The BBN crew works overtime on a Saturday morning to film. Photo courtesy of Karen Kim and Christina Tran.by Bethany Pham, Staff Writer
This Halloween, Oct. 31, Baron Broadcast News (BBN) premieres their short film “The Haunt” at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) to enliven the school’s Halloween spirit.
Co-producer of BBN Cathy Bui (‘17) said, “ ‘The Haunt’ is a traditional, annual short film that we create. We’ve been working on ‘The Haunt’ since late June with plot ideas, coming up with the storyline, pre-production, and the whole summer was basically just preparing before filming would take place.”
This year, BBN has taken more innovative approaches to composing their edition of “The Haunt” by veering away from hackneyed elements and incorporating new themes.
“In previous years, we were more focused on the history of FVHS, some sort of ghosts from the past, but we didn’t want to go for that because we thought it was overused,” said Director of Special Projects Johnny Bernardin (‘17). “We wanted to go with something more fresh and, I guess, mysterious. It’s a much bigger scale than last year’s; it’s a lot better planned and organized, and a lot more went into it.”
Not only is BBN implementing new methods to make their piece, but they are also giving their members new chances in broadening their horizons in the world of film.
“I think ‘The Haunt’ is an outlet for students in BBN who want to expand in filming; they want that experience of not incorporating things related to school,” said Bui. “There’s a lot of talented people in BBN who are doing episodes and packages, which limits them. By doing a short film, it really helps our creativity, and it’s a different opportunity in filming and editing.”
In the weeks put in for the production of “The Haunt,” BBN members had to learn to better time-manage and sacrifice their free time for their project. Filming itself required one and a half weeks while much more time was needed for pre-production. Nonetheless, they are very proud of their work, which has left lasting impacts on FVHS’s culture, clear in the school population’s excitement for the short film’s debut and in BBN’s upholding of its beloved custom.
“I think it’s something the school really looks forward to seeing because it’s on Halloween and really adds to the spirit of FVHS, and everyone enjoys watching it, hopefully,” Bernardin said. “When the school sees people they recognize or their friends, it makes it sort of a more fun experience, which makes it different than watching some random horror film because it’s a familiar place. They see the campus, locations they recognize, and it makes it that much more fun and, it’s like a shared experience.”
