Hi Kids,
Welcome to Green Screen Adventures! My name is Katy Daso and I am the Story Coordinator for the show. What does a Story Coordinator do you might ask? Well, to start, I read everything you submit to us. Everything! Stories, reports, poems… you name it, I read it. Your writing is what makes our show happen. When you submit something, I work with a team of writers and actors in adapting your work for TV. When I was in college I studied education and graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education. What do you want to study in college?
Here I am with Katherine, a student author at Sauganash Elementary. I built the elephant science exhibit, you see here, based on Katherine’s writing and drawings from her book, "The Life of an Older Sister." I’ve always loved working with children. Can you believe I used to be a teacher? I use my education degree on the show to help pick out the creative techniques you use in writing your stories. For example, if you submit a story that’s really descriptive I’ll make sure our writers know about it! It could be anything! Maybe you like to use simile in your writing. Do you know what a simile is? It’s a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared, usually using the words “like” or “as.” Examples of a simile are: “the snow glittered like a tiara” or “the tree was as tall as a skyscraper.”
Maybe you like to use onomatopoeia. To the right is an example of onomatopoeia taken from a page of “The Two Devious Monsters” by Fabian from Christopher Elementary. I know, it’s a long word and hard to pronounce. We can work on pronouncing it together. Try it with me: on-oh-mah-toe-pee-ah. Great job! Onomatopoeia is a word that describes a sound. For example, “ding-dong”, “ring”, “buzz”, and “pop.” There are many, many more. See if you can think of any and use them in your next story! Reading what you write is one of my favorite things about working on this show. Keep submitting your stories, and I’ll keep reading them!
Ever notice some of our wacky costumes and props on the show? I’m also the costume and prop coordinator! Maybe you wrote about a character who likes to wear silly hats. I’ll look through all of our hats to find just the right ones for your story. Or maybe you’ve illustrated one of your characters wearing the color blue. I’ll make sure the actor we cast in your story is wearing blue, just like your illustration. Did you know that you can make some of the costumes and props that you write about in your stories? It’s easier than you think. The great thing about Green Screen Adventures is that we try to create costumes and props from things you might find around your house. Want to make one with me? Great!
Let’s start with something simple. How about a dog? First, before you do anything, ask a parent or guardian for permission to use some of the objects you find around the house. What type of dog are you trying to create? Maybe a black labrador. Here is what you need to create a black lab: black sweater, black gloves, black scarf, black hat, and black pants. What about the ears and the tail? Use your imagination! Maybe the ears are a couple of old black socks. Perhaps the tail is another scarf you had lying around the house. Wherever your imagination takes you, go with it!
When it comes to props, it’s easy! Maybe you wrote about two characters that go on a high seas adventure. What could they use as oars? Well, many people don’t have oars lying around their house, so what could we use instead? Perhaps a broom! Or maybe a hockey stick! One of your characters might need a telescope or a pair of binoculars to help them see if they’re approaching land. Use an old papertowel tube as the telescope! Or glue two shorter tubes together, perhaps toilet paper tubes, and pretend they’re binoculars. Improvising is a great way to create props for your next story!
Next I’ll show you how I made the caterpillar costume! It was created for a segment called “Good Presents.” This segment was based on a collection of short narratives, written by first grade students, discussing what a particular animal would like to receive on his or her birthday. David from Bell Elementary wrote about a Caterpillar’s birthday. So, how did I start creating the caterpillar costume? First, I found pictures of different caterpillars. To the right is the photo I used. It’s a great way to see what you might need to add to the ideas you already have in your head.
I got to thinking. I need something long, almost like a dress, but with long sleeves and… oh! Maybe a length that could almost touch the ground. What do you think it could be? Right! A robe. Then I decided to pin colorful gloves on the robe to make them look like the caterpillar’s feet. I stuffed the gloves with fiberfill first, before pinning them to the robe, so that they looked more life-like. What’s fiberfill? It’s almost like cotton balls but much bigger and easy to break off into smaller pieces. Next I thought we could use a scarf to wrap around the actor’s head. I chose a colorful scarf that I could stick fake antennae through. Keep in mind, caterpillars come in different sizes and colors. They can be striped, fuzzy, spikey, etc. Use your imagination in creating your own caterpillar costume. Use the internet or an encyclopedia in researching what caterpillars look like to help create your costume!
Just add a little makeup and voila! A caterpillar! Here is the finished caterpillar costume! Doesn’t Robert look adorable? Now it’s time to film! It’s my responsibility to make sure that the actors are in their correct costumes. I also need to make sure that the actors know where all the props are that they need to act out your story. In addition to being the Story Coordinator, I also floor direct! That means I get to stay in the studio with all the actors while they perform your story for the cameras. I get to wear a headset that allows me to communicate with our director, Chris, who’s in the control room. You can see I’m wearing the headset in the photo below. Through the headset, Chris will tell me when the actors need to look at a different camera. Often, one camera is set as a close-up shot and the other as a wide shot. When the actors need to move, I place my hand under the camera they need to be looking at. It can be tough, but it’s actually a lot of fun! As long as I listen to directions!
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and that you find some of the tips I wrote about to be helpful in creating and acting out your next story! And don’t forget to send it in to the show so we can act it out! 
I can’t wait to read your fabulous work and make your stories come to life!
If you have any questions, you can write me by clicking on the “contact us” button above. I’d love to hear from you!
Your friend,
Katy
