Cross Your Eyes and Dot Your Liars

"Cross Your Eyes and Dot Your Liars" is an episode of Ferris in Focus, the tenth and final episode of FiF's spring 2010 semester. It was scheduled for completion at 9:00 AM EST on April 19th and broadcast on April 24th of 2010.

Big Rapids Life

 * Producer: Nate Totten
 * Editor: Nick Blohm

The Spring 2010 TVPR 499 class finally got to do a segment—on itself! Opening shots showed close-ups of Ben, Sara, and Nick hard at work. Another shot wiped to revealed Frank moving a music stand around inside the basement studio, while Kelly set up audio. Meanwhile, another shot revealed Dom checking the card reader functions on her camera.

“It’s inspirational…being able to tell others’ stories…” Kelly remarked in a voiceover. The overlaid shot revealed a pan to the right, where Dom had a camera set up the way it often was to shoot Ferris State Live openings with Scott and Leah. Lamarr and Kelly were looking on while Dom manned the camera. In the background, a junior set banner had toppled over.

A dissolve lead to a shot of Lamarr, as he adjusted a black flag for the studio lights. Another dissolve after that revealed Lamarr being interviewed on camera. His comments were to the extent of: “You learn so much doing this….”

Another shot showed how Frank handles cameras during a tilt and pan shot. Nick’s voiceover revealed how useful being in TDMP is: it gives him a chance to let all of Big Rapids know what’s going on. As Nick gave this statement, an overlaid shot showed him educating Scott and Leah on their opening. A greenscreen stood prominently in the background. This segued into Sandy Gholston, who discussed the origins of Ferris State Live and why the show was created. The actual program itself was developed in the summer of 2009, and was a merge of several lesser programs that had been on before that. Nick reminded viewers that Thursday nights at 10:30 was when Fox 32 in Cadillac broadcast Ferris State Live for most of the greater area of northern Michigan.

Another shot showed several students lounging around the set of that show, while Dom continued prepping the camera and Glen watched in the background to make sure she was doing it correctly. The next shot showed Kelly hooking a microphone up to Scott. Still another shot revealed Megan and Lamarr operating cameras.

Nick switched topics to discussing Ferris in Focus, as a zoom-out shot revealed Kelly and Ben interviewing Bob Daniels. He explained that the class of twelve gets split into six groups of two for each segment, and that segments are divided up. Meanwhile, Ben and Kelly continued their interview in the background to dramatic lighting. Kelly elaborated on Nick’s take, explaining that work on the latter show required students to “spread out all over the campus” while she also mentioned a few of the different segments the show is divided into. Megan added that other segments like Bulldog Stories and Program Spotlight reveal the hidden stories of life and campus that “wouldn’t be told otherwise.” Frank came on next, explaining that he was extremely proud of the work he did for the Plastics Engineering major’s Program Spotlight segment. He claimed that the major didn’t have a good promotional video for its own use until he made one for them. Meanwhile, Nick went on about how proud he was of his Health Matters project on Colleges Against Cancer. Megan claimed her favorite piece was her Big Rapids Life piece on the Art Gallery; particularly in the fact that it was done while an exhibit was on display titled “The Secret Life of Dr. Seuss.”

Kelly’s favorite project was when she covered a piece on all the different types of music bands on campus. She followed up: “It’s more than a class; it’s real life…”

Lamarr commented that the worst part about class was that the 12 students become very bonded to one another through their in-class experiences. As a result, the class becomes a second family for those in it. After graduation, that family disintegrates; producing a sort of broken-heartedness.

Slow motion shots of Sara, Lamarr, and Frank all turning their heads to smile at the camera added to the emotional appeal as the background music grew increasingly loud and dramatic. Frank would later be teased frequently in class for having “the creepiest smile of them all.”

A new shot showed a pan-right of a scene where the set of Ferris State Live was being taken down, followed by a dissolve to a shot where the set was already cleared. A title over the top stated: “Thank you to all that helped us grow as professionals.” A loud clanking sound effect implied a light switch being flipped, and the background faded to black.

Strangely, the Dozerfleet founder never once showed up in a single frame in the final edit. Tabby only managed to appear briefly in one short clip. Nate Totten was also surprisingly absent from a lot of it.

Health Matters

 * Producer: Frank Molner
 * Editor: Tabby Young

Chief MJ Bledsoe of DPS came on to talk about how and how not to cross the street. He reminded students that, past a certain point, vehicles at Ferris have the right-of-way rather than pedestrians. Matt Valleau, a Public Relations major, came on to talk about a time when he did look both ways. A minivan driver that didn’t watch the road carefully turned a corner and then sent Matt flying through the air. Even careful students can become victims of hit-and-runs along the streets in Big Rapids.

Because of this, MJ warns students that one is better to cross the streets in Big Rapids as if running from a demonic grizzly bear than to be crossing while adjusting a setting on an iPod. When crossing the street at night, it’s better to be dressed like Plastic-Man than like Batman. Similarly because many drivers are half-blind when driving at night anyway.

Matt concluded that everyone needs to assume some level of responsibility; and that some accidents are inevitable.

E-News

 * Producer: Megan Barker
 * Editor: Dominique Gibbs

With little left to talk about, Mark mentioned ABC Family’s show Pretty Little Liars. He went on to talk about Melissa Joan Hart getting a TV show, and then listed the gotta-see films for 2010 for men and women.


 * Men had the following films to look forward to:


 * Robin Hood
 * Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
 * The Losers
 * Get Him to the Greek
 * The Karate Kid
 * The Last Airbender
 * Jonah Hex
 * Killers
 * Iron Man 2


 * Women were told to look forward to the following:


 * Letters to Juliet
 * Shrek Forever After
 * Sex and the City 2
 * Eclipse
 * Knight and Day
 * Despicable Me
 * The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
 * Step Up 3D

Program Spotlight

 * Producer: Eric Stacy
 * Editor: David Stiefel

Second-Year Optometry Student Brian Dornbos was one of a few who came on to talk about the Michigan College of Optometry, one of the proudest programs on campus. He mentioned that first-year students do a lot of studying and basic science courses. Dr. James Nash, an assistant professor, concurred. Nash explained that the courses are geared specifically so that students understand how their research on genetics and other topics pertain to the human eye; so that they don’t feel they’re being force-fed anything irrelevant.

Alana Herron, a 1st-year student, came on to explain what a day in the life of a 1st-year student is typically like. They get to class by 9, and don’t get a significant break until lunchtime. As she explained herself, b-roll footage showed a demo of two students testing equipment on each other. The lighting was made deliberately more dramatic than it necessarily normally would have been, and camera angles for shots were deliberately chosen to produce a primetime drama-like atmosphere. More b-roll footage showed what a lecture might look like; though the lighting was a tad more realistic.

Brian’s big chin followed up by informing viewers that students are usually taking patients by their second year. Third-year student Carla Gilbertson added in her thoughts. For four days a week, 3rd-years get to take lengthy classes. This is followed by working in a clinic on Fridays. Another 2nd-year student, Tuan Tran, added his insights. MCO students get to be very close friends and allies with each other. The teachers have over 20 years of experience with their teaching, and have been described as “very competent.”

“Expect to work hard,” added Brian. He also mentioned a time that Dr. Nash was standing on a table to make a point, but couldn’t remember what that point was. A few more remarks were made about how the program is “totally worth it,” and that “some students don’t know until their junior year that optometry is what they were really meant to do.”

A rotating display of sunglasses completed the segment, as an overlay gave the College of Optometry’s contact information.

Bulldog Stories

 * Producer: Ben Wyman
 * Editor: Kelly Deward (as Kelly Armbruster)

The final Bulldog Stories segment for Spring 2010 went to Bob Daniels, then the head hockey coach at Ferris. He mentioned right off the bat that he had been at Ferris for 21 years, and was an assistant coach for the first three of his years. He’d been at other colleges in the past, but it wasn’t until Ferris that he became a head coach—and found his true calling. He managed to feature in only one game back when he played hockey at MSU.

He’d also been to Miami-Ohio, and to UIC as an assistant coach. Upon arrival in Big Rapids, he and his wife had a few children. At the time the video was shot, his oldest daughter had become a senior at Big Rapids high school. Her plans were to enter the pharmacy school at Ferris immediately afterward. One of his proudest moments was when Ferris’ hockey team got a chance to play a game in the Joe Luis arena.

Versus

 * Producer: Megan Barker
 * Editor: Dominique Gibbs

After apparently being appalled by the violence in episode 9, Megan took over production of this segment with the express goal of ensuring that hosts Nick D. and Andrika Lyons had a "somewhat friendlier and more factual" competition. Andrika started off saying that she wanted to give viewers the full load of what organic foods offered&mdash;how much healthier you'd be eating them. ND replied that preservatives in foods keep them around longer-and are therefore a more budget-friendly option.

Nick jumped in by arguing that organic foods are "a big fake," and that the same nutrients exist in most preserved foods. On top of that, he argued that Michigan's unemployment rate at the time was a whopping 14% - making it prohibitive to waste money on organic foods in such a bad economy. Andrika sighed back that another 25 years of eating "canned garbage" would take its toll on Nick's figure. On top of that, some preservatives have been found to be unsafe.

Nick was forced to respond like a gentleman with: "Zinger! How rude!" This is a line he normally would not say; but was reduced to in keeping with Megan's protest of all the flying and decapitation implied in episode 9. Andrika argued that "for only a little more, organics will be safer." Nick rebutted that preserved foods are still plenty-edible, and cost a fifth as much money. Nick then finished by saying: "Face it...you lost this time." Andrika responded that when he's morphed by chemicals, and everyone's laughing at his tombstone; he'll be singing a different tune.

What Do You Think?

 * Producer: Ben Wyman
 * Editor: Kelly Deward (as Kelly Armbruster)

The question being asked this week was: "What did you want to be growing up?" The first actual answer given in edit order was a woman stating that she wanted to be a dental hygienist. A man with his young son stated that he wanted to become an engineer. Another man claimed that he'd already achieved his great goal in life: being a great father and a great husband. A still-student responded that he wanted to become a psychiatrist. A high school senior in the park stated his wishes to join the marines, followed by "something to do with animals."

One man stated that he was in the Plastics Engineering major, but planning to switch majors. The would-be psychiatrist claimed that the reason for his ambition was that he was always fascinated by the complexities of human minds.

Now Demonstrating

 * Producer: Lamarr English
 * Editor: Sara Potter (as Sara Tuttle)

Lamarr invited his friend Damari McBride to guest host the segment for its semi-epic ending. In order to qualify himself as an "expert" on the topic of how men on campus can pick up a date, he first provided a disclaimer to his statements from a previous episode. In that episode, he rambled on about his fantasies of strippers. This time around, he talks about his softer side, a side that is capable of thinking of something other than strippers.

He went on to claim that he had searched the campus for answers to what women expect most when someone asks them for a date. The first girl interviewed claimed that "it's not a game," even though a lot of other women disagree. She did state that a good sense of humor was critical. Another girl stated that she wants to see complete confidence in a man. A third said "know who you really are." A fourth claimed that the promise of a shopping trip would get her interested. Another said: "relaxed, and no emos or pretty boys."

Frank appeared to enact a scenario for the audience, as Damari argued that "not just confidence, but supreme confidence" is necessary for success. Damari next stated that "not-too-shabby looks" are essential to gain appeal, and followed up with "be aggressive and follow through." The scenario showed Frank landing a date with little-to-no trouble. Just about anyone else trying to act that scenario out would have a 50/50 chance of getting slapped instead.