By
Lisa Lucas
Arizona Daily Wildcat
New variety show to air on TV3
Occasionally at the UA, dorm dwellers need to spice up their lives with a little variety - a variety show, that is.
TV3, the University of Arizona's student-run television station, believes it has developed an idea to do just that. The station's new show, "Fast Forward," is a satirical news show based on events - both past and current - that have occurred in the UA community.
Mike Camarillo, broadcast advisor of TV3, said "Fast Forward" will "provide students (with) a documentary on campus, with a show that is produced by students, for students."
He described the show as being based strongly on sarcasm with a "news-journalistic twist."
TV3 program coordinator Aaron Bilgrad, a marketing and entrepreneurship junior, said the show's goal is to provide students with entertainment besides the usual, nightly movies aired on the station.
Bilgrad said "Fast Forward" is set up as a series of segments to allow each student working on the show to "do their own thing." He said he wants the students working on the show to be able to create their own visions and ideas and broadcast those for the rest of the student body.
The show's first five segments will include a story about an alleged ghost in the Modern Languages building, a live version of "The Best of Police Beat," a serious series about UA intramural sports and fake IDs, a documentary of "Mall Interviews" and a commercial parody.
One particular ghost segment is performed by a cast, admittedly not sober, that creates a spoof on the "Blair Witch Project."
Bilgrad said the skits are "not character driven." Rather, the segments all pertain to some aspect of college life.
During such segments as the "Mall Interviews," members of the UA community are encouraged to share their views on various issues. Camarillo said the station is "trying to reach out to the community so they can participate also."
Future story ideas include setting up a dating service documentary, an idea which may end up being an entirely separate show. Bilgrad said the show would revolve around recruiting two students to go on a date - and be filmed in the process.
Each of the four- to six-minute segments of the show takes about three to four days to produce. Bilgrad detailed everything that goes into the actual production.
"You have to write it, organize it, figure out who's going to be where and how and when; you have to shoot it, storyboard it to figure out how you want it to look."
He continued, "You have to get the actors - you have to actually act it out. Then, after you have all of your footage, which takes a few days, you take it to the editing room."
After having put a lot of time into the project, the student production team for "Fast Forward" has much to look forward to - the student-run show debuts tomorrow at 6 p.m. on TV3.
