The spotlights are on, and the cameras are rolling on the set of The Daily Ramble. I was granted the opportunity to go behind the scenes of The Ramble to see how the show is created.
The process of producing an episode begins with planning out who is going to be doing which job. Jobs on the set of the Daily Ramble include being a news anchor for sports, weather, and lunch, or the main desk crew which reports on news such as announcements from the school’s administration or clubs that might interest students. The next step is figuring out who is going to be working the production jobs for the Daily Ramble. These jobs usually include being the sound tech, the graphics producer, the teleprompter tech, and tricaster. Once all the jobs are assigned to each student, the scripts are handed out for pre-reading. Scripts for the Daily Ramble are put together once the main office approves announcements submitted by teachers or club officials who want their message to be broadcast on the Daily Ramble. These announcements are not usually edited, but if the students of the class believe that an announcement could be worded better, they will rewrite it. Jeremy Friedman, the teacher of the Media Production class and the brainchild of the Daily Ramble stated that “We deliver!” and that the students of the Daily Ramble “will edit certain announcements, but the kids have absolute editing rights.” Once the scripts have been pre-read by the students and edited if needed, the students will begin filming the episode.
One big aspect of The Daily Ramble is the addition of features on the show. These features are short, yet effective videos created by a student or students in the media production class and include topics such as baking, hobby videos, or different types of tutorials. When it comes to a student’s feature, there are no rules other than keeping it school-appropriate. There is a whiteboard in the Media Production classroom that keeps track of everyone’s features so there are not any duplicate features created. Features are also the only part of the Daily Ramble that is heavily edited. “Everything that you see is live” stated Jenna Brown, a student in the Media Production class and star of the Daily Ramble. “We don’t edit anything unless someone messes up,” Brown added.
Each student must complete two features by the end of the quarter which includes filming the feature, writing the script if needed, and editing the feature to fit the time slot they have been given.
The Daily Ramble was started 13 years ago in 2010 by Jeremy Friedman. Friedman had originally been teaching Film Production when he took over the Broadcast Journalism class. At first, the Daily Ramble was being run out of a small classroom which was set up like a studio with a green screen and camera but wasn’t as professional as Friedman would’ve liked. In 2017, the studio received a $250,000 upgrade, making Friedman’s vision come to light. Over the past six years, the studio has not let Freidman or his students down, providing professional-grade production technology and software for the class to use. When Friedman started the Daily Ramble, he wanted it to be a venue for kids to be heard. Not only has the Daily Ramble made these kids’ voices heard, but it has also become a space where everyone is one big family. “I could not be more fortunate to have this program and make my mark,” noted Friedman. “Everybody has their own lane and that’s what makes [The Daily Ramble] so special.” Friedman also added.
