Take that, NFL
Posted on October 4, 2007
So we all know by now that the NFL has limited video clips to no more than 45 seconds per day. In case you need a reminder, here’s what the Washington Post reported in June:
In a move designed to protect the Internet operations of its 32 teams, the pro football league has told news organizations that it will no longer permit them to carry unlimited online video clips of players, coaches or other officials, including video that the news organizations gather themselves on a team’s premises. News organizations can post no more than 45 seconds per day of video shot at a team’s facilities, including news conferences, interviews and practice-field reports.
Well, the Associated Press Photo Managers reports that Indianapolis Star photographers have found a loophole by creating video-like multimedia that they’re calling audio slideshows. You can see them here:
>> Colts’ fans in Houston
>> Colts’ fans in Nashville
It’s an innovative resolution, but it quickly gives me a headache. I could barely sit through both and was grateful for the still-photo intermissions. Readers who aren’t familiar with the ruling or simply don’t care may tire of the new format. But the newspaper says they’re more popular than the videos.
There isn’t any discussion on the APPM forum yet. Too bad. I’m quite curious about what others think.
Covering a courtroom drama
Posted on October 1, 2007
Trent Nelson, a photographer from the Salt Lake Tribune, was at the Warren Jeffs trial last week and blogged about his experience. It’s an interesting read, particularly since it makes me feel like I’m really getting an inside look at what a pool photographer goes through during a trial like this.
I also like the 60-second audio slideshow updates he produced for each day. What a nice way to enhance the audio, even in a situation where the photos may be limited.
You can watch the audio slideshow series here (unfortunately the index page doesn’t list all of them): Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9
A video of the reading of the verdict also was published by the newspaper to YouTube. Interestingly, this clip is linked from the paper’s Web site — meaning it seems that they ONLY published it to YouTube and don’t have it on their site at all.
I’ve noticed more and more papers are using YouTube. I think it’s a great form of viral marketing, but if you’re going to do this, you should take full advantage of the marketing potential by branding the video and including links to your site in the summaries.
Speaking of opportunities, the index page shows some missed ones. The long list of links doesn’t invite the reader. If it weren’t for the subject matter, my eyes would glaze over. But this page, the video and audio slideshows are great examples of how content can make up for any obstacles to quality (the style of the video, repetition of some photos and audio levels).
If you’re interested in this case or even the least bit fascinated by the polygamist lifestyle, you’ll watch/read it all and be hungry for more — not just because of the topic, but because of how the content is presented. THAT’s what makes storytelling skills so important. THAT’s what makes journalists unique.
In addition to the missing 60-second update archives, the leadership tree and community comparison graphics could have been so sweet if they were interactive. I know the constraints of resources, time and newsroom priorities; I deal with that every day at my newspaper. But I think this story warranted the extra time to create the interactive graphics and a better overall design.
MNPW: How to teach a cat to fetch (or training your newsroom)
Posted on August 22, 2007
On the second day of the Multimedia News Producers Workshop, Photojournalist Mike De Sisti of postcrescent.com and Multimedia Producer Jenni Pinkley of startribune.com talked about how to take all this knowledge back to our newsrooms.
Pinkley put together a YouTube video (above; you have to click on it, I can’t embed it, unfortunately) describing how we get everyone as excited about multimedia as we are. It’s as simple as:
>> Measure and gauge interest
>> Create a buzz; show them they can have fun
>> Be patient (they’re scared).
Just watch the video. It’s much more fun.
Which reinforces to me that learning has to be as fun and exciting as all these new applications with which we’re now working.
Reporters, photographers, copyeditors and assignment editors are used to a certain workflow, and they know what’s expected of them. And now we’re asking them to redefine how they tell stories. Oh, and at the same time, they need to figure out how to operate this machinery and navigate these software applications and content management systems they’ve never seen before. Yeah, and do everything they’ve already been doing on the job, too. Thanks so much.
I don’t mean to stereotype here because there are exceptions in hopefully every newsroom. But I do feel the majority of people find change to be stressful, even when it’s good change. Add on top of the stress of changing workflows and expectations that people are just plain worried about keeping their jobs. This is a tough time to be asking them to move outside of their comfort zone.
So it’s important to remind them that this is fun. And it’s for them. These audio and video clips, interactive graphics, slideshows and more enhance their stories. It makes their writing more accessible to readers, which, I imagine, can only make them shine as multimedia stars when the company is looking for ways to downsize.
Pinkley described how she teaches her newsroom, which is a part of the paper’s overall training program for their staff. Classes are for about 6-10 people in two sessions of approximately three-hour blocks, during which they gather and edit audio.
She also worked on SeeSaw, a compilation of life samplings told through multimedia, with reporters and photographers in her newsroom. The benefit of this evergreen content is that as it adds to the community development of the site, it gives the newsroom a chance to learn and play with multimedia projects and storytelling.
Mike De Sisti teaches reporters video at his paper. In this example video shown below (click on the image to go to the page to watch it), which he played during the session, he worked with Post-Crescent reporter Kate McGinty to produce a video project.
What a great way to educate a.) the public on what reporters are doing with video, and b.) reporters on what they can do in telling a story through video. And as a bonus, she got a chance to show off what she learned.
The mechanics are a critical part of learning multimedia, but it’s also essential to understand what kind of multimedia to use when. For his paper, De Sisti has put together a multimedia production star system that rates the overall necessary skill level of each project.
I’ve heard of other papers using tiered systems for multimedia projects, and I think these are important to share with reporters and photographers and particularly assignment editors so they can understand the different levels of projects. I particularly like the production time guides given.
>> One star: Raw video, recorded for no more than 45 seconds. The final product has no editing or titles. Production time: 1-2 hours, which includes shooting, ingestion, formatting and posting.
>> Two star: Very rough cut video. Two to four cuts in a short video with limited titles. Production time: 2-4 hours, which includes shooting, ingestion, formatting and posting.
>> Three star: Project is shot, edited and posted the same day. Includes 1-3 brief interviews (A roll) with other shots (B roll). Titles are used as intro and to introduce people. Production time: 4-6 hours, which includes shooting, ingestion, formatting and posting.
>> Four star: Often supplements in-depth enterprise stories. Video may contain several interviews and voiceovers or on-camera reporter interviews. Production time: May take several days to complete, which includes shooting, ingestion, formatting and posting.
‘We dream in dissolves, we think in cuts’
Posted on July 5, 2007
In the latest Poynter Centerpiece (Blurring Boundaries: What Print Journalists Can Learn from Video Editors), Regina McCombs, multimedia producer at StarTribune.com and former TV photographer, asked four TV editors (Ram Guzman, John Hyjek, Jonathan Menell, and Jim Douglas) to review some newspaper audio slideshows and offer tips on what principles of video editing might be applied to improve our storytelling.Their reactions:
>> Watch your pacing — many were too slow and seemed to scream “Look at my photo!” (Personally, I’ve also seen some that are speed demons with photographers trying to cram in too much of their work.)
>> Watch your transitions — choose the right tool for the right moment:
A concept that has stuck with Menell is something he heard Hyjek say once: We dream in dissolves, we think in cuts. “It means that when you think during your day, thoughts come into your head instantly. You experience pow! — this is happening — pow! I feel like that. Dreams fade and come and go, and it’s a gentler process. The way it applies in storytelling, the point of editing, is the juxtaposing of one idea to the next.
“Cuts make pieces feel more urgent, more powerful and more precise, too. And more experiential, because people watching it are in their awake mind.”
A dissolve, on the other hand, does something else entirely, taking you a step back from the story. “You’re leaving the world of the immediate and entering a more thoughtful place, a more contemplative place, a more painterly place …”
>> Watch your sound — um, well, you know what I mean.
“The importance of sound is to bring the viewer a much more intimate sense of reality, to take the viewer where we went.” His [Jim Douglas, NPPA photographer of the year in 1985] recommendation: “Listen, listen and listen some more. Close your eyes and hold your breath and hear.”
Tell the story so you can see it
Posted on June 18, 2007
In Al Tompkin’s latest Poynter Centerpiece, he interviews Valerie Geller about how to write visually — an essential component to good audio storytelling. Geller should know; she’s worked with more than 500 radio stations in 27 countries and teaches radio journalists about visual writing. Here’s what I see as some of the highlights that we can apply to audio podcasts, slideshows and online video:
Says Geller:
“Many people do not think of radio as a visual medium. But a talented storyteller who writes with dazzling detail can tap into all of the imagery and emotion stored in the listener’s brain and make him feel that he really is “seeing” the story. While telling a story in just a few words is key in writing powerful news copy, the visual element is important to keep listeners engaged.”
What makes a great “story”?
“WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, WHEN, HOW, but also:
>> HOW does this story affect my listener?
>> HOW can I describe things more visually?
>> HOW can I make someone care about this?
>> HOW, or in what way, do I care about this?
>> HOW come I am putting this story on the air?
>> If a problem is presented, HOW can it be solved; what are the solutions?
>> HOW did this happen; could it have been prevented?
>> HOW else can I tell this story?
>> HOW would I tell it to a friend?
>> HOW can I make it better?
>> HOW would I tell it if my very life depended on not losing a listener?
>> and HOW would I put this on a demo to get another job if I needed one?”
And men and women don’t hear the story the same way, she explains:
“Visual descriptions are especially important to men. Brain research shows that men are more stimulated by visual details, and language that describes events with accurate visual elements tends to make them pay closer attention to a story.
Women, on the other hand, are emotive. If a woman can “feel” an emotional connection to a story, she is more likely to listen closely and take in the information. For a story to appeal to both men and women, it should deliver information using both visual and emotional language.”
Soundslides Plus is here!
Posted on June 15, 2007
Joe Weiss has treated us to an early Christmas gift: Soundslides Plus is available for download (and he’s only charging an upgrade for those who have already purchased the older version).
I got a chance to test this one out in beta, and it is NICE. You’ll like the changes:
>> Image Movement (Pan and zoom)
>> Image-only, click-through slide shows
>> Individual transitions
>> Built-in lowerthird subtitles
>> Built-in thumbnail menus
And I have to note that Joe’s customer service is SUPERB. Forums, a wiki and a quick response to help requests makes the “ridiculously simple storytelling” a ridiculously enjoyable experience all around.
Audio ethics
Posted on June 7, 2007
I met with photographers at my paper last night as they all gathered to talk about their photos. The discussion several times moved to how they could turn their projects into online audio slideshows/galleries/projects, which is so great for a multimedia editor to hear.
An interesting debate came up at the end of the night: What are the ethical guidelines to editing audio?
These are some issues they wondered about:
>> Do the photos and audio HAVE to match in time? For instance, if you record a prayer one night when you’re visiting a church group but you get the best photos the second week you visit that same group, is it OK to use that original recording?
>> If something rattles loudly in the background while recording, or the person you’re interviewing gets caught in a coughing fit, can you ask them to repeat themselves?
>> Is it OK to leave background sounds in the background, even if those sounds weren’t occurring when the interview happened?
Herald-Tribune Director of Photography Mike Lang found this link to the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) Code of Ethics. One section says:
“TRUTH: Professional electronic journalists should pursue truth aggressively and present the news accurately, in context, and as completely as possible.
Professional electronic journalists should:
* Continuously seek the truth.
* Resist distortions that obscure the importance of events.
* Clearly disclose the origin of information and label all material provided by outsiders.Professional electronic journalists should not:
* Report anything known to be false.
* Manipulate images or sounds in any way that is misleading.
* Plagiarize.
* Present images or sounds that are reenacted without informing the public.”
I searched today to see if there are any ethical guidelines for sound. I found a slideshow tip sheet put together by Josh Meltzer, of The Roanoke Times, and Scott Sharpe, of the News & Observer. It has some great tips about how to get the interview, including the following:
“Transfer good photojournalism ethics to recording audio
o NEVER ask a subject to do something or say something
o NEVER edit your project in such a way that is no longer accurate to what you observed
o Indicate who is talking when needed
o NEVER edit someone’s words to make them say something with a different meaning from what they actually said”
At the bottom of the page, someone asked exactly what we were wondering last night:
“It’s a given not to ask a subject to do something or say something for you, but, can you ask them to repeat something if someone sneezed or something distracting happenend in the background. Comment by Jeff — June 5, 2007 @ 10:26 am”
Obviously we’re not alone in this debate/questioning. Any advice from anyone out there?
Peeps show
Posted on April 7, 2007
I have to share this creative, funny, reader-interactive photo gallery from The Washington Post’s first-ever Peeps Diorama Contest. (I think “Peeping Peeps” is the funniest.)
The story has the artists’ comments; I’d love it if the interactive had included audio clips of them describing their work. It looks like this was produced for print and then pulled together for the Web.
Again, perhaps the best part is that washingtonpost.com dares to put this stuff in their main display spot on the front. It’s right next to their lead headline: McCain to Bet ‘08 Bid on Need for Victory in Iraq. Hm. I wonder which one will get more page views? ;)
We did a Peeps audio slideshow of our own at heraldtribune.com last week, where two Peeps joust in a microwave. Very, very silly, but it was fun and quick to produce. Self-critique: Next time we have a project like this (and the necessary equipment), we should use video to tell the story.
Dooty Diva
Posted on March 28, 2007
Never one to pass up looking at anything about dogs, I had see what all the fuss was about, since this audio slideshow by Kyle Green, an excellent photographer from Roanoke.com, has gotten two fellow bloggers talkin’ poop.
Here’s why it works:
>> Gorgeous photos.
>> Great ambient sound.
>> It’s a talker.
>> It’s short and to the point.
>> The “outtake” at the end made me chuckle.
Because it’s all about winning those contests
Posted on March 22, 2007
Really, it’s all about the reader. But if it garners industry attention, chances are your readers will take notice of the project, too.
Anyway, I was out of town this weekend and missed Richard Hernandez’s brilliantly funny how to win a contest tutorial.
My favorite slide is all the people getting pushed into the train — excellent visual of what we sometimes try to do to our sites and audio slideshows.
Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already.
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