Jake Santo, Managing Editor
Each morning, most students at Penn-Trafford High School tune into the morning announcements and weekly midday Friday show, but many may not know the strenuous happenings that go into each broadcast.
This all happens in the video department at the school, who refer to themselves as Penn-Trafford Video (PTV). A crew of around 10 to 15 students sacrifice their mornings to prepare for the morning show that is live streamed across the entire high school.
“It is more involved than turning on a video camera and setting up a few microphones,” said crewmember Junior Dan Rauso.
Each member of the crew has a responsibility, and that varies depending who is involved in setup that day.
Most days begin around 7:10 a.m. to prepare for that upcoming show, and a predetermined schedule is produced showing who will be anchoring that it. Once enough people arrive to produce the show, preparation begins.
There are five computers in the control room, each with its own job in producing the show. One is designated for creating the images for the “birthdays” and “college visits” that are to be displayed on that day. This page is updated each day by one of the students ahead of that mornings show.
Another computer researches the weather conditions for that day and prepares it for its appearance on the show live on the air.
Another has the responsibility of having the script ready to go for the anchors to read on the teleprompters. These teleprompters are displayed underneath each camera. This script can be edited on a moment’s notice, even while the broadcast is taking place to fix any errors that are discovered.
One of the computer’s focus is on displaying name titles and transitions that occur.
The final computer controls what is being live streamed over the air. These measures include which camera is being shown; volume of anchors and including other previously recorded videos within the piece.
Since the new renovations to PTHS, new equipment and technology has been available to the Video Department.
Teacher Steve Vinton, who oversees all of the Video classes at Penn-Trafford, is in charge of the morning show. The video department moved to the front of the building during the renovation of the high school last year.
Vinton said, “Things have changed since the move. We have gotten new lighting. We have brand new equipment with the soundboard. Everything is pretty much new.”
In addition to the students in the control room, there are four people on the cameras that are rolling to capture the anchors. They are in contact with the producer by headsets, so adjustments can be made during the show.
The last three members of the staff are the three anchors who you see each morning. The anchors each read from a script that displayed with the teleprompter underneath the camera. On most days, two students are behind the desk and one off to the side for a daily “sports report.”
However, recently the PTV team has been able to expand their capabilities by reporting live from alternative locations. Students may have been able to notice with the weather report from an outside location and the Presidential Election coverage from the library. This change is thanks to the Wireless platform where students are using the program to stream live video with a table or phone back to the studio, where it is able to shown like it was a normal piece.
Senior Dylan Cleland, who helped anchor the Presidential Election Special, said of the new technology, “We have been able to do several capabilities we weren’t able to do in the past. We can stream video from anywhere that has Internet access back to the studio fro broadcast.”