Lights, Camera, Stream!

Behind the Scenes of Wakeland’s Live Announcement Show

Every week in H101 the Wakeland Broadcast team works tirelessly to produce live announcements that air on both Monday and Friday. Each crew member meticulously coordinates the scripting, filming, and editing in order for the live show to come together properly.

First and foremost, teachers email or hand deliver their announcements that need to be included on the live show to the broadcast teacher, Ms. Wiemann. Once the announcements are received, they are compiled into a streamlined script that is relatable to the student body and staff. Following writing, the script is loaded up onto the teleprompter, and an anchor is selected.

Anchoring is a nerve-racking experience, nonetheless making it difficult. Anchors have to focus solely on projection, pronunciation, and the pacing of words in order for the audience to understand. Anchors read off a scrolling teleprompter, that is controlled by another person. It is imperative for the anchor and the teleprompter operator to work in cooperation in order to prevent any mishaps, most namely regulating script speed.

Producing the actual show is a completely different obstacle. Through the programs Frisco ISD provides the district broadcast programs for live streaming. Two of these programs would be OBS, which allows the Wakeland Broadcasts live streaming capabilities, and ATEM, which is the digital user interface that allows the operator to switch between cameras and computer graphics, one person can effortlessly start a stream, switch between cameras and graphics, and end a stream in the matter of a few moments.

In addition “it has been proven multiple times that digital freeware is not a long term solution if Wakeland wants to have a reliable stream.”, said Wakeland Broadcast teacher Leigh Ann Wiemann. To be able to produce these live shows has been a big work in progress for the Wakeland Broadcast team throughout the year, but no matter how difficult it gets, the broadcast team will always persevere and the department looks forward to moving from freeware to a more successful livestream software.