Behind the scenes: Podcast

This year we jumped into the world of social media, like I have mentioned in Lesson #3: Change. One of the things that we started doing differently this was getting more into the world of video journalism. I had thought about doing this my Sophomore year, especially since we had a great video editor in class that really loved the idea, but with so much going on we never really followed through with the idea until this year. This year we got two additions to staff that hadn't taken the prerequisite journalism class, and were really looking for a way to occupy themselves, we decided to do the podcast. 


Thus far the podcast has been a lot of work, but has been a lot of fun and is one of the most exciting things that we've created lately. It has received a lot of criticism but has gained a large fan base and more compliments then criticism which is exactly what we like to see.


Much like my How the Paper Works behind the scenes, I will give a quick run down of how the podcast works.


Step 1: We decide what to cover. Much like how we decide with our magazine we usually pick exciting things going on around the school (that are timely to the video) and just show an exclusive behind it and show video coverage of it.


Step 2: Choosing the outfits. On our podcast we try and look as great as we can (not like we already don't) so when deciding to do the podcast we have to look our best! 


Step 3: Recording the coverage. We usually cover clubs, sports, and activities that are going on, so we have to get there in time and record us being active with whatever it is.


Step 4: Recording in the studio. We then have to record us talking and get the video of us with the green screen behind us. This is usually the hardest part because we have a lot of fun doing it, and when we mess-up it usually generates a lot of laughs. 


Step 5: Editing. The editing process can be interesting. Putting the chroma keyer (green screen generator) to work can be questionable because there is a lot of technical stuff that is really hard to iron out. Then we put it all together and render the final video.


Step 6: Posting to the web. We did the first two installments on Friday, but then switched to Monday to give us more time to get everything put together well, then we post to the web. We also show it through to the school through our announcement system.


Then we re-do the process on a weekly basis.


With the new podcast, we had to get a lot of new equipment. We have two Sony Bloggie video cameras that were recently provided by a parent of a student who graduated from the school last year (which was incredibly generous, and we thank you). We use Sony Vegas 10 Pro and iMovie 11 as software to edit our videos. 


Overall the podcast has been an exciting edition to the journalism program at our school. We have fun while doing it, people like it, and it really is a fun process. 

Usually I'm not self-endorsed but please view our first installment of the video above and check out our video work through that Youtube channel.


Thank you!