1. 机械结构
SPEAK
Megafon
SHOW BUSINESS
TURNING A STRESSFUL FILM INTO SUCCESS
I'm exhausted, nervous and pacing back and forth in the exhibition hall. We're all holding our breath, eyes glued to the computer. I'm running on a diet of chocolate pretzels and I haven't slept in who knows how long. And if this tape doesn't pop out soon, we're all toast.
Let me rewind. It's my senior year of high school and I'm in Anaheim, Calif., with some of my friends from our filmmaking class. My high school had an advanced filmmaking program, equipped with advanced cameras and editing software, and every year our teacher, Mr. Kapeller, would take some of his students to the Student Television Network (STN) conference, a convention dedicated to student filmmaking across the country.
Contributed Photo
16-hour photo: Ben Chipman (bottom left) and classmates visit the Disneyland Hotel to make a three-to-four minute film for the Student Television Network conference. His school took second place after a stressful 16 hours of writing, shooting, re-shooting and editing.
The convention took place in the Disneyland Hotel, with roughly 50 schools in attendance. The centerpiece of the whole shebang was the Sweet 16 contest. Simply put, every school had 16 hours to write, shoot, edit and turn in a three-to-four minute film. If it sounds easy, it was anything but. Getting a team of high school kids to sit down and plug away at a script, all with conflicting ideas about what would be most likely to win, was just the beginning. After a rigorous schedule of shooting, re-shooting, arguments and tempers, we managed to sit down to start editing with about seven odd hours to go until the movie was due.
The editing room was a massive exhibition hall in the hotel. Every team had its own little booth to themselves, arranged in a grid, next to neighboring booths. Our school was in a back corner of the exhibition hall, far from the judges booth.
We had just finished about nine hours of filming (some of which had to be redone) so it was already my most rigorous film day ever. We were assigned to make a movie somehow relating to the convention itself. We settled on a story of two kids at the hotel, one of whom is bound for STN, the other there for Model UN; hijinks ensue. We had seven hours until deadline, but who knew if it'd be enough.
Besides time, our greatest enemy was our technological limitations — we had to import the footage straight from the camera into the computer, which is more complicated and time-consuming than putting a tape in a video deck connected to the computer. Just waiting for the video to transfer to the computer was a nail-biter. Not only was it taking longer than normal, but it could spit out an error message at any time, which would mean we'd have to start over or, even worse, lose the footage.
While we waited, I looked at the boots of the teams around me. The booth to our left seemed to be playing Guitar Hero rather than working. The other two boots seemed to be well into the thick of editing. It was a bit discouraging, but not as discouraging as what would happen next.
"Don't worry," Zach, our main editor, said. "I brought a secret weapon." He produced a shot of 5-Hour Energy.
"Oh no," I remember saying.
"Oh yes," he replied. "With this I'll have this movie done in no time. Just wait and see."
I had a bad feeling about this. I'd never had any good experiences with 5-Hour Energy, and this wasn't the time to experiment. We didn't stop him, though; I just crossed my fingers and hoped it wouldn't come back to bite us.
About an hour later, Zach's eyes were wide and his leg was twitching uncontrollably. He assured us that he was getting plenty done. An hour after that he was all but exhausted. He was nodding off to sleep every couple of minutes and mumbled about feeling sick when he was awake. We took him back to his room and discussed the fact that we were five hours from deadline and our head editor was out of commission.
Going into the convention, I had felt pretty sure of my skills. After all, most high schools dreamed of having the kind of equipment and training we had. I thought we'd clean up, no problem. But here we were, doing our best to recover from mechanical malfunctions and an
out-of-commission editor. Meanwhile, Guitar Hero team was still going strong and another team halfway across the convention hall was building giant pyramids of plastic cups. Were we not as good as we thought we were? Was our advanced training and equipment all for nothing? As time ran shorter and shorter, we put those thoughts out of our minds as we focused everything on finishing the movie.
Several hours of manic editing later, we had a finished video on our computer. The problem was the judges wanted the video burned to a tape, which takes time. As we started up the process, the judges announced that submissions were due in 10 minutes. Burning a video to a tape could take anywhere between five minutes and 50. If our luck ran out, the last 16 hours were for nothing. As it burned, we paced and pulled our hair. Is this good enough to win? What will it say about us in ten years? After the work we'd just put in, it would be for nothing.
The most dramatic moment took place at the last second. The tape popped out of the computer, fully finished and ready to go. This happens just as the judges announce that only one minute remains to submit our movie, but their table is at the other end of the convention
hall. Fortunately, we brought a member of the track team, Ritchie, along with us. We handed him the tape and told him to run faster than ever. It was good enough: Ritchie got there with 15 seconds to spare. We all breathed a sigh of relief and slept the sleep of kings.
The winners of the contest weren't announced until the huge closing ceremony at the end of the conference. Though we'd submitted our video, we weren't going to be able to stay; our flight back to Kansas wouldn't permit it. On the bus out, everyone seemed downcast — we had to miss the ending of the conference, and didn't know how our big effort would go over. Just after the bus started going, our teacher stood up and said, "I bet you guys wanted this, huh?" and pulled out the second place trophy. Needless to say the bus went hysterical; we'd proven to ourselves and to others that we can really achieve anything if we work on it. Second place never felt so good.
JP // BEN CHIPMAN
N
Aaron Harris/KANSAN and maintenance
months, students can expect to see construction beginning on 12th Street between Louisiana to Vermont streets because the Oread Neighborhood Lighting Project will finally be executed.
nt ease
Additional funds that were needed from the Community Development Block Grant went through, so the final phases of the
the city of Lawrence, the project will be broken down into four phases. The first phase will include construction on the sidewalk of 12th Street between Louisiana and Vermont streets to comply with handicap standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Phase one has been contracted and workers are busy completing other projects before beginning
Phases three and four include the installation of lights along 12th Street between Louisiana
Phase two, which includes 10-foot decorative light poles in South Park, will commence as soon as the materials are delivered.
they will wait until class is out and after graduation, so it's the least inconvenient to students"
should be completed before the end of the year, Thiel said, with the possibility that phase four will continue until 2012.
The project will help increase safety for students and community members who travel along that pathway.
SEE LIGHT ON PAGE 3A
Oread Neighborhood Lighting Project
Check here if new address
APPTX
STAMP
HERE
TO;
TO:
PARKING & TRANSIT DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
1501 IRVING HILL ROAD
LAWRENCE, KANSAS 66045-7006
BY LAURA THOMAS
lthomas@kansan.com
Students planning on buying a KU parking pass for the next school year could be in for an unpleasant surprise. The parking and transit department at the University is considering a parking fee increase around campus.
Although nothing has been decided upon yet, the department has submitted different budgets to the provost's office. One of the budgets involving the red zone includes a percentage increase on various things like parking permits, fines,
SEE FEES ON PAGE 3A
With the economic inflation and more students taking the bus, the University's parking and transit revenues are decreasing, leading it to make up for the lost revenue in some way.
"The parking and transit department is completely user funded," Donna Hultine, University director of parking and transit, said. "So we really rely on the revenue streams of parking permits, tickets, garage revenue and events."
Check out Kansan.com for more information about the potential increases in parking for the 2011 2012 school year.
SOFTBALL|8A
Jayhawks prepare to fight for first Big 12 victory against Huskers today
After recent losses to No. 11 Missouri and No. 8 Texas, and a split doubleheader against UKMC, Kansas turns its attention to Big 12 play in its upcoming game against No. 16 Nebraska.