Mrs. Watson's Blog

Students in all of my classes are currently working on producing a mini-movie.  This is an exercise to prepare us for the Cobb County Short Movie Extravaganza competition, which begins on October 31st.  We began the one-and-a-half-week assignment on Monday of this week.  At this time, it is due at the end of the class period on Wednesday, October 10th. Students are to produce a 4-minute or less mini movie on a topic of their choice.  They will be graded on the following: Pre-production:  scripting, planning and blocking shots, etc. Production:  Shooting (lighting, audio, plot lines, story arc, continuity, shot composition, etc.) Post-production:  Editing (transitions, audio/video matching, use of special effects where applicable, flow of the story, etc.) Other things that will be considered:  School appropriateness, how well the group worked together, how compliant the group was on deadlines, etc. Paying attention to these elements wh...

One week down and many more to go.  I'm looking forward to what stories my students are going to produce this semester! First, the particulars:  Students should have turned in their signed paperwork. Parent form Movie permission slip Equipment/Syllabus form  (saying that students/parents have read and understand the syllabus and the responsibility required of students to use the equipment) Also, students will need to purchase and turn in their own SD card for use in taping stories for class.  I will provide SD cards for big school events, but for the many individual and group projects, students will need their own SD card. I will keep up with it at school and at the end of the semester students will be able to take their card home.  Turning in completed paperwork and their SD cards will be an easy first couple of grades for students.  Parents, if students are not financially able to purchase this card, please let me know. Level III/IV studen...

I just found out that the house that I "walked into" every week on TV has been sold.  The house associated with one of the most popular seventies TV familes, the Brady Bunch house, was sold to NSYNC's Lance Bass.  Just seeing this house on TV in these news stories brings back so many memories of family TV stories that I relished as I grew up.  I love TV for the stories it tells. I've always told students that people will remember more about how they feel after they hear or see your video story, than whatever details you told them during the story.  In class, we are going to talk about storytelling this week and learn, or relearn, the importance, and skills, of telling a good story. Parents, please be aware that I will ask that students and you look over, sign, and return some forms this week. After going over the syllabus and class rules and procedures, we are going to dive right in to how to find a good story, how do you write a great script, and how do ...

Hi! and welcome to my blog!  My name is Mrs. Watson and I am the Audio Video Technology & Film teacher at Hillgrove High School.  I'm glad you stopped by. I'm excited about having a fantastic school year with lots of new adventures with the AVTF program.  We will be working toward producing a daily announcement show along with maintaining our Friday homeroom show, Hawk Talk. I've been an educator for 22 years as an AVTF teacher, taking the last two years to work as Assistant Director of Communications at the Cobb County Schools central office.  In addition to my education and communications background, I worked at the local CBS affiliate for close to ten years, working my way up to becoming an award-winning producer. I have won numerous awards for my work, including Associated Press awards, an EMMY nomination, national and international awards for producing the school district magazine, and the Role Model award for my teaching at Mount Zion high school in...