Written by Yasir Khaleq
BBN applications are due soon. April 23rd, to be exact. Not sure if you should apply? Allow me to clear up the confusion for you, with 3 reasons.
- It’s a great way to learn and master the process of content creation. Regardless of what your passion is, or what the future has in store for you, the skills you learn in BBN are extremely applicable in society. Camera operation, video editing, green screen use, lighting, writing, story boarding, brainstorming, etc. are all skills that are honed through involvement in BBN. No other class on campus combines all those skills into one coherent course. Although, it’s extremely inaccurate to call BBN a “course”. A course suggest some sort of curriculum, or a teacher. However, BBN is entirely student-run and student-led, which means your education is hands-on and ultimately, up to you.
- BBN also affords you the opportunity to meet some of the most interesting and hard-working people at FVHS. Every student was handpicked through the application process, meaning that every student in the class shares the same passion. This makes chemistry between students much more likely. In fact, it’s almost impossible to spend an entire school year in BBN and not make at least 3-4 very close friends, if not an entire classroom full of amigos. The nature of how BBN works simply forces you to make friends. There’s no such thing as working by yourself on a project. A typical production cycle works something like this: The class breaks into pairs or groups of 3 and begins to brainstorm ideas for the next episode. Each group pitches a rough idea to one of the producers for improvement, and eventually approval. The final idea is then pitched in a class-wide production meeting, where the idea is fully developed. Work on the video, or as we call it, “package”. There are usually no set positions within a working group. Every one writes, films, and edits.
- For me, the best part of being a part of BBN is having my work on display to the entire school. I love FVHS, and I strive to create the best content possible every time I set to work on a package. My creation is showed to almost 4,000 of my fellow Barons, who are eager to see what I’ve come up with every 2 weeks. Sure, there’s a lot of negative feedback. And that’s natural, as something literally forced onto a bunch of teenager is always going to receive criticism. All forms of entertainment receive criticism. But overall, the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. I thoroughly enjoy delivering a satisfying product to the hungry consumers of FVHS. However, there’s no other way to attain this specific rush of dopamine other than BBN.
So don’t wait or hesitate!
