Saturday, April 20, 2024
UNDER THE BRIGHT LIGHTS: Granbury High School junior Ty Chilcutt loves the spotlight as the anchorman of the school's Crow's Nest News broadcast that airs every two weeks.
IN CONTROL: A/V tech teacher Kristen Baldridge inside the GHS studio control room.
STUDYING HIS CRAFT: Chilcutt said that as a child he watched others on YouTube perform. He now wants to parlay what he has learned into a career in journalism — in front of the camera of course.
COMIC AT HEART: Granbury High School junior Ty Chilcutt is at home in front of the television cameras in the studio, injecting his brand of comedy to the school's news broadcasts.
Comments about how the word “softball” is “the greatest form of false advertisement” and sports being “the best thing since Sprite Cranberry” are just a few of the many quips that 16-year-old Granbury High School student Ty Chilcutt makes during the biweekly Crow’s Nest News.
The Crow’s Nest News is GHS’s news segment that premieres every two weeks for students to learn upcoming information about sports, academics and extracurriculars — featuring Chilcutt as the “incredibly handsome” anchorman.
“I love that I’m able to be myself,” he said. “It’s a professional type thing, but at the same time I'm able to be with my friends in the class and get to just make a video that to a degree is just us having fun, and at the same time, is us doing something that is informational to students; it’s a blast.”
Chilcutt said he comes up with his material for each news segment “on the fly.”
“I sit in a chair, and I have my friend next to me. Literally, I'm just typing stuff and we just start (spouting) off nonsense. I like to keep people interested. If there’s something that I think would add a little bit to it if it’s too dry, it’s just off the top of my head,” he said.
He has only been the anchorman for Crow’s Nest News for a short while but describes his camera presence as “second nature” and “natural.”
“I have background experience with cameras, so I got used to having a camera in front of my face. I always watched YouTubers and stuff when I was a kid. I just really liked the personality and wanted to be someone that was funny,” Chilcutt said. “I developed a personality that was energetic and stuff that just made people enjoy being around me, so it’s just something that I wanted to do, and I enjoy it so much.”
Audio/visual (A/V) tech is Chilcutt’s main extracurricular activity, and he has been involved in the class and program since his freshman year.
After graduation, Chilcutt is planning on attending college and majoring in journalism.
“I enjoy it and there’s so much more stuff to see and learn about; I'm really excited,” he said.
Each news segment on The Crow’s Nest News spotlights teachers, coaches and students at GHS as they discuss upcoming events, games and achievements with an A/V student interviewer.
“We have kids in a separate room that play the interviews other students do with other kids,” Chilcutt said. “We are pushing more to a live aspect to do everything in one giant take and then edit it if we need to.”
Jimmy Dawson, career and technical education (CTE) director, said the 2013 Bond Project allowed the A/V tech students to work hands-on in the studio, and said the district is looking to improve the media program at the high school next year.
"We’re looking at doing weekly announcements with campus events, district events, expanding it to students, videoing school board meetings and possibly be involved with athletic events with students being a part of the commentating, the play-by-play,” he said. “That’s something that we’re planning on expanding both on campus and throughout the district.”
To view past news segment clips from Granbury High School, visit www.YouTube.com and search “Granbury HS AV Production.”
