welcome!

Welcome Students!

I'm super excited for the 2012-2013 school year! This year the Fitzgerald TV Production classes are now on Twitter! Follow us here! I look forward to an exciting school year and plenty of creative videos! This year's Film Festival will be Wednesday, April 17th at 7:00pm! Have a great year everyone!

2011-2012 Video Yearbook

Attention class of 2012 - we have a special treat for you!

This year's video yearbook features interviews with seniors, teachers, video from pep rally's and senior events, along with photo montages from Prom and much more!

Check out this sneak peek of the 40 minute video:



Order your copy by contacting Mrs. Smith, or bring $10.00 to Graduation!

Fitzgerald Student Film Festival

Follow us on TWITTER: @FitzTVProduction or #FitzFilmFest

You are invited to the Fitzgerald Student Film Festival! Friday, May 18th at 7:00 pm in the Fitzgerald High School Auditorium! Scary Movie Trailers, Music Videos, Stop Motion Animation, and more! Come out and support our TV Production students, they have worked hard all year to see their videos on the big screen!

Fitzgerald's Open House

Tonight, Fitzgerald High School will host an Open House for students and families across the state who are interested in enrolling in the fall. The open house will showcase our elective programs and feature a video we created that highlights all of the classes. Here is the section that depicts our TV Production program: What do you think? Are you a school of choice student? What program drew you to pick Fitzgerald? Leave your comments!

Hallway Expectations

From the creators of "Auditorium Behavior" comes... "Hallway Expectations"... The Advanced TV Production class was once again asked to create a short film depicting appropriate behavior at Fitzgerald High School. This time, the administration wanted us to address the chaos in the hallways during passing time. Teachers put together a list of behaviors they wanted to see improved, and how students can improve them. We took that list and gave one issue to each group of two students. That group then brainstormed how we could show this to the school. After running their pitch by the rest of the class, we started production. This time we went for a more comedic approach and threw in a reference to the great Tarantino (did you catch it?). The staff and students haven't seen our final product yet, it's set to air on March 19th. Until then, enjoy this video and let me know what you think! Do you think anything needs to change in our hallways? Have you ever been late to class because the hallways were so congested with people standing around that you just couldn't get through? Do you find yourself with a splitting headache after standing in the hallway for only thirty seconds? How do you think this video will impact our school? How would you have done the video yourself? Leave your name in the comments for extra credit... Check out more of our videos on our YouTube Page.

Orchard Lake Film Festival

On Friday, February 3rd, several TV Production students from Fitzgerald attended the Orchard Lake Film Festival at West Bloomfield High School. While we did not submit any entries into the contest, we did enjoy listening to the presenters, and watching student films from other schools. My favorite moment from the day was when Gary Schwartz, animator from Single Frame Films, presented a stop motion demonstration.

He selected a series of sounds that were already mapped out for frame duration, and asked student volunteers to create movement frame-by-frame for the duration of the sound. The effect was exciting and presented a unique approach to our class stop motion projects in the future!

Next year I hope that we can enter some of our own student work, as the top prize was a brand new HD camera and the second prize was a $1,000 scholarship from the Motion Picture Institute. Now that we know what to expect from the event, I look forward to what we can bring next year!

Comments? Questions? You know the drill...

Video Valentines!

Fitz News Presents: Video Valentines Send a Message to your Sweetie On the Daily Announcements Too shy to appear on camera? No problem! You can write out your message, and we will air it on screen with fun Valentine’s Day hearts and candy. $1.00 Written Message $5.00 Video Message February 6 – February 10 All Lunch Hours Video Valentines will air February 14th 5th Hour on Fitz News

The Do's & Don'ts at Fitzgerald

As we sit back and observe the comings and goings at Fitzgerald, a few things come to our attention. It seems that there are certain situations in which our students have a hard time knowing what behavior is expected of them. At this stage in the game, it is assumed by most secondary teachers that these expectations have been taught previously... but what if they haven't? Fitzgerald staff has decided that it's important to take some time to teach, or remind, students what their behavior should be in various situations, and how that behavior impacts our school's reputation as a whole.

In order to make this experience a little more entertaining, the administration asked our class to create some videos that would teach the proper behaviors. We had some fun putting together our first video in class, and I really enjoyed being able to work with the whole class on this project!

Check out the video, and leave us a comment. If you helped make the video, let me know what you thought about the experience and the final product. Do you have any thoughts on the behavior at Fitzgerald? Do you think things like how to behave in an assembly should be taught in high school? I'd love to hear your feedback!

The PAWS PSA Contest

The PAWS Public Service Announcement Contest has begun! The Advanced TV Production students each created their own PSA for the Detroit Bully Crew, C.H.A.I.N.E.D. Inc, or the All About Animals Clinic. We screened the videos in class with Ms. Akins' AP Biology students, and voted on our favorites. The top videos in each category were then uploaded to the Fitzgerald's PAWS Facebook Page.

Check out the videos on the Fitzgerald's PAWS Facebook page, and vote for the best one by "liking" it. The video with the most votes by December 16th will win a cash prize!!!

The P.A.W.S. Project Continues

Students in the Advanced TV Production classes met with representatives from local animal welfare organizations to hear about their mission and incorporate information into the public service announcements they are creating.

Last week, Michelle Way from the World Animal Awareness Society spoke to the students about getting the message about animals out to a large audience, and how to incorporate the best images & video into their projects. She gave them information about fair use sites such as archive.org and how to request permission to use other people's pictures and videos. Michelle will return next week to check out the progress on the PSA's and offer her advice.

Students also had the opportunity to hear from the Detroit Bully Crew, and meet their special spokes-dog, Tank. Tank's story touched the hearts of the class, and helped to motivate them to create awareness about the mistreatment of pit bulls, and all dogs. Tank was very well behaved and greeted every student with a slobbery hello. The DBC showed pictures of what Tank had been through and explained why they want to help in Detroit, and the importance of spaying and neutering our animals. They can't wait to see what the students come up with for their PSA's and allowed the students to use their website as a reference. They also gave every one of the students their own Detroit Bully Crew T-shirt which was so generous and thoughtful of them! What an amazing experience for our class!

What did you think of the presentations? Do you have any questions for WA2S or DBC? Any thoughts or comments you would like to share about the P.A.W.S. experience so far?

Advanced TV Production Field Trip

On Thursday, October 27th the Advanced TV Production class took a field trip to All About Animals in Warren. We were able to tour the facility and learn about what they do, in order to help them with our Service Learning Project called PAWS. PAWS stands for Promoting Academics with Service and allows our students to experience real-world application of skills they are learning in class in order to help out their own community. Due to the incredible problem with stray and feral cats and dogs in the Warren community, Fitzgerald staff has chosen this organization to donate their service to.

Advanced TV Production students will be creating Public Service Announcements, filming workshops at the clinic, and helping out with video services in any way the clinic needs. This pioneer project has inspired the students to create motivational music videos, filled with facts about Warren and Detroit's stray and feral animal problem. These videos will be played on the Fitz News Show to help inspire other students to join the PAWS program and also to educate our own community. Check out the pictures from our trip!

We will post updates of our projects throughout the year. What ways do you think you would like to participate? What do you think of the PAWS project? How can Fitzgerald help? What other organizations should we team up with in the future? Leave me a comment!!!

Video Blocks Competition

Hey everyone, as you probably know by now, earlier this year I entered us in the Video Blocks Editing Station Competition. We took a picture of one of our editing stations, entered it, then people could vote on which editing station they liked. We had so much help and support from students, teachers, staff members, friends and family, that we remained in the top 6 throughout the whole competition! After the final count... the results came in... and we took FIFTH PLACE with this picture:



Although we didn't win that brand new camera, we still won something pretty cool, free access to Stock Footage and Production Music! This will definitely come in handy! Out of over 300 entries, 5th place is great! I can't wait to enter again next year! Thanks again for all of your votes and sorry about the constant email reminders!

Check out the video blocks site by clicking here: Video Blocks. For information about how to access the footage and our member login, send me an email or find out in class.


I want to hear from you! If you know how we can do better next year, leave a comment with some ideas! Also, do you think next year we should use a picture of the whole studio, or was the minimalist effect better? Include your name in your comment please!

Seeing Double... Filming 3D Video

Last week the advanced TV students discussed 3D video. We are pretty much inundated with 3D movies, from children's cartoons to action-packed blockbusters, everything is offered with a more expensive 3D tag. But can we create these 3D movies ourselves? Do we need to purchase fancy 3D cameras? Or $150 3D glasses? We watched this tutorial which showed us that with just two similar cameras, and a unique tripod rig, we can create our own 3D videos... and even our own 3D glasses... check it out:



Now that we know we can do it ourselves, we discussed the future video project full of 3D wonder...look for it in the not-so-distant future!

We also checked out a professional video shoot using a few more tools here:



But of course, there is always the most expensive option, to purchase our own 3D, double lens camera!



This Panasonic beauty will only set you back about $20,000.... doesn't it look space-age?!
Is 3D here to stay? Will we always have to wear those glasses? Have you shot in 3D yet?
Leave your name in your comments....

Entering the Blogosphere

It seems hard to believe that people actually survived without blogs little more than 10 years ago. Where did one go to find another anonymous person's musings on hair gel and sandals? With the millions of random blogs out there it becomes increasingly important to ask "how can we know who to trust"? I've spent some time looking at various film and video blogs and have come up with a small but evolving list of a few blogs that I check on a semi-regular basis.

Slash Film
Up to the minute information on everything film. Find out what projects are in the works, what's releasing, what's been cancelled, and even a little humor to make it all the more relevant.
MovieWeb
Similar to /Film, often updated information about upcoming movie releases, including trailers!
On Videos
Although this blogger is now focusing on filming with his DSLR, his ideas and posts still provide relevant information to me and my students, creative ideas and some insightful connections. Unfortunately he doesn't post too often, check every few weeks for something new.
Video Producer Blog
From more of a tech standpoint, this blog delivers excellent production information and advice for the novice to the advanced. Again, not updated as frequently as one would wish.
Pixelriffic
Another cool techie blog, this one is updated monthly with good advice and software information.

What blogs do you read? Do you prefer a blog to update daily? If you were to write a blog, what would you write about? Can you find any other video production or film blogs that are relevant to our class? Happy Blogging! Share your comments for extra credit.

Interactive Music Video

Earlier this year we talked about the evolution of the Music Video into an interactive fan forum. Where will the future take us? In reflecting on the unique take on music videos, I came across even more surprises and formats than the unique Arcade Fire put yourself (er, your house) in the shot interpretation.

First, there's this: Bon Jovi is asking fans to create their own slideshows using Animoto with the promise to cycle through them on their live tour. Not only can you be a part of their music in your living room, now you can be a part of their music in front of thousands of people. Here's Bon Jovi explaining the contest:



There's also this: a fan tribute to Johnny Cash, a frame-by-frame music video that combines thousands of portraits from fans showing how the Man in Black inspired them. You can view the video in a number of ways, in an ever-changing and evolving body of work that has reached a large audience. Check out the documentary here:



So what do you think? I'll ask again... where is this taking us? How will this evolve, and what new outlets for artist and fan collaboration will arise? Will the interactive music video replace the high-cost over produced karaoke style of music video that we know and (love) today?

Everything is a Remix

A fellow Broadcasting teacher shared this video, and I thought it was too good not to pass along. Perhaps we will even debate this in class as well.

"Creation requires influence. Everything we make is a remix of existing creations, our lives, and the lives of others." What does that mean to you? Does a truly original idea exist? Does taking an already used idea and twisting it count as original? Watch the video and let me know what you think.

The idea is simple: that the idea is simple and most likely not original.
Many popular movies (including Avatar, Star Wars, and even Kill Bill) may be a little more inspired than you might have believed. Check out this video for a full breakdown. After the credits roll, stay tuned for more...

Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Looking forward to reading your comments!