Time in the Spotlight
Angelo Cruza in Video Productions
September 29, 2022
Sophomore Angelo Cruza has been in Video Productions since last year, and is an anchor for the Morning announcements at Shadow Ridge High school, the Ridge Report. He joined because he thought it would be a fun class, and getting the anchor role during auditions was an even bigger plus. Because this is only his second year in Video Productions, he was glad for the opportunity to bring the daily news to the masses at Shadow Ridge.
“I always wanted to be in the spotlight,” Cruza stated. “Everyone is pretty cool, especially the scriptwriters.”
Although Cruza loves being center-stage, it does have its downfalls. In a sometimes-scary situation, Cruza chooses to have a good attitude.
“It’s nerve-wracking, mostly because I’m trying not to mess up. If I mess up though, nobody will judge me for it.”
Cruza said that last year, taking Video Productions I was very simple. “I thought it would be the same this year, but it ended up being a bit more work than I originally thought.”
Each day, they have to film the announcements for the next day, and they only have one take. Cruza said that this is what makes class that most difficult because of how hard he has to focus to get it right.
Cruza also said how there was a bit of an adjustment period when starting to film the announcements. “The equipment we used was new to everyone, but filming has gotten better since the beginning of the year.”
On the bright side of the situation, they have a permanent teacher/director this year that is here to lead the morning announcements. After a bit of substitute teachers last year, Cruza said that it is nice to have only one for a change.
“Our teacher is Mr. Roe, and here’s the kicker, he used to work at a news team before he came to Shadow! He has experience in the field already, both in recording videos and working at a news network.”
All in all, Cruza enjoys being in Video Productions and is definitely on board for another year of it.
“I one hundred percent want to take Video Productions III next year. It’s a class that I genuinely enjoy, and it technically is a culmination of my other two electives theatre and journalism. I feel like I’m actually living up to my potential in Video Productions, it genuinely brings me a lot of happiness, despite all the mistakes I make (cough cough quesadiLLa cough).”
