Imagine turning on your computer for some much needed mental R&R after a long day of classes. Once online, you don’t load Hulu, you don’t load YouTube — instead, you choose to watch the crime fighting exploits of a University of Wisconsin house fellow or events explored in the oppositional institutions of “The Union” and “The Union South.”

Can you imagine such personalized videos created for Badgers by Badgers? Badger University Student Television can, and did.

BUST is a group of freshmen through seniors that formed on campus last January to create entertainment that speaks directly to fellow students. “The medium is the message,” said BUST founder and Prime Minister Kieran Conor Furey-King, quoting media theory giant Marshall McLuhan. In other words, the group aspires to provide more relevant entertainment than students can find elsewhere on the Internet or television.

While the group’s work will also be featured on WYOU’s public access channel, hosting their videos on the Internet will provide convenience for student viewers.

“College kids have very odd schedules. If it’s online you can watch it when you feel fit,” Furey-King said.

Aside from creating shows that specifically cater to the experiences of UW students, the group strives to produce media that teaches as well as entertains.

“Narrative with a moral doesn’t exist in television as I imagine it,” Furey-King said.

Enter BUST.

Recently, the group shot footage for its three premier programs: “Sherlock Dorms,” “The Union” and “The Union South.” “Sherlock Dorms” details the experiences of Arthur Humphries, a house fellow who fights crime and solves mysteries in his spare time. To give students a sneak preview, in the first episode Humphries must grapple with the situation that ensues when a resident’s boyfriend goes missing.

Through the influence of the program’s writer Charlie Makary, “Sherlock Dorms” has evolved from more serious to tongue-in-cheek entertainment with notable film noir influences. The program toys with the concept of true reality versus the main character’s perception of reality.

“The character sees reality through the guise of black-and-white sunglasses,” Furey-King said. “Seeing reality as [the character’s] fantasy breeds comedy.”

BUST’s other two shows, “The Union” and “The Union South,” are more experience-driven pieces that exist in tandem and often reference the same campus event portrayed in the different worlds of the two programs. While “The Union” is upbeat, “The Union South” was described by Furey-King as “sad and brooding.”

BUST will use lighting effects and editing to create the dichotomous moods portrayed in “The Union” and “The Union South.” While “The Union” makes use of a warmer light balance, “The Union South” is shot with a blue light tone to convey the darker subject matter.

“The Union” and “The Union South” also deal with humor differently.

“Dark humor has more of a place in ‘Union South,'” Furey-King said.

The humor throughout “The Union” is lighter in content, but in keeping with the group’s goal it passes on a message. “The Union” features a sequence in which one UW student trains to play beer pong like a Rocky wannabe. Though, in the episode, BUST will “present drinking and its repercussions instead of glorifying it,” Furey-King said.

After the launch of its website, featuring video content, BUST hopes to film student performances to help connect Badgers with events on campus they are unable to attend live. BUST also seeks a closer connection with the university and would eventually like to feature current university professors in the episodes and give them the opportunity to talk about subject matter they find interesting. The episodes and supplementary lectures will then be featured on BadgerTV.com.

Surfing the new media wave, BUST seeks to provide fellow students with a dynamic interpretation of university life through their programs. Live the humor that accompanies student life at UW, or check it out on BadgerTV.com, courtesy of BUST.

The group is currently working toward the release of their first episodes. If you would like to get involved, e-mail [email protected].