By John Garces/sports editor
Students in the radio and television broadcasting program on NE Campus are learning their skills in a unique way by working on an original script and performing all the duties to produce it.
Students in the class, which meets 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, are helping to shoot, direct and perform the original script written by Jerry Zumwalt, department head.
“Pool of Blood” is giving students the chance to learn how to direct and perform duties necessary to be successful in their field.
Students in other classes will benefit from the production, as well.
“One of the things we are doing with this production is giving other classes a chance to edit and turn it into their own interpretation of the script,” Zumwalt said.
The production is set at a carnival and revolves around a fortune teller and her crew of characters who run a side show that results in the deaths of many of the characters, some of who have their body parts sold for profit under the guise of a legitimate carnival operation.
The production is making use of the new studio set that was acquired by the department last semester from CBS 11 through an RTVB student who was interning there.
The set was made available when the station converted its studio to high-definition and needed to retire its old set.
The new set is the first permanent set for the department and allows students to focus more on the technical aspects of putting on a show instead of taking up class time to strike a temporary set.
The production is being shot entirely in front of a green screen to allow editors to provide the necessary background effects and special effects in post-production.
Ashley Hall, one student in the directing class, plays three characters, all of whom are murdered during the show.
“It’s challenging because you don’t get to spend a whole lot of time with any one of them,” she said. “Not having any professional experience makes it tougher.”
But the experience gained from being on the other side of the camera as actors can be a positive, Hall said.
“It’s important to be in the actor’s shoes because, as a director, it makes you understand more what you need to do,” she said.
Tia Crymes, another student in the class, is hoping to learn other skills.
“You need to be organized, or you will go crazy,” she said. “Keeping people in the right direction is the most important thing for me.”
Each student in the class is being given the chance to direct one scene of the production, and Sebastian Renteria, NE student, believes the production is giving people the chance to become leaders.
“One of the most basic points of directing is being a leader and a team player, and that’s why we take the class,” he said.
