Students use diligence and dedication to go through the difficult and stressful process to produce Souderton’s weekly TV show RedAlert.
Lights, camera, action…During the RedAlert show on October 4, senior Brad Stoltzfus interviews sophomore Mike Dallas after his musical performance. Dallas had done a performance of “How to Save a Life“ originally by The Fray earlier in the show.
Through hard work the staff of RedAlert produces a live show every Friday to inform and entertain the student body about events in the school and community.
The process for the final production of RedAlert starts on Monday. The entire staff meets and decides who gets what role.
“Everyone, every week switches jobs so we can learn about the different roles of TV production,” said senior Melissa Wittig.
The roles range from directing the show to manning the cameras.
After assigning roles, everyone breaks off and prepares for the show. This entails coming up with ideas for a package.
A package is a clip of prerecorded footage that is then blended with the live feeds.
After they get their idea, the students spend the rest of the week working on their packages.
“There is a lot of spit-balling of ideas on Monday,” said senior Steven Reifsneider.
Once ideas are chosen, the staff must then enhance them.
“You have to develop your idea and make it great enough to be on the show. It gets very competitive,” said RedAlert Adviser Richard Curtis.
After everyone has their idea, it’s the producer’s job to decide which packages are used and make sure everything fits.
Time is one of the greatest factors in producing the show.
“In reality we have three to four days to produce this 20-minute show,” said Reifsneider.
The students are given a lot of creative freedom in the production of RedAlert.
“[Curtis] pretty much gives us complete creative control, as long as were not doing something too crazy,” said Reifsneider.
The show is run, produced, and filmed by the students. This freedom and the ability to express themselves is one of the things many of the students enjoy about being part of RedAlert.
There is a lot of enthusiasm and the crew of RedAlert is very dedicated.
“There are always kids who stay hours after school to work on their packages,” said Wittig.
The students try to produce a 20-minute show that is absolutely perfect.
“We do at least four or five dry-runs before we start the actual show,” said Reifsneider.
Despite this preparation, sometimes things do go wrong.
“If something doesn’t work out you have to move on,” said Wittig.
The crew constantly has to be on alert to make sure there are no issues. Despite this large amount of pressure, there is a positive and cohesive atmosphere in the studio.
“We are like a family in RedAlert,” said Reifsneider.
While the students enjoy their time in class, RedAlert has its challenges.
“The grind is ridiculous. The cycle of producing the show over and over, it’s nonstop,” said Curtis.
According to Curtis, the show is “the perfect headache” and “a lot of hard work but worth it.”
This environment often puts stress on the crew.
“The show being live adds a lot of stress. You can’t make a mistake because there is no going back,” said Wittig.
Being a part of RedAlert has actually helped many students to learn to deal with stress and time management.
Some students feel that RedAlert is their favorite class.
“I absolutely love it. I look forward to it every day,” said Wittig.
Others agree, saying that they would like to be a part of RedAlert more than once.
“If I wasn’t a senior I would totally return next year,” said Reifsneider.
RedAlert often has an effect on the students beyond high school.
“After being in RedAlert, I am very interested in pursuing a career in news-casting,” said Reifsneider.
This diligence, commitment, and enthusiasm has won the crew of RedAlert awards at the national level.
Last year was the first year RedAlert competed, and they won third place in Screenwriting and News Anchoring at the Journalism Convention Write Off.
This is just the beginning for the crew of RedAlert. Curtis plans to get them more awards and recognition at the national level.
“I have seen the competition and we are as good, or better,” said Curtis.
By Micah Seagrist
Arrowhead Staff Writer
The Arrowhead 