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Thursday, January 10, 2008
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Fine Arts Student of the Week: Adventures in TV Seth Larson finds his niche in productions class Staff Writer Seth Larson of Baxter went to a lot of movies when he was a child.
When he was 8, he begged his grandmother for hours to take him to the movie "Face/Off." It worked, and Larson, now a Brainerd High School senior, got to see the R-rated movie.
"This was the start of my love for movies," Larson said. "It was just the experience of going to a high-action movie and I was way into it. Plus, I had to beg to go to it."
From sixth through ninth grade, Larson took all of the Media Adventure and film classes, and his junior year, he enrolled in the TV production classes and has been in the classes ever since.
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Brainerd High School senior Seth Larson worked on the Video Tape Recorder on Monday during his Advanced TV production class. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
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Dave Henschke, advanced TV production adviser, nominated Larson as this week's Fine Arts Student of the Week for his work in the Advanced TV production class. Henschke said, "Seth is a class leader. He takes on the extra responsibilities that make our production successful. He typically is one of the first students here in the morning and one of the last to leave. I also welcome his creativity."
Following is a question-and-answer session with Larson.
What did you do in your media classes at the former Mississippi Horizons?
"We did a morning update. In sixth grade, I volunteered to do the update, and that's where it all got started, where I got more into it."
Was the high school TV production class easy, since you already learned a lot of the skills in your previous media classes?
"I jumped right back into it when I took the class my junior year. In TV production class, you learn the basics like camera shots and how to use the equipment, so I already have been learning that for the past four years. Early on in the class, we learned about TV pixels, and that went through one ear and out the other, so that was a little harder."
Seth Larson
Art focus: Advanced TV production.
Year: Senior.
Age: 18.
GPA: 3.0.
Favorite subjects: TV production and Advanced Placement language.
Most memorable fine arts achievement: A TV production news package on classmate Cris Weber's online war game competition on hacking.
Artist more admired: Kevin Smith.
Favorite TV program: "Rescue Me."
Favorite movie: "Children of Men."
Favorite book: "The Lake House" by James Patterson.
Favorite song: "Romeo and Juliet" by The Killers.
Favorite food: Calzones.
Favorite thing to do: Chilling with friends.
Parents: Jill Larson-Thompson and Matt Thompson of Baxter.
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What was the hardest task for you in your advanced TV production class?
"Well, I've been in the class for more than a year and I finally played the producer role about three weeks ago. All the TV production veterans have done it and I finally raised my hand and then had to play a game to get the job. At first I never got it, so I shied away from it for a while, and then I finally got it. It wasn't as hard as I thought. The main thing was getting it (the job). It went pretty smooth. The script went well, everyone was ready and the production went on time."
Will you do the job again?
"Not this semester because I've been bogged down with my AP (Advanced Placement) psych class and being a producer takes a lot of time outside of school."
What's your favorite job?
"The VTR (Video Tape Recorder). You play the packages and you need to know how to use final cut. Only a few people know how to do it so that makes me feel good that I am one of them. It's pretty easy to run - I count down and press a button. There are a lot of difficulties that go with it that are little annoying to solve, like when the audio is not working or someone messed with the settings. But you just figure out what's wrong and fix it."
What job do you like the least?
"On-air talent. I don't like to be seen by the student body. Plus, my vision isn't the best to read the teleprompter. I'm near-sighted and I really should get glasses."
What news package are you most proud of?
"I did a package on Cris Weber, a senior, who I've known since second grade who is an extremely smart computer guy. He and his team played war games and competed in a worldwide competition online and he was in a competition for a scholarship to a prestigious computer school. He didn't get it but his team ranked fifth in the world.
"I got a phone interview with a CEO (chief executive officer) of a security company in another state who talked to me about the security field on how high the standards are with the technology that is needed to protect companies from scams or hackers."
What type of news packages do you usually do?
"I do a little of everything. We do sports every week where we talk to coaches and the captains. We did the hockey package at the right time when senior Jess Bye made her record (becoming the all-time leading scorer in BHS girls' hockey). We do something on all the activities and do issues that pertain to students, like parking or when the MP3 players were being banned."
What's your biggest strength in class?
"Participation. All you need to do in TV production is participate. If you put in the time, you'll succeed."
What do you need to improve on?
"Just being there. I miss out on little things like band or choir concerts because of work. I'm going to miss the basketball games."
How has being in TV productions helped you grow as a person?
"It has helped me with friendships."
Have you done any films?
"I'm going to take an independent study in TV next semester and I'm going to make two films. One will be a video on my grandpa's wood-turning hobby. It'll be an informative piece. The other film will be on reunions then and now. Shelly Streed, a counselor at the high school, gave me the idea. She's coming up on her high school reunion that she shares with my mother."
What are your plans after high school?
"To go to the University of Minnesota, Duluth, to major in mathematics. I want to be a statistician. I would gather and analysis stats and project things. I took an AP class last year and I got into it."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
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