Growing as an Individual

The first semester of my senior year is unfortunately coming to a halt. It's tough to think that my adolescent years flew by quicker than I thought, but growing up is out of my control. I can honestly say that the class I'll miss the most when I go off to Kansas University, will be my Convergence Journalism E-communications class.

Semester 1 Developments 

Just over the past year, my technological skills as a journalist have progressively improved. My storytelling artistry's have enhanced immensely and I couldn't be happier about it. Last year, while being a junior, I never thought about the big idea of storytelling. Now that I've been taught how to do so, I feel like my works reach out and touch people. With that being said, I don't like to make videos because I "have to". I like to create videos because it's a passion of mine, and it gives me the opportunity to reach out to my viewers. Here is a link to a video I produced that gave people the emotional appeal:

My next skill that I have improved with this semester is sequencing. Another phase for the word sequencing is the 6 Shot System. After being taught this journalist approach from my teacher Mr. Allam, I really bought in after this semester. I've incorporated the 6 shot system into all of my recent works, and I've noticed that I've been receiving a lot of praising comments from the outside world. I've had parents come up to me about my productions and say nothing but nice things about them. It's fleeting to think about how a few little comments can turn my day around. Here is another video I made that imbeds the sequencing theory: 

Lastly, I think I've become a better writer. My junior year I was a descent writer, but I think after a few years of experience I've grown a bit. Just this semester my vocabulary has expanded, I have few grammar errors, and my articles give off morals. By giving off morals, I'm talking about making the article worth reading or having a specific purpose to creating it. I'm a published poet so I've been called "intellectual" so I figured I better keep that reputable. Here is an example of an article I've written that hopefully gives the viewer a sense of inspiration: 

Colin Couch: An Inspiration to all

Hopes for Semester 2

It's finally here; my last semester of high school. It's a tad bittersweet but like I said before, growing up is out of my control. To be completely honest, I don't at all feel like a senior. In my eyes and I'm sure my peers eyes, I still look like a freshman. The only thing I can do with the short amount of time I have left, is make my mark. 

This next semester, I'd like to make it known that I'm a great writer. It might not be true, but it's still a goal that I have endured. When I'm gone I want people to say, "he may not of said much, but that kid could sure write." It may be a simplistic goal and I know the probability of someone saying that are slim to none, but a boy can only hope. 

My next goal is to improve the way Olathe Northwest sees the Convergence Journalism class. We have worked our butts off over the years and are just now getting the wanted results. My freshman and sophomore year, the weekly showing was a complete joke. The student viewers laughed every time they saw ONW NOW, and it was really disappointing to see. Now that we have received a new tri-caster, the weekly showing is a lot more respected. My job as a senior is to keep things the way they are and pass the respect down to the current junior class. Here is our latest showing that was put on last Wednesday: 

Signing Day Process

After having an acquaintance sign to the University of Oklahoma to play baseball, I decided I wanted to learn more about it. I didn’t necessarily want to make this a featured story; I wanted to make the story about the signing process in general.

At first, my partner and I planned to interview several different people who have experienced the endorsement process. That obviously didn’t go as planned and we only ended up with two interviews. Our other planned subjects had busy schedules and they weren’t at all available. It was disappointing and could have added to our story, but rolling with the punches is a part of being a journalist.

The biggest issue we faced was coming up with the story idea itself. Not much was happening in my school that week, so I really had to get creative. Another issue my partner and I faced was finding quality b-roll opportunities. We couldn’t revive any of the baseball footage we had of Austin last year, so we basically started from scratch.

Our first interview went pretty mediocre. Our subject was Austin Hansen at the time, and it was a struggle to get him to open up. He’s not a huge fan of fame so it was obvious that he’s not comfortable on camera. I tried to edit to make it seem like he was comfortable, but if you look closely
you’ll see that he looks down and he slurs his words.

The second subject was the school counselor Mrs. Saliva, and she wasn’t at all shy. Every question I asked she answered clearly and thoroughly, (that’s a journalists dream by the way). I’m going to be completely honest and say that I wasn’t at all prepared for this interview. Mrs. Saliva is a busy woman so I had to get an interview with her when she had the time. After waiting a few days for a response back, she finally contacted me at the most inconvenient time.

Overall, I feel like my editing was top notch. I engrained sequencing and all the components of storytelling into this package. I have a beginning, middle, and end, but I’m lacking a conflict. I think the story turned out well without one, so I’m going to leave the final product the way it is.

Dipping My Feet In Entertainment

Even though my expertises are in the Convergence Journalism strand, I figured I’d dip my feet in the entertainment strand as well. My next project is going to be a short documentary about the week in a life of a wrestler. I decided to put together a story proposal as well, which is posted below:

Title: Men of the Mat

Producers: Quen Barkyoumb & Tyler Soetaert

My documentary is about a week in the life of a high school wrestler. They seem to endure a lot and I feel like they deserve more credit than they’ve been given. The main conflict is between how much wrestlers sacrifice or the fear of all the hard work not paying off. Ultimately, I want the audience to feel intrigued and to understand the personal sacrifices these wrestlers make. I also want to make the audience appreciate what all it takes to experience the sport itself.

Characters:

Doug Newcomb- Senior wrestler, 3 time state placer, Wrestling team Captain.

Mrs. Newcomb- Doug’s Mother, involved parent, and a contributor to the Olathe Northwest wrestling booster club.

Will Whitaker – Junior wrestler, state runner up at 106 pounds, one of the team leaders.

Coach Mesa- Head coach of the wrestling team, huge role model, wrestled in college.

Coach Rodden- Assistant wrestling coach, former Olathe Northwest wrestler.

Conflict:

These young men put forth every once of energy towards this sport, and it must be fearful to think that all of the hard work won’t pay off.

Climax: Doug placing at a wrestling tournament, or one of the Olathe Northwest wrestlers getting his hand waved after a match.

Plot Diagram:

Every drop of sweat, every painful workout, and every blow of the whistle will capture viewers.

Act 1 will entail the beginning of the week, right after a meet in the end preparing for a new week, as well as winning. I picture a rush of events and then it finally stops and enters with an interview to begin Act 1. It will quickly and surely reel in an audience.

Act 2 will be composed of midweeks work leading to a dual. This is the juice of the story and it will hit viewers hard. It will eventually lead to the dual and the climax will be about reached.

Act 3 will be composed of the actual meet and what Doug Newcomb and every other wrestler had been working towards the whole week.

The film will have all come to this. It will leave the audience with an interview by Doug finally explaining how he truly feels about it all and the hand being raised. The smile from ear to ear, the feeling of sheer satisfaction and then, the story will drop. It will finally meet the end with how the beginning started.

Filming will begin over the upcoming winter break, cutting weight and avoiding holiday meals as part of the sacrifice. The meat of the filming will take place when we return and of course the first the meet or dual back after break.