Every other week, FHS video announcements are played during 4th block. Known as Fremont TV, the biweekly morning announcements program began in the 2021-22 school year, but the start of this school year has brought along some notable changes to the ASB project.
The announcement videos are produced by ASB’s Tech team: senior Saisujan Kotakonda, juniors Dhruv Chugh and Krishna Kemisetti and sophomores Ryan Wong and Rotem Ben David. In the past, the production responsibilities of Fremont TV were scattered among ASB members.
“It was not very connected. But this year, we really decided to bring it all together and have one super dedicated tech team that focuses on all these things.” Kotakonda said.
Some changes to the video standards were immediately obvious, such as the impressive drone shots of the FHS campus that caught the interest of many students and teachers. Other changes may be less apparent but impact the viewing experience nonetheless.
“We’ve tried to rebrand ourselves as being more professional, so we’ve cut out a lot of the bloopers” Wong said. “Equipment wise, instead of recording on an iPhone, we actually record on a camera.”
The typical production cycle of a Fremont TV episode runs about a week. The team utilizes Chat GPT to aid in the scriptwriting process.
“We have really strict rules regarding the use of Chat GPT,” Kemisetti said. “We have to make sure that there’s no errors, nothing offensive to anyone in the script. We really go through the script and we edit it and make sure it’s good and it’s not bad at all.”
Wednesdays, when the ASB class is a longer block, are typically spent doing the bulk of the filming. Once filming is complete, the team begins editing, which takes four to six hours.
“Time management is really key to this job,” Kemisetti said. “Last year, some of us had unhealthy working habits when editing. With Fremont TV, we learned editing, but at the same time, we also learned time management, because we have so much work to do in a short time frame.”
The producers have set some new goals for the future of Fremont TV, one of them being the accessibility of the content they create. Having observed the exclusivity of announcement programs at other schools in the district, Fremont ASB’s tech team is determined to feature more non-ASB students in their content.
“We’re trying to not have ASB perceived as some organization that only exists to benefit its members only, because we’re here for the service of the student body,” Kemisetti said. “And tech exemplifies that mission.”
They have also decided to expand the type of content they publish. Soon, morning announcements will be one type of media among other, newer forms.
“We’re going to start creating more TikTok-style videos, highlighting events at school or school life, because we feel that content will get a lot more interaction with the student body,” Kemisetti said.
As a program that is viewed by almost the entire school, the tech team acknowledges the significance of their role in the community. The team explains the impact they want to make with their job.
“It’s not as simple as pressing ‘record’ on camera or just pressing the button to take a photo,” Kotakonda said. “Telling the story about what actually happened is what makes it interesting, not only for us, but for everyone else who views it.”
Fremont TV will continue to publish biweekly episodes throughout the school year, and the ASB tech team will focus on making a better, brighter future for the program and FHS students and staff.
