US high-school students shoot soap opera, anchor news at FTV

US high-school students shoot soap opera, anchor news at FTV

2024-05-22

Forty-eight American high-school students from Seattle area are in Taiwan for an eight-day TV and film camp hosted by Kainan University and FTV. Besides visiting Taiwan’s landmarks, they also tried their hand at shooting a soap opera and anchoring a news show at the TV station. They also went on a tour of FTV’s cutting-edge LED virtual studio.

A race car appears on the screen, eliciting wows from the audience. Then a helicopter materializes from overhead. This is the AR- and XR-enabled LED screen at FTV’s virtual studio. The technology amazed high school students visiting from the U.S.

Student
It’s a lot bigger than I imagined, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the behind-the-scenes for a movie. I think it’s a pretty valuable experience.

Student
I’m really impressed by how much attention you pay to details in your movie and video productions.

These 48 students are from an international high school in the U.S. state of Washington. They’re in Taiwan for an eight-day television and film camp. They first went to Kainan University’s Department of Film and Creative Media to learn about storyboarding, editing and shooting. Then they went on a visit to FTV’s Linkou headquarters.

Dorothy Wang
FTV president
This camp allows students to learn in a school, while also getting to know Taiwan. At Kainan University, they were taught about editing and shooting, and then they came here to FTV to get hands-on experience. I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for the kids.

Liu Chi-lun
Kainan University faculty
They were all very excited to be coming here today. The studio is beautiful, and everyone thinks it’s amazing. This activity will definitely be helpful to promoting Taiwan’s television and film industry abroad and engaging in more international exchanges.

The students burst out laughing, just seconds into the scene of a script they wrote themselves. They tried out directing and acting, shooting short clips on an FTV set. They also learned about the news production process and got the chance to be news anchors for a day.

One group of students presented the news in both Mandarin and English.

Neha
Student
It was super fun. I have never done anything like this before. It was definitely very memorable to be able to learn from you and to do it with my friends here.

Sophia
Student
I had a lot of fun. It was interesting to learn about how the news channels worked. I really liked using the teleprompter and the microphone as well. It was a lot of fun to do it with my friends. It was super memorable.

Camp organizers have arranged trips to local attractions, such as Yongkang Street, Taipei’s Dadaocheng, Elephant Mountain.

Wesley Hung
International school teacher
This time we had modified what we are doing to capture more cultural things in Taiwan. For example, we are taking the kids shrimp fishing this time. … I was worried we wouldn’t have enough people, but when I asked my school, these kids to sign up for the interest for this trip, we had over 172 students out of 350 sign up. So almost half of our high school signed up for the trip. And I was very surprised. But we were only able to bring 48 of them this time, so maybe it will be back next year.

Sebastian
Student
It is cool to see another part of the world and all the different aspects of their traditions and cultures.

Jordan
Student
Trying their food, seeing their culture and language, seeing how they live and learn is just an amazing experience.

Now in its second edition, the camp has drawn an enthusiastic response. Besides deepening student exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan, it also showcases Taiwan’s TV and film industry to the world.

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