Classes at Penn-Trafford High School have had to change their procedures in order to adhere to the guidelines regarding COVID-19. The TV 2 and 3 classes heavily modified their production process for their morning live show, PTTV.
The state mask mandate has caused the biggest changes in PTTV’s procedures. TV teacher and PTTV advisor Steve Vinton said that for a live show, “a mask is not ideal.”
Vinton said that under normal circumstances, there are eight people in the studio, including two anchors at the desk. However, that number has been changed to only one person: the anchor.
“Because there is one [person], they don’t need a mask,” he explained.
Only having one person in the studio has led to many unique challenges.
Josh Bujakowski was a long-term sub for PTTV during the 2020-21 school year and is again helping the program this year. He said that the class has to remotely switch between cameras to change angles since there is no one in the studio to manually move the camera. The weather segment of the show has also been temporarily removed, as the anchor is not able to be in the studio.
Sports coordinator Morgan Fong said that the class is working on a solution to bring back the weather and sports segment. Fong said the class is considering a “Pre-recorded segment with weather and sports.”
Vinton said the weather and sports anchors would record their bit earlier in the morning. Later, during the news anchor’s live show, they would insert the two segments as “look lives.”
The technology available to PTTV also allows them to work around the mask guidelines. Students in the classroom running graphics and updating the script are able to communicate with the students in the control room through the use of headsets.
Another strategy used by the students is placing a second anchor in a separate room from the first anchor. Because they are by themselves, this second anchor also does not need to wear a mask while recording.
Recording the show is not the only aspect of PTTV that has had to change. Fong said that “sports are always getting canceled and moved to different days.” As the sports coordinator, this makes her job difficult. Fong has to make sure she keeps tight track of schedules for sports and informs the recorders about changes.
Bujakowski said that getting interviews has been more difficult for students. Not wearing masks is for good audio, but interviewees are sometimes uncomfortable not wearing masks even when socially distanced.
The challenges PTTV faced so far have provided opportunity for growth in the class. Bujakowski said that adapting to the guidelines has allowed him and Vinton to test their creativity with their technology. Last year, the team received nine nominations and three wins at the Mid-Atlantic NATAS Student Production Competition.
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