MHS Friday Focus 5 9 2025 - ID# 520

Mundelein
News Program
Entry Description

Every Friday the media students are responsible for posting a morning announcment and week in review that is shown to the school during homeroom and posted for the community to see. This is the program that aired on 5/9/2025.

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 4/30 10:03 pm - Fun culture package, cool to see all that b roll. I like the OTS graphics with the leads. nice prom package, cool to see her experiencing prom herself as she gives the honest reviews. I'd like to hear more facts about these stories from your anchors and from the sports segments.
  • 4/29 8:09 am - It’s best not to have the anchor’s hands clenched together. Makes them look nervous. Nice clear audio. Work on hiding the lav cables. Have them go under the anchors’ shirt. To make this more of a news feel instead of a social media piece, clip the Rode mics on the people talking instead of having them hold them. The anchors get too relaxed too quick when they are not talking. A number of times you see them lean back and hear the chair creak before the camera changes and a few times you see them get back into position after the camera goes to them. Some nice interviews throughout.
  • 4/15 10:04 am - Anchors- hide those mic wires!! People being interviewed for the summer segment are holding their own mic- this isn't a youtube video- professional news should not see that. Good b-roll ont he lunch story (but they're holding the mics again!!!- Those mics have clips- clip them on!!) Anchors doa nice job reading the news- good voices and reading! Nice job summarizing many events that are taking place at your school- you cover a lot of stuff! A voice over on the basketball highlights might be good- what happened? Who won? Interviews? Cool way to end the credits with a musical guest clip. Overall- the show is well done with a lot of stuff covered which is great! Work on those little things to make it more professional and all come together as a show. Nice job.
Judge 1

Positives: 1. The anchors presented the news in a clear way that was easy to understand. I also appreciated their back-and-forth banter after the basketball story that provided a little bit of spontaneity to their broadcast. 2. I liked the way the newscast ended as well with the percussion concert. That was very similar to how some professional news stations may have opted to end a broadcast. It snuck in just one more story in a unique way.

Improvements: 1. I don't think starting your newscast by asking students what their plans were for the summer was the right approach to take. While students may find it interesting, it wasn't as newsy as some of the other subjects you focused on. It could have been something you highlighted later on in the newscast or toward its end. The cultural showcase may have been the better story to start with. 2. While the anchoring was good, sometimes it felt a little too stilted and structured. Try to relax just a little bit and show a little bit of your personality compared to just reading the news off your screen so you can make your presentation a little more personable.

Judge 2

Positives: This newscast knows its objectives and clearly and successfully achieved them! It's a thorough round up of what's happening and gave viewers a good sense of the varied activities connected to the school. Good pacing throughout the newscast which keeps the viewers engaged. The use of the over the shoulder graphics was especially effective. The anchors are comfortable on the set and I especially appreciated that the anchors referred to the previous package after the package ended. Those segues out of the packages help improve the overall flow of the newscast.

Improvements: While the production value is already strong, is there a way to take it to the next level? Maybe full screen or lower-third graphics reinforcing the information about upcoming events? Increase the anchor involvement in the newscast by having them go into the "field" when possbile.. conducting interviews etc. Overall nice job informing your community!

Judge 3

Positives: The fight club graphic with book club is hilarious. Nice touch to the person that created that. The produced segments from your field coverage was excellent and by far the most interesting portions of your entry. You're choosing all the right things to cover and using those visuals to give me an excellent understanding of what's happening at the school. Very impressive.

Improvements: There's probably an opportunity to better match your studio cameras with your field cameras. The studio cameras are fighting with the overhead lights and soft focus. The field cameras, even on a phone, are really sharp and a pretty distinct contrast to the studio cameras. Careful with the dissolves between studio cameras. This effect often doesn't work without something different you're dissolving to vs the other anchor. I'd recommend rewatching this entry as a team to understand how the pacing and energy of the produced segments is so noticeably different than the studio segments and see if there's a way to match those better so it's less jarring.

Judge 4

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Judge 5

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