The Intro Class from the point of view of an Intro Kid. By Kaitrin Swinford

I’m an intro kid. not a K-AHs kid, an intro kid. I know I’m not as cool as a K-AHS kid, and this is why I have the Intro Blues. the Intro class is cool, it’s fun, and it’s why I want to be on K-ahs next year .but, when you show up to class, walk into the door labeled media studio and sit in the K-Ahs class room . You can’t help but feel a little sad about the fact that your not that cool yet.

Yes, we do a lot of the similar things that the “real” K-AHS kids do, we make intros, construct B-Roll , and write screen plays. but we all know that we are not K-AHS were the intro kids. That's why we have the Intro Blues , any kid in Intro will tell you, we want in K-AHS. Until then were just nobodies on the path to coolness .

Now you might be asking what makes a K-AHS kid so cool, and what makes a Intro kid not as cool. Well the coolness of a K-AHS kid comes from being able to say that they have a part every day in the show that we Austin High and Intro kids see every mourning that makes are day so much better. the awesomeness of being in K-AHS might come from the nifty badges that these cool kids have. This badge states freely the greatness of a K-AHS kid, it says “look at me I’m so cool , I have a Get out of class free card and since I’m so cool i get to pass go and collect two hundred dollars as well.”

What do we Intro kids have? FCP test, lessons and a wish. I’m pretty sure that test have no coolness in Austin High. No, i Know for a fact that test are not cool here or any school in the USA . lessons are not cool, i mean if your into learning there cool but not really. wishes are surly not the cats pajamas , disney princesses wish, Pinochio had a wish. where did that put him? In a puppeteers cage , and on some island filled with lame little boys. that is not what Intro kids want to be.

So that is why I am informing you why The K-AHS kids are so cool and why us Intro Kids have the Intro Blues.

Kaitrin Swinford - Intro to Media Tech

Next Year by Gil Garia

Next year we are changing the structure of our classes due to the block schedule. We are also changing the names of the classes. below is a breakdown. In order to maintain a daily show without double blocking the class I have decided to split up the 20 seniors into two classes of 10. I am then going to put 10 juniors in each of those classes thereby turning it into a stacked class (a class period made up of two different classes).

So on "A" day there will be a class of 10 seniors producing the show while ten juniors work on their projects to support the show. The same thing happens on "B" day, just with different kids. I will have four intro classes. I have posted applications for each class online under the handouts section of www.mrgarcia.org there is also a rubric posted for the intro to av production class on there too. I will be making decisions on who makes it to the advanced class soon after the fourth six weeks is over, I will be making decisions about the practicum class by the end of March, and I will make decisions for the intro class by the beginning of March.

As the application states, next years seniors are being ranked based on 4 things, the average grade of their packages, average grade of produced shows, their fall semester exam and a final cut pro test that will cover every one of my FCP tutorials. This test will be given on Friday March 26th. I still have two more lessons to post but there is plenty to get started with. The test will not be open notes. There is a link to the tutorials on the right of this page! how convenient! or you can click here

PUT DOWN THE CLASS YOU WANT ON YOUR CHOICE SHEET NOW!

I will tell the counselors who makes it and who doesn't, so put an alternate too.

Digital Filmmaking: (intro) AUDIO/VIDEO PRODUCTION.
Grade Placement: 10-11 Credit: 1.0
Prerequisite/Comments: Application must be filled out in case of overage, Weighted credit, see Gil Garcia Room 334. This is an introductory digital filmmaking and broadcast production class. Students will learn screenwriting, camera, sound recording and editing to make short films, music videos and news packages. This is a prerequisite for the K-AHS classes. Counts for college credit at ACC.


Digital Filmmaking: ADVANCED AUDIO/VIDEO PRODUCTION
Grade Placement: 11-12 Credit: 1.0
Prerequisite/Comments: Weighted credit, see Gil Garcia Room 334
This is the first year K-AHS class. Students will work with more advanced cameras, lighting, sound and editing equipment. Students make intros and news packages about events in school and the community that air on K-AHS, the school TV channel. Counts as tech credit and college credit at ACC. This is a prerequisite for the practicum class.


Digital Filmmaking: PRACTICUM IN AUDIO/VIDEO PRODUCTION
Grade Placement: 12 Credit: 1.0
Prerequisite/Comments: Weighted credit, see Gil Garcia Room 334
Second year K-AHS. The focus is on studio production and making short films and intros. This class anchors the daily K-AHS show. Students enter and attend The Austin Film Festival. Students may also get Final Cut Pro Certified. This is an extremely valuable certification, a $1000 value. This course counts for college credit at ACC.

-Gil Garcia - Digital Filmmaking Instructor

Austin HIgh Wins Teen Dating Violence PSA Contest!, By Sean Haugh

Sean and Lee working in class

Students at Austin High, and even members of the “K-AHS class” itself, often seem to forget that there is more than one side to our curriculum. It is, in fact, formally referred to as Media Tech, a course whose purpose is, from a purely educational standpoint, to confer upon its students a familiarity with the media arts and the means of their production, information which would certainly be useful should someone intend to follow a career in the entertainment industry in the years following high school graduation.


Trinity and Lee prepare to tape the announcements

Although the majority of our time is spent filming the Austin High morning announcements, B-roll for the Austin High morning announcements, or introductory shorts for the Austin High morning announcements, we do occassionally receive opportunities to work on other projects. Examples include Spence Howden's “SportsCenter,” short “extended announcements” advertising international tours, and news packages that we are assigned semi-regularly. Last semester, students in both advanced Media Tech class were also given the opportunity to participate in the Travis County Teen Dating Violence PSA competition, wherein they were asked to film 24-second public service announcements concerning dating violence. The contest is sponsored by the Austin Film Festival and is the biggest competition during the year.

With this in mind, I, Sean Haugh, and my good friend, Lee Mendez, began brainstorming ideas for a short which would demand the attention that dating abuse so rightfully deserves. Frequently this topic is swept hastily under the rug, and rarely do its victims, who are already so fragile in their formative years, speak out against it. It is often months or years before a person is willing to admit that they have been raped or abused, and after such a great length of time it is nearly impossible to hold anyone responsible for what can ultimately lead to fundamental change in a person's demeanor and personality.



Lee presented me with a simple idea – the image of a single girl, standing alone in a hallway, with no distinguishing characteristics or features that would elicit curiosity of relationship abuse. And, as she stood there, looking perfectly like any other girl one might find at our pleasant little school, if not slightly more depressed, hundreds of student would pass by, indifferent or unaware of her trauma. Our service announcement, aptly titled “Recognize the Signs,” would target this group of people; the passersby, the unaware or unconcerned.

As we began our work, we first outlined scenes that would be ideal in maximizing the impact of our piece. Vignettes would create an unsettling ambience, further abetted by erratic, often dizzying, shifts in the speed of the students in the background. These two elements would combine to generate a sort of visual “white noise,” in order to elicit a disconcerted response. To create the time shifting effect, we had to first film our actress, Emily McGee, in front of a green screen, so that she would not also be subject to sudden changes in the perception of her movement. Having filmed and edited these two elements, our piece needed only to be resolved by a simple voiceover and a series of “signs to recognize.”



As recently as our first week back at Austin High, Lee and I were informed that our public service announcement received first place. I was extremely pleased, and presumably so was Lee. This experience – to see the work that is necessary in producing industry-level work – has been both extremely educational and extremely humbling to me. Ultimately, I am both proud of our work and proud to represent Austin High as one of the creative minds selected to receive this award.

see the PSA here


Sean Haugh, Junior - Advanced Field Production

"The Making of Twilight New Moon" by Samantha Mercer

When the first twilight movie came out there was a mix between joy and disappointment between the fans. However, when K-AHS came out with their K-AHSlight intro, everybody loved it. So with the sequel to the Twilight movie out, we decided that a sequel to the K-AHSlight intro was necessary.

We started out watching several trailers for the movie, picking out the scenes that we thought were the funniest and most rediculous. We also really wanted to empahsize the lack of shirts in the movie, so we decided right at the beginning that whenever possible, all shirts would be off.

We tried to really emphasize certain characteristics of each character, i.e, the constant distressed look of Bella (played by Grace). We even rubbed sparkely blueberry lotion on Nick (playing Edward), to try and make him sparkle in the sunlight. We probably rubbed half the bottle onto his bare chest, but unfortunately, the sparkles did not show through the camera.



We went into the greenbelt in travis country to film, and at one point some bikers rode past, giving us very confused looks. For the bike scene, Grace rode her mini bike while Christina drove and i sat in the car next to the bike holding the camera out the window. At one point, we were getting ready to start when i looked over and there was a group of about eight children all staring directly at us. Then, as we began driving, they began following us, until eventually they got tired of watching the same scene over and over again.



Overall, filming took about four hours and then editing took almost everyday after school for a week. However, i really enjoyed working on it, and i hope you enjoyed watching it. You can see it again here



Samantha Mercer, Junior - Advanced Field Production

"Not just a class, but a lifestyle!" by Joanne Troutner

Stacy films her christmas story intro

It’s not just a class. K-AHS becomes a lifestyle, a truth that I have discovered over the past semester. A teeth grinding, nail biting, foot tapping existence, where the highs are high and the lows are low. It’s a rat race. It’s a scramble for top anchor, top producer, top student; a constant battle to prove oneself as most creative, most innovative, best. A class where one of the main topics discussed is who will make it for next year, whispered predictions of Gil Garcia’s favorite students… and least favorite students.


Megan counts down to showtime

Most of the kids in k-ahs express unrelenting passion for the class, spending hours laboring for the perfect show. In actuality, it is just a high school news program, similar to most other schools across the nation; bringing news and broadcasting announcements to the students and faculty. But for all the kids in k-ahs, it is something entirely different. This show is unique in the eyes of a k-ahs student. It comes with a full dose of pride, which you probably have sensed if you have a class with any k-ahs student. Who grin and beam if the K dash A- H- S is muttered through anyone’s lips. Who make a speech after every show during 2nd period, explaining the technicalities of that particular day. Who, when with fellow k-ahs members, can usually not be persuaded to talk about anything other than k-ahs. We are labeled as irritating know-it-alls, swollen with pride, students with very big heads.


Lea frames up a shot for the Mac vs PC spoof with Calzada

All of these accusations are, in a way, very true. But we don’t care. We have become media junkies, and are hooked on the stuff for good. Both the audience and the crew know that it is just a show. Yet the audience does not know the sweat in the studio from the scorching lights. Or the panic of producing. Or the relief of Gil’s approving nod (or conversely, the despair of Gil’s disapproving sigh). Or the apple eights, F10s, shift z’s, option r’s. The lock-it-downs and the five, four, three (two, one)’s. All this effort to give Austin High a show that looks skillfully effortless. And through it all, through all the labor and the stress, every k-ahs student anticipates class to arrive. They count down the minutes with enthusiasm to rush to the k-ahs room, and start the frenzy. Scrutinizing a project, running back and forth from studio to control room, volunteering for every new assignment Gil thinks up, it’s all just a part of the victorious accomplishment.


4th period all dressed up for the Westlake game

Just like any achievement, k-ahs kids get a rush from success. The teeth grinding, nail biting, foot tapping existence at the end of the day is a joyous triumph. Behind a cloud of competition and panic and pride, we grin at one another with appreciation for the work achieved. That is what I’ve learned over the past semester, a semester that flew by. I’ve discovered the lifestyle, there is no return.


-Joanne Troutner, Junior - Advanced Field Production

"Being K-AHS" by Trinity Stennfeld

What does it mean to be on K-AHS? Are the roles and responsibilities of the job really such that the famous/infamous “K-AHS kids” are deserving of the assumed clout and importance with which they conduct themselves? Maybe not…but then again, maybe so. Here we shall uncover the answer to this question once and for all as we delve deeper and further into the magically mysterious world of K-AHS.

If you are a member of the Austin High School student body or faculty, it is more than likely that you have observed a K-AHS crew at work. You, as an active member of the AHS community, know that it is not uncommon to be stopped in the hallway during your lunch period to be asked questions about the recent blizzard, or to find yourself the object of a candid camera spoof. You may have witnessed Spence and Brew racing golf carts around the circle drive or David drenching himself in hot sauce. Or, if a member of that elite few, you may even have been asked to wait in line for your “Bowie shot”.


David had to go home sick after this. All for the K-AHS.


Get your Bowie shots here!

Here at K-AHS we believe that, in true Austin High fashion, it doesn’t matter who you are—“Everybody is somebody [to laugh at on camera] at Austin High.”

The introduction of the “K-AHS badge” by K-AHS sponsor, Gil Garcia, has revolutionized the way that Austin High Media Arts students bring mockery to motion picture. Children who once had to sneak out of class to film intros, or run in tardy to fifth period, panting and out of breath after a hard day on set, were finally granted the get-out-of-jail-free pass that they so justly deserve. The K-AHS badge not only features the brilliant smile and twinkling eyes of any one of your favorite K-AHS faces, but it also screams to teachers and administrators, “I HAVE A CAMERA AND TRIPOD, AND I’M NOT AFRAID TO USE THEM! Oh, and I have to go film something for K-AHS now—peace out.”



While the K-AHS badge clearly has its legitimate uses, there has been some speculation among the faculty that one or more K-AHS students may or may not be attempting to abuse the badge’s power. An anonymous tip revealed that our very own Reece was spotted flashing his badge at a school lunch lady in an attempt to make up the missing difference of his hot lunch fee, and rumor has it that several K-AHS kids have even used their badges to get on the field at AISD sporting events. These absolutely heinous crimes really make you stop and wonder, what is it about these kids that causes them to think they are so dang special?

As a K-AHS kid myself, I love to answer this question, because it allows me to address the liberation that I find in my passion as a member of the Austin High Media Arts team. A local reporter once told me that there is “a certain sense of empowerment that comes with delivering the news to people—deciding what the public knows or doesn’t know,” and with this statement I can, from my own experience, vehemently agree. People may think that being in K-AHS is all fun and games—filming stuff all day, getting away with pranking school authorities, being on TV—but it really takes more work than our audience gets to see. What most viewers probably don’t know is that working on K-AHS involves deadlines, long nights, technical difficulties, and a lot of responsibility. It is our duty as members of this program, to bring Austin High the latest news and announcements (with, of course, a certain degree of farcical comedy) no matter what. Regardless of any extenuating circumstances that may throw themselves in our paths, at precisely 9:56 am every Tuesday through Friday, there must be a show ready to air. There is no grace-period for mistakes in our business—the show must go on, so you make it work.



Brew and Spence and their tom-foolery

So do the K-AHS kids give themselves a little too much credit? Do they think they’re cooler and more important than they really are? Cooler, definitely. But as far as importance goes, I think the team might be spot on. True, there is no reason that any K-AHS kid should ever think himself better than anyone else; no, never better. The significant role of this program on campus, however, cannot be denied. Austin High needs K-AHS like a living organism needs food; sure the organism could survive for a little while without it, weeks even, but soon enough the organism would begin to lose strength and power until finally it keels over and dies. Although the absence of K-AHS would hopefully never cause death—although the logistics of this statistic have not yet been clinically proven—the analogy means to say that news is essential, and thus, so is K-AHS. How else would the student body of Austin High know that the Star Trek Club meeting is this Thursday after school? Or that Math Club t-shirt money is LONG overdue? It certainly wouldn’t be fair to ask Dr. Calzada to produce his world-renowned radio show every day, but what choice would we have? Somehow the news and announcements would have to reach the students, even if that meant reverting to the use of a (dare I say it) bulletin board. But thankfully as long as K-AHS is in the world, there will never be a reason to resort to such desperate measures. As long as there is K-AHS, there will be laughter, sunshine, apple pie, and the possibility of making it to your club meeting on time.


-Trinity Stennfeld, Senior - Advanced Studio Production

"Lights! Camera! Austin!" by Gil Garcia

Welcome to the Austin High Media Arts Program. I decided to start this blog as an alternative to my "media monthly" newsletter that I have been too busy to write on since the start of the 09/10 school year. I feel that it's my duty to keep the parents and school aware of what's going on in my class and I figured it would be even better for the students themselves to write on the matter, to reflect on the work that they are doing, to tell funny stories, or simply to communicate the latest news and events. I also feel that blogging and social media are relevant and important skills that students should learn going into the field of media production. I hope you enjoy the blog and invite you to check out the links on the sidebar to explore our other social media sites.


Gil Garcia - Digital Filmmaking Instructor