When I joined The Feather’s video journalism team in my junior year of high school, I was looking for a creative outlet. The first video I ever edited was my audition to get into the class. It was just a few clips I took with my dad’s DSLR and my drone on a day out on the lake. Today, as I leave high school, I have learned how to shoot video using manual settings, edit on Adobe Premiere Pro, and make journalistic and marketing content.

The Feather is vastly different from any other class I took in high school. I was given projects with deadlines and expected to figure out the details on my own.

In this environment, it was difficult at first, but I was able to learn how to communicate with my peers and adults as I worked to finish my own projects along with the projects our team took on as a class.

During my two years on The Feather, I realized that you can learn almost anything you want to online as long as you have the desire. The requirement to make videos on The Feather pushed me to research and learn new editing techniques from YouTube that helped make my videos more interesting and more enjoyable to watch.

Next fall, I will be attending Grand Canyon University where I am planning to major in Business Administration. Although I don’t know exactly what my future career will be, I know that the skills that I learned in video journalism will be a great asset. Video is becoming an increasingly more important tool in marketing and communication. 

According to Forbes, “95 percent of consumers retain communicated information through video, while only 10 percent retain information from reading.”

As attention spans get shorter from constant use of social media, marketing with just text won’t cut it any more. Video catches the customer’s attention and allows the creator to give them a closer connection to an organization, or brand.

In addition to being a helpful asset for my future, I was able to do a lot of unique and fun things in video journalism. Last year I got to film interviews with the former mayor of Clovis, Bob Whalen, the current mayor of Fresno, Lee Brand, and the former police chief and mayor elect of Fresno, Jerry Dyer. During our trip to Los Angeles for the NSPA journalism convention, we were able to tour the backlots of Warner Brothers and see how movies are made.

I am grateful for all the work put in by my advisers Kori James and Greg Stobbe. I want to thank them for giving me many opportunities to grow my skills, and for pushing me to do my best.

My time on The Feather allowed me to grow in a way that many high school classes don’t usually allow. The freedom I had to create videos and independently work on videos along with projects with my peers grew my time management skills and my ability to work with others.

I am very thankful for everything that I learned on The Feather. If you are interested in journalism, photography, or videography, I highly encourage you to join.

After graduating Fresno Christian, Hinton will attend Grand Canyon University in the fall of 2020 where he will study Business Administration.

To see Hinton’s first video on The Feather, watch Summer Highlights 2018.

The author can be reached via email: Wesley Hinton, Instagram and Twitter.