Interesting presentation

I'm finally looking at the multimedia presentation category of the NPPA contest. I like how this presentation about an equestrian program for troubled kids integrates videos into the audio slideshow.

Superstar symposium

My favorite journalism professor, Dr. Rosental Alves, throws an awesome online journalism symposium every year. Today you can check out the all-star line up for this year's rockin' symposium.

Highlights:
Jeff Jarvis
Jim Brady, WAPO
Neil Chase, NYT
Andrew DeVigal
Brian Storm

Also lots of other interesting panel topics, journalism research, etc.

I volunteered to work at the symposium last year. Rosental actually hooked me up with my internship at MySA, which turned into my present job!

I wish I could go this year, but I've got another awesome workshop to attend where I'll be doing some video training.

New site, new type of video

The Express-News recently launched a new niche publication called 210 SA, which is aimed at 18 to 24 year olds. Me and the others on the multimedia team will occasionally produce videos for the new site. My first one ran today; it's about a performance artist from San Antonio and it's a pretty fun video if you ask me. It's also a new "type" of video for me.

All the footage came from the story subject. He gave me a 15-minute .mov file and told me I could re-cut it anyway I chose. I interviewed him with my Marantz and used the audio in the new video. I'm pretty happy with the results!

Update: This "factoid" page goes with the video.

I'm stealing this idea

Cyndy Green has been posting some great info about how she teaches beginning students to shoot and edit. I'm totally going to steal some of her ideas.

I have my students working on what I call the basic shots assignment. Shoot the seven basic shots you will use frequently in video production and shooting news. These include wide shot (WS), medium shot (MS), close up (CU), and extreme close up (ECU). The camera moves include pan and tilt. The lens move is zoom.

This assignment is important on several levels. First, it teaches students to look for relationshiops - at perspective. A wide shot can be a building, medium shot the bottom of the building, close up the door, extreme closeup the doorknob. Or - a wide shot can be a person, medium shot the person from the waist up, close up the person’s head, extreme close up the person’s eye. Wide shot could be a hand, medium shot the four fingers, close up the thumb, exteme close up a fingernail. You get the picture - it’s all about relationships between one shot and the next.

On Wednesday 3/7 I'm teaching the first of several short video workshops for Express-News reporters. They're about to begin taking out cameras (Canon Elura 100s) to shoot their own videos. The workshop will be extremely basic and will cover:

• How to turn on camera, what buttons do


• The importance of using tripods


• Names/definitions of WS, MS, CU


• Basic shooting strategy

He said it better than me

It seems that Journerdism has also been caught in the hell of attempting to watch too-high-quality video with a not-good-enough computer or connection. In his rant, I think he spelled out the argument better than I did a few days ago.

What’s up with all these new video initiatives that can’t stream. Standard ‘broadband’ across the nation is capped at 256k. 256k! 256k ON A GOOD DAY WITH NO NETWORK HICCUPS. Until we can break from the telecom monopoly, rates drop dramatically or the telecoms decide to offer more bandwidth for free (HA!) we’re stuck at 256K. I’m fortunate to be on a 4 mb pipe at home, but at work I have trouble streaming many of these new projects. At the library, don’t even try! Dial up at Mom’s house? I’ll eat glass before I try that. There’s a great technology chasm. Let’s work for some standards. Yes, ‘broadband’ is growing. But it’s DSL speed broadband right now.

Common (non geek) users like my mom are not going to wait for something that keeps studdering and won’t play straight… Buffer once, then it better flow. She’s going to leave something for that before she leaves because the video may not be the crispest HD, ever in the history of the planet earth. If you can’t figure out your codecs or offer multiple versions, please put it on YouTube, Google, Revver, Brightcove or any of the dozen decent other video streaming services and stop wasting users time and bandwidth.

Great Feb. photos

Jump over to Hart's Big Picture to see his "Monthly Pimp" list for Feb. He points out a lot of great still photography, but there's some multimedia thrown in the mix as well.

Phone sex while you hold?

Have you seen these animated editorial cartoons from The New Yorker? Pretty cool. Each one is only like 20 seconds. None of them really made me laugh out loud, but I think the last one is pretty funny. I think this type of thing is long overdue. I've been wondering when editorial departments were going to start producing things like this.

You know those hilarious mashups of things like George Bush singing "Sunday, bloody Sunday?" It would be awesome if more editorial departments used video like that to express opinions.

Link via Cyberjournalist.

Now, where did I put that multimedia?

Chuck Fadely has a good point about how crappy it is that sites don't make it easy to find multimedia. There's been some discussion about it before. He says that the day after a package runs, sometimes it's impossible to find it again. I've felt that frustration many times before.

Time for a new look?

A friend of mine has gotten me thinking about changing the template for my blog. I picked the "dots" one when I created the blog for a class in college. Now that I'm in the real world and the blog is a bit more serious, I was thinking it should have a more serious look.

What do you think about the two options below?

Hit me with your best shot!

Have I ever critiqued your work and made you feel bad? I'm not going to say I'm sorry, but I will give you a chance to strike back. Be honest, be mean, be dirty ... But let's keep it constructive.

The story that I consider my absolute best since I've been working at the Express-News is the second installment of a series about Chris Edwards, who "got blown up" in Iraq (his own words) and suffered 3rd degree burns over 79 percent of his body. (When you click the buttons for the videos, you may get this weird message about launching an application--Just say yes; it's only windows media player. p.s. That should be one critique of this package.) I think you could great pretty harsh about the first installment of the story ... My shooting/editing skills have improved a lot since then.

He's asking for it

Richard Koci Hernandez is just asking for it. He's been commenting on another post I wrote comparing myself to an old goat, and he's just asking for me to criticize him.

Haha, just kidding; I'm not mad.

But he has asked for me to critique his most recent package about trains. I really admire his work and I see it as an honor that he cares about my opinion. Also, he's asked me to post some examples of my own work so he can share his thoughts. I truly hope he will be brutally honest so that I'll get the chance to see my own mistakes, learn, and grow.

First, I really like the animation of the intro. It's eye catching, but it's not long or boring like some intros that I hate. I think the overall design of the package is great because it's simple, the navigation doesn't make me think, but it looks sophisticated and pretty. I'm totally crazy about the rollover effect on the buttons. They kind of hop up and down and make this "tink" sound (I have this weird obsession for neat buttons. My coworkers laugh at me because I'll sit there and play with them like a little kid). When you click a button, I like the effect that takes you to the next page.

Here's the worse critique of this whole package, which completely ruins the storytelling for me, but probably not for everyone. The bit rates of the videos are too high for my connection/computer, causing them to stutter really bad. I can't watch them. So their whole message is just lost in the wind. Granted, I have a crappy old PC that's left over from my college days. But I do have high-speed cable Internet. I can watch plenty of other sites' videos with no problem. I'm sure if I was trying to watch these videos from work, they would play fine. I'm sure they play fine for a whole lot of other people. Still, I'm not the only person in the world with a somewhat old computer; maybe others have a newer computer, but a slower-speed connection. My point is that the storytelling is lost on lots of people. A huge and high-quality video isn't worth it when it prevents people from watching at all.

Click "photos" and you'll see some beautiful, breathtaking shots. I'm impressed with the photos. But I'm not happy about the interface. When you click one, you have to wait for the transition effect, but then all you get is an enlarged version of that photo. I felt that if I had to wait, I should get something more for my click. Maybe a caption, maybe more pictures, maybe a bit of audio. At least there could have been a "next" button so I could see the big version of the next pic with just one click, instead of having to go "back," wait for the transition, then click the next thumbnail, wait for the transition ... I feel like I should either get more info per click, or just be able to see everything that is there quicker and easier.

I like the design of the graphic. Especially number 3, with the little "cargo log." I think it was a good way to present the info, mostly numbers, in an interesting way.

I wish the "story" link at the top would just take me directly to the story, instead of stopping on another page where I have to click another link to go to the story.

There's definitely very solid photojournalism work here. There's also beautiful design. I really wish I could watch the videos!

Audio slideshow equivalent of talking head video

I've never been a big fan of the multimedia stories where the journalist is merely talking about his or her own work. I'd much rather hear a real story than hear a photographer blab about the conditions surrounding the scene where he took his photo. It's just my personal opinion, but to me, that's boring. It's like a video story where you just see a talking head.

This package, Alan Berner American West, strikes me this way. The photos are beautiful, I really like the interactive map navigation ... But the information in the audio is really boring to me!

Link via NPPA contest multimedia package category.

Am I a bitter old goat?

So a comment on another post this morning got me thinking. I started writing a book while commenting back, and then I thought I might as well just make a new post with those thoughts. So here it goes.

My friends in the real world often laugh and say I'm the most blunt person they've ever met. Sometimes it gets me in trouble. Sometimes it fosters valuable discussions that otherwise would not have happened. I guess my real-world attitude carries over to my bloggin' self.

I realized a while back that my blog is pretty negative sometimes. I tried to fight against it for a couple weeks ... But then I thought, you know, none of the other blogs I read are doing this. Some other blogs point out and comment on excellent examples of multimedia. I like reading them, and sometimes I also comment on excellent work. It's inspirational and educational to check out pieces that are done well.

But it's equally educational to study things that are done badly. I learn much better, and quicker, from my mistakes then I do from my successes. Isn't it worthwhile that we can also learn from the mistakes of others?

Gotta find out how they do this

Like everyone else this week, I'm really impressed with Roanoke's multimedia editor job ad. The intro video is a bit choppy for some ... But you get the idea.

I gotta find out how they do that video cut-out thing. I figure it involves a green screen. My main question is how do they place the cut-out in the Flash document so the stage is visible behind it? Seth Gitner, sweetheart that he is, has agreed to divulge his secrets. Excellent!

Hell froze over

I'm somewhat impressed with this reporter-shot video about an art exhibit. It leaves a whole lot of room for improvement ... But this reporter, at least, never got too stuck on a talking head. And I actually like the intro (the reporter didn't edit the video herself).

On the flip side, she's not using a tripod (but according to the editor's post on the yahoo newspaper video group, she "seems willing to try a tripod next time".) She seems to have this unhealthy obsession with panning. And dear god, the video is more than four minutes long!

p.s. Back to my old self, the second video this reporter shot truly makes me want to puke.

What will YOU do for a story?

Would you go to jail? A reporter for the St. Petersburg Times did, and the paper made a multimedia package out of it. Check out Dim view from a Crowded Jail. I like that there are graphics within many sections of the story. The audio slideshow in "48 hours on the inside" is good.

Crime stories are so popular on our Web site. I wonder how popular a multimedia crime story like this one will be. Considering the study published on OJR recently talking about entertainment stories being really good for packages...

Link via Melissa Worden.

Yeah, who cares?

I like Andy Dickinson's somewhat ambivalence to the issue of whether doing newspaper video right.

... despite the subjective likes and dislikes, can anyone say with any certainty What newspaper video is ? What is right or wrong?

I have my own strong opinions about how do do things right. So does everyone else. It's easy to get caught up in your own views and point the finger at everyone else, saying WRONG WRONG WRONG.

But this is somewhat ironic considering most everyone holds the opinion that online video should be fighting against the TV formula. I think we should be fighting against ANY type of formula.

The beauty of the net is there's going to be room for all different types of videos. Maybe one person will love one type, and hate another ... But another person looking at the same content will have opposite views. For example, I hate Studio 55, but lots of other people think it's exemplary. I'm not a big fan of P&S videos, but maybe that 30-second short form story will be perfect the person surfing the net at work without much time.

How come we have to say any one thing is wrong? Can't we all just find a niche for the type we think is right?

Team slideshows

King-Pin Pooch. Very entertaining story. Nice use of nats music and dog sounds. Good interviews. I voted 1st place for this one.


Curse of the black gold. I imagine this one is going to place. But I'm not going to be one of the ones voting on it ... Since I couldn't watch it. Skipping and stuttering like a destroyed DVD. Also, the page title says "February Sights & Sounds" but I thought the work for this month's competition was supposed to be published in January?

I ended up picking shows for second and third that I didn't really think much about ... But there's only like six entries in this category.

p.s. I'm not going to talk about team videos, because there's only five entries and two of them are from me...

Individual slideshow picks

No particular order.

Inauguration of Arnold in California. This is the first time I've seen a slideshow that divides the screen into four shots. I like that! I still couldn't watch this to the end though.

Roger's Care. I wrote about this earlier after I saw it on MultimediaShooter. I guess this is where HE got it...It's a great mix of nat sound and interviews.

A link to learning. I almost didn't get through the intro in this piece and I think it was a horrible editorial decision to use it. However, if you sit through it, it's worth it.

Calef's Country Store. I love this guy's voice! The pictures are lacking though. No direct link provided--You have to scroll to 1/19/07 and look for Calef's.

Surf jam. Some beautiful pics. Entertaining music. Some pics are moving too fast ... It's nice to quickly change images when they're part of a sequence, but I don't like it with unrelated photos.

MLK Day 2007.

Requiem for the Dead. Even though the voice of the interviewee is somewhat monotone and boring, I could still watch this slideshow to the end. It was touching even.

Off to Afghanistan.

Photo timing is important

I'm usually complaining that photos stay up for too much time in audio slideshows. But this show about cage fighting has the opposite problem. It seems like the photos change more than once per second, even. It leaves me feeling like I've missed something. Geez! Slow it down.

What the duck

I had fun producing this complementary video about ducks who live at a neighborhood pond in northeast San Antonio. The pond used to be home to about 20 ducks ... But now one homeowner counts almost 70 and she says enough is enough. Here's the print story.

From rodeo to basketball arena

I'm so impressed with a time lapse piece that my coworker William Luther produced for today. It shows the AT&T Center in San Antonio being transformed from its Rodeo look to its Spurs basketball look. Very impressive.

My individual video "picks"

I love the new NPPA contest feature that allows you to "save as pick" the videos you like. Well, here's my picks (in no particular order):

Weatherfest 2007. Disclosure: my coworker Gloria Ferniz produced this video. No direct link was provided, but you can find it on our multimedia page (first column, third row).

Reaction after the tornado in Deland, Florida. Not the best shooting, but good video because of content.

Olympic dream. Amazing, beautiful videography and editing. Great story.

Local SWAT team practices. No direct link provided--video wants to download on your computer. Yuck! YOu can find the link on the NPPA contest page.

Positive Vibrations. This video is worth the pre-roll (usually I won't watch that). I like the mix of music, narration.


Rallying against the Iraq war

Senior tai chi. The music and shots work really well together. Makes me feel peaceful.

Wacky Wisconsin weather. A great idea for a weather story!

Third grade reunion. What a good idea for a teacher to do. The content makes this piece.

Video is not a photo slideshow

I think the photographer-turned-videographer who produced this "scenes of winter" video doesn't quite get how a video is supposed to work. It seems like he/she went around town and shot some video just the way that one shoots a still image--by looking for some iconic images that would illustrate the story with one look. Then it seems the producer came back, chose some shots and stuck them together back to back.

But video doesn't work like a photo slideshow. You can't just stick together some unrelated images and call it good. After watching this, I am left with the feeling it was a big waste of time.

If you don't have something nice to SHOW ...

... Then don't show anything at all.

I like this article on web video, You must be streaming.

I get no added value from watching A. O. Scott and Ben Brantley deliver abridged versions of their written-for-print reviews. Washingtonpost.com’s extemporaneous version, a nervous editor interviewing wooden film critics, could be a public-access cable clip. Often, the Times reporters’ videos are like tentative, so-so versions of TV-news spots, unremarkable sound bites interlarded with scripted blah-blah boilerplate.

The lessons seem obvious: Don’t do Web video if you don’t have anything interesting to show, and don’t compete with TV unless you can do something they can’t or won’t. In other words, use the medium.

I like to sing that tune!

Now this is a hook

The intro slideshow for this package about Liberian immigrants in Minnesota is breathtaking. It was a really good idea to lede with this! I don't really have time to look at the rest now.

Videomaker

There's all sorts of cool goodies floating around the Yahoo Newspaper Video group today. Here's a site that's new to me, Videomaker.com. Lots of camcorder reviews.

Video about Gannett reorganization

Mike De Sisti posted on the Yahoo Newspaper Video group this very informative video about the reorganization of a Gannett newspaper, The Post Crescent. It's shot like a documentary.

Shoeshine philosopher

There's an ongoing debate about story video vs. complementary video, which merely serves as value added content for a print story. I produced a video that ran today, and I'd like to offer it as an example of what I think complementary video should be. First read the story about Frank Jones, a philosophizing shoe shiner, and then watch the video. I meant for it to give people a look at the scene and a taste of the man's personality. However, it doesn't contain as much information as a "story video" should. But its backbone as a visual story is still there.

You don't see many of these

I'm trying to think, and I can't remember seeing many Internet videos about anti-war protests. So, it was interesting for me to see this one by The Washington Post.

How come I don't see more? Is it because there aren't many protests? Is it because papers just aren't choosing to cover them with video? Or is it because they're just not covering them?

I really don't know ... I'm asking.

Hip Hop video; "Read a book"

Here's a great video about some Washington DC hip hop artists who make a point to rap about positive messages like, "Read a book." It's a good video. Nice mix of music and interviews. Good use of broll. Wasn't playing too smooth on my home connection, but that's pretty common.

Link via NPPA.

380 new Gannett videographers

Ralph Braseth, blogging for ICM, listened to a boring hour long speech by a Gannett executive so you don't have to. Seems that the speech had a lot to do with Gannett's new Internet strategies. He lists highlights in his post. One very interesting one was that the company has trained 380 new videographers. Wow!

TV ratings = page views

Andy Dickinson today questions the wisdom of making online journalism decisions based on expected page views.

I would be very surprised if anyone would stand for this kind of formulaic editorial decision making in print.

Just because we can get the data, should we be such slaves to the numbers online?

Rightnow newspaper video is fighting to form its own identity and separate itself from TV news video. There's lots of talk about how we should be doing video stories different and better online.

I think it's so dangerous at this point to become "slaves to the numbers." Say there's a new, quirky idea for a video and it's turned down because editors don't think it'll get enough page views. Even more scary, on the flip side, say editors promote really stupid, fluffy ideas because they perceive they will get a lot of page views.

Everyone knows of the idiotic TV news fear stories: Dustbunnies on the playground! Germs in the sandbox! They tend to crop up around ratings time.

I personally hope this is one area where newspaper video decides to be different from TV.

Really great slideshow

This slideshow about a family caring for their elderly, senile grandpa is very well done. It's the right length, it's got great nat sound of the family conversing with grandpa, and good pictures.

Link via MultimediaShooter.

This guy is the craziest fan in the world

Jeeze. You have to see this video about a guy with 48 tattoos of signatures of Chicago Bears players.

Cheesiest voice over EVER

The voice over in this video about kids learning basketball makes me want to vomit. When he said, "Come see how these little guys and gals play ..." that's all I could take.

Always use tripod; never zoom

I found some great examples of what not to do. 1) Artist homestead. 2) MLK. I don't know about you, but the shaky video and the zooms really piss me off!

ALWAYS use a tripod. The only time it's okay to get off the sticks is if things are happening so fast that you will miss the shot if you take time to set up the tripod.

ALWAYS compose your shot, then press record. There's no need to zoom ... just cut it from a medium shot to a close up.

Maybe could tweak idea, use it

This video review of the San Francisco ballet is a cool idea and has a nice voiceover and nice photography, but it's boring and long. It would have worked better with interactivity. Imagine it with navigation for each dance, you click, and it plays a 30-second video of that dance with the voiceover.

Link via NPPA (yes, that time again).

Earn $35,000 for an internet video??

Wowsers. The New York Times has an awesome article today about the video sites that pay creators for their videos (subscription required).

Just a few numbers from the story:

... Mr. Raphaeli has earned more than $13,000 from the site ...
... he managed to earn more than $20,000 last year ...
... The video was eventually seen more than seven million times, earning Mr. Grobe and Mr. Voltz about $35,000 ...
... Several painting demonstrations, using canisters of spray paint, have earned Brandon McConnell, a former zoo groundskeeper, almost $10,000 ...

Christ. I had no idea the video sites' payments could reach that high. Of course, those sums are for the most popular videos ever, which get millions and millions of pageviews. I wonder what an average payment is?

While the sums involved are not yet impressive enough to lure established TV or movie producers into the world of Internet video, they can be significant for people on the fringes of the entertainment industry, or those who see video production as a sideline to their day job ...

I don't know about the bit about the sums not being "impressive enough" ... What do you think?

Link via NewspaperVideo.

UPDATE: Andy Dickinson points out a blog post that lists the various video-sharing sites that are out there.

Package worthy subject

I definitely agree with Melissa Worden today that this slide show about a girl with uncontrollable hiccups could have been a multimedia package. This short slide show made me want to know more. I'd like to see an animated graphic of the physical reasons people hiccup--why the diaphram spasms. I'd like to hear the voice of a doctor explaining why people sometimes hiccup uncontrollably like this girl. I'd like a video of the girl's trip to the doctor's office, and hear the steps they're taking to get rid of her problem. Another video could be about how people around her are reacting to this ... show her at school, home, church and shoot the reactions of classmates, family, friends.

Based on the number of comments, I'd say that viewers are interested enough in this subject to spend the time that it would take to go through a multimedia package.

I don't want to think of advertising either

Ryan Sholin has a nice summary of the talk that's been going on about On Being, and how Rob Curley thinks it's inappropriate for people to ask him how he plans for it to make money. No one would ask a print reporter about the bucks his enterprise story would rake in.

Ryan comments that it's hard to stay on top of the online advertising market, but he is willing to try.

So, I’m happy to spout off a few ideas of how to roll some sort of advertising into content that I create, handle, or edit. If nothing else, I want a say in how it all turns out.

I'm way on the other side of the fence on this one. I don't want to think about advertising at all. I'd prefer to leave it up to those people who were hired to do that job. The most responsibility I want is sending an email to the advertising side, telling them about my projects and deadlines. Then the ball is firmly in their court, where it belongs.

Newspapers "own" online video advertising?

I usually don't pay too much attention to advertising matters. But news of a study about newspapers and online video advertising is pretty interesting. Warning: you have to register to view it ... which I chose not to do.

However, Cyberjournalist pulled some interesting tidbits.

... newspapers are leading the way in local online video advertising, with $81 million, mainly in video classifieds, as compared with $32 million for local TV broadcasters ...

And even more interesting is that Borrell says most of that money won't be in pre-roll advertising, but in "long-form video information that their Web site visitors actually choose to see."

Well ... We definitely don't have anything like that at MySA.com. But I think the study is talking about things like the Geico cavemans crib site.

I love it when someone makes a good point

Today Mindy McAdams says:

... Some content is going to be very well suited to video -- but other content will be better when it's delivered in other, more appropriate formats. We've got to have open discussions about when video is a good choice and when it is not.

This is only the very last tidbit of a long, good post. Jump over there to check it out.

I couldn't agree more with the post. This is one reason I fight so hard against some people's ideas of what reporter-shot video should be. I don't want to spend my time watching a talking head. Usually, the information that such a video could give me is "more appropriate" in text.

When I first started at the Express-News, some people came up with a lot of talking head ideas for videos. I had to fight to change the mindset and get those editors to think of videos as a VISUAL storytelling medium.

Now at the Express-News, we just crossed another line entering the world of online video. More video cameras were recently delivered, and we created a system for any reporter to check out a camera. Part of the system includes the reporter describing their story. Then visual editors can 1) Decide if that really should be a video, and 2) Give advice and tips about how to shoot the story.

Awwwwww

My coworkers did this cute video about a man who proposed to his girlfriend for Valentine's day. The content is what makes it. Technically, it could be improved by the use of a tripod and more close-ups. For example, we never see the ring!

Take the test

The OJR article about when multimedia is worth it proposes a quick test to take while trying to decide whether to create a multimedia presentation about a particular subject.

Should we present this story as an interactive?

Before undertaking any large story project be sure to ask:

* Who is the target audience for this story?
* What do we hope to accomplish in telling this story to them?

Then use this decision-tool to see which approach to storytelling is best supported by the research in these studies:

1. Does the story concern elaborate or unfamiliar processes / procedures?
* Yes – 1 point
* No – no points
2. Is the level of interest in the topic high enough that people would be willing to figure out story navigation?
* Yes – 1 point
* No – no points
3. Does the story have value beyond the first few weeks? Is it likely to be a topic in the news again?
* Yes – 1 point
* No – no points
4. Is entertaining the audience more important than simply informing?
* Yes – 1 point
* No – no points
5. Is it important that the audience be able to recall specific facts from the story?
* Yes – no points
* No – 1 point
6. If the story is told in separate components, it is essential that all the components be viewed by the audience?
* Yes – no points
* No – 1 point
7. Do you hope the audience recalls where they saw the information?
* Yes – 1 point
* No – no points

If you get five or more points, then you should strongly consider an interactive story approach.

Worthwhile multimedia

Check out this very interesting Online Journalism REview article by Laura Ruel. It's about when a multimedia packages are worth the time and money that they take to produce.

Creating these rich media experiences is a commitment of time and specialized talent that news organizations cannot – and should not – afford for every story. This is the biggest challenge for news designers: Given all the design options now available, how does one evaluate effort over return? When does an integrated, interactive story work best in terms of users’ enjoyment and/or comprehension? When is it warranted to help with understanding of the topic? Bottom line, when is it worth it?

The article's conclusions are based on a study conducted at the University of Minnesota.

... we attempted to “catalog” the areas where design decisions could be made when crafting stories online...

We wanted to compare the impact on user attitude and experience between different approaches to content and user action.

I imagine I'm going to spend a good amount of time reading this article, and I'll probably want to write more later.

Fix that audio

Don't shoot bad audio. But if you make a mistake, Cyndy Green's got your back covered. She writes today with a few tips on "fixing" bad audio.

There are ways to transition so the change between the good/bad audio is not as obvious….and this is done in editing. Narration with ambiant sound that is goosed just before the sound recorded off the shotgun or camera mike lessens the distinction…and will work if not overdone. Build in natural sound (natsound) bridges. Narration leading to natsound of firefighters turning on hose…followed by (poor quality) interview. You’ve prepared your audience to listen harder it you introduce sound from the scene. If you shot for sound only (no face), you can cover the interview with visuals that match what the subject is talking about or just general scenes of the story.

I'm doing video training

I'm really excited about this CICM new media workshop. It's covering general online journalism, audio and video. I'm going to head up there to do training for the video portion.

Shocking: UGC on NYT

Say Whaaaa? The New York Times is going to start posting user-generated videos on their site.

The New York Times, the gray lady of establishment journalism, plans to begin posting user-generated video in March, an executive said Wednesday.

Speaking in a panel discussion at the SIIA Information Industry Summit in New York City, Times executive Nicholas Ascheim said that developing video content is costly.

"The most expensive thing is the journalists themselves. That’s why user-generated content is interesting," said Mr. Ascheim, director of entertainment for video and audio at New York Times Digital.

It's cool to have UGC on the site. But for the record, paying real journalists is also mandatory! I'll be keeping my eyes on this news. I wonder what type of UGC they'll be putting up? If it's along the level of current TV, that's great. If it's along the lines of YouTube...Not so much.

Here's a few more interesting snippets from Ascheim.

The Times launched a video player in November 2005, he said, and now has eight video journalists. Still, he acknowledged that amassing an audience for video has been daunting...

..."We’re comfortable about embedding our video on other sites now,” he said. “Amassing an audience to make a business out of this on your own site is probably not a reality."

Ultimately, will The Times abandon newsprint and become an online publication?

Mr. Ascheim said print has some advantages such as being easily navigable and highly portable. He said that a portable Times will exist in the future. “The question is whether it will be printed on trees,” he said.

Link via cyberjournalist.

We're going to follow too!

It's pretty exciting the Wall Street Journal is now allowing people to embed videos on their own sites. At MySA.com we're going to have that too ... It'll be a feature of our video player, once we finally get it.

I think it's a great idea! However, I disagree with cyberjournalist's statement, "now that sites are including preroll advertising regularly, it's to their advantage to do so." I don't think pre-roll is ever an advantage...It annoys people so much they may not even get to your video.

Nighttime Web Producer

Matt Schultz emailed me and asked me to post this job opening on my blog...Hey, why not?



KXAN.com - the most viewed broadcast TV website in Austin - is looking for a nighttime web producer. This is an ever-changing, creative position that puts you right in the newsroom in the middle of the action on a daily basis. Your role will be part copy editor, part graphic artist, part video editor and much more. We're looking for an intellectually curious, go-getting problem solver who's ready to bring new ideas, a positive attitude and new fire to our station's developing "digital content culture."

This is an entry-level position. Journalism or related degree preferred, as is experience with HTML and Photoshop. Knowledge of Flash is highly desirable. Experience with online content management tools like WorldNow or IBS is a big plus. The job involves nighttime work and some weekend and holiday work.

Send your resume to:
Matt Schulz, Director of Internet Content
KXAN.com, TheCWAustin.com
Matt.Schulz@KXAN.com

Include "Nighttime Web Producer Vacancy" in the email's subject line

No phone calls please.

KXAN, The CW Austin and LIN Television are Equal Employment Opportunity employers.

Name all your sheep a NUT

I wrote a couple days ago about The Barn Report, a daily video we're producing about kids participating in animal shows at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Well, today was my day. And I think God was smiling on me.

I planned to go hang out in the Sheep Barn and see what I could see. At 7:15 a.m. I walked in. The first thing I saw:

Six-year-old Clayton Ramsey on his knees, busy with his play dump truck, building a sand castle in the staging area of the sheep show arena. Clayton still has two years till he's eligible to compete in the San Antonio Rodeo...But he enjoys building sand castles while he's waiting for his brother to compete.

This is one of those interviews that made me laugh out loud, over and over, while editing. Hope you like it.

p.s. You may need to speak Texan to understand.

Dec. Hearst contest

The results are in for the December Hearst contest. MySanAntonio.com won first for the year for web-only content! We're extremely happy about that.

My story, A family fights to recover, won second place for the month, with the comment, "A powerful and touching story of an injured soldier that was enhanced and better told by using the power of multi-media storytelling on the web. To hear the story and see the images with video and stills and through the voices of the subjects was overwhelming. GREAT WORK!"

An extremely comprehensive package about murders beat me for first. I can see why. It obviously took a tremendous amount of work, and it includes so much information from many different levels.

Short & sweet

This video about a old school shoe shiner complements a story publishing tomorrow. I tried to make it just a short, sweet hit that would give people an idea of what this guy is like. It's nice to do these videos that just complement stories...You don't have to worry about including the same info that's in print.

Having trouble sleeping? Watch this.

I guarantee that a couple of the audio slideshows from this gigantic art critique package will work better than sheep. In fact, it may even work better than sleeping pills.

Fun hip hop interactive

Melissa Worden did this fun little piece about hip hop. The "Grandmaster P-Nut" thing is hilarious, you have to go play with it.

I found the different sections in the piece to be pretty interesting. It links a lot to outside sources for hip hop music and videos of hip hop dancing (thanks YouTube).

Holy ski slope

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out: How the hell the videographer on this story about a paralyzed man who uses special equipment to ski get some of these amazing shots? I started wondering just a little bit past the half-way mark in the video.

There's a pretty long take of the man skiing down the slope, and the camera is obviously following him down. The shot is amazingly steady! So, is the videographer skiing with his camera? Or is this a teeny tiny fiber-optic camera? If so, I'm really amazed at the video quality. I'm even more amazed that the shot is so steady.

Colin: If you're reading this, please let me know how ya'll did this! I'm very impressed.

Zone zero

MultimediaShooter points to a cool artistic multimedia site called Zone Zero. There's a whole lot of work there, and a bunch of it is extremely weird.

But I really liked this photo slideshow, Remnants after the storm: Katrina-Tsunami.

So easy, a homeless woman can do it

So, a couple of blogs I read are talking about the video by a homeless woman of cops destroying a homeless tent village. I agree with everyone when they say this is a very compelling video. But I disagree with other assumptions in the comments.

Matt Waite pretty much says, wow, it's amazing a homeless woman could make a compelling video. He asks "How many college educated, regular-paycheck-getting reporters in your newsroom can do the same?"

Howard Owens asks, "It wouldn’t take much training to get better video from a reporter with the same equipment. Your competition is doing it, why aren’t you?

Bryan Murley just amplifies Matt Waite's comments.

So the main assumption is: producing compelling video is so easy that a homeless woman can do it, so reporters should be able to do it also. It sounds like they think it's a matter of technology or training.

I don't think so. We've all grown up in the era of consumer photography and video equipment. So holding up a camera and pushing a button is no big technological feat. Obviously, anyone will be able to do that. It's sort of silly to be amazed that a homeless woman has the technical know-how to shoot video. It's sort of silly to think that a reporter doesn't know how to push the button.

The thing that makes the homeless woman's video compelling isn't anything to do with technology. In fact, technically, the video sucks. The reason it's extremely compelling is the content. There would be no way for most people to see the cops destroying a homeless village. There's novelty, plus so much action and emotion in the short video.

In order for a reporter to produce a video like this, they have to be in the right place at the right time, and have a video camera on them. Of course, some training about how to keep the shot steady would greatly benefit viewers with queasy stomachs.

If anything, this video should be used for the argument that reporters should carry cheap video equipment just in case they happen to drive under an underpass where cops are tearing up a homeless camp, or some kind of equally compelling breaking news.

At least LA times is doing something

There's been criticism among the blogs that I read about the problems and changes going on at the Los Angeles Times. I understand and agree with a lot of that criticism. But I do think this thing is good at least:

... large-scale Internet training program, which will begin the week of Feb. 12. There will be three layers of training:

--Internet 101, a class for everyone designed to better familiarize you with latimes.com, what generates the most traffic and the least, what the site can and can't do, and where it is headed.
--The First Page, a class for assignment editors and copy editors on how to post new material to the web, and how to move things around on each section's home page.
--The Next Page, a more detailed course for word, copy, photo, design and graphics editors on the various assignment desks who will be directly involved in running their department's home page throughout each day.

I think every newspaper should do this, but there's a hell of a lot of them that are not. At least the LA Times is headed in the right direction on this one thing.

Link via cyberjournalist.

Reporters: be picky choosey

I agree with Mindy McAdams today on her post How should reporters learn multimedia.

... When I think about the reporter as the person ON THE SCENE, then it makes perfect sense that the reporter must gather audio and, if necessary, shoot photos ...

... I've warmed up to the idea of reporters shooting video, but I think it's not smart for every story. People have to learn when something makes sense and when to forgo the technology and just do their main job, which is get the story ...

I'd like to come up with some examples of when shooting video is "smart" and when it's not.

SMART--Police are arresting a suspect who is acting violent, causing the cops to use some force for the arrest. Reporter slings out the P&S camera and records the scene. It can be a single, medium shot that simply shows what happened. Viewers being able actually watching something like this would add a lot to the print story.

STUPID--Reporter uses P&S camera to record his interview with a city councilman, then posts the interview. I don't think such a video would add much to the story. (I can anticipate counter arguments saying a talking head can sometimes add value...I think those instances are exceptions to the rule).

Bloggers galore

Check out this composite photo of 2000 bloggers. If you scroll to the bottom to watch them load, the effect is pretty cool.

Link via Bryan Murley.

Exciting upgrades to NPPA multimedia contest

I recently learned about upgrades to this month's NPPA multimedia contest through emails with the contest's chairman, Colin Mulvany. His email is reprinted with permission.

We are rolling out an upgrade to the contest soon. It will include a new “Multimedia Project” category for all the flash interactive, multi-video/slideshow work being produced ...

... Multimedia Project - A project by one or more people that includes multiple videos, audio slideshows or both. Flash interactive projects should also be entered in this category. There is a new credit field to enter names of non-NPPA members that contributed to your project.

This should address the issue of giving Flash projects with multiple videos and slideshows a category of their own.

Right now we limit people to three entries in each category. We are looking at the numbers to see if we need to limit it.

Make sure you check out the new way to mark your favorites. If after viewing a show, you want to save it as a favorite, just click “Save as Pick.” The show will stay highlighted. To view all your saved Picks for a category just click “All” This will help make judging easier. Another new feature is we have added a “Title” field to give each show a name. This frees up the “Optional Notes” field for whatever else you want to add about a project.

We are trying to be as responsive to NPPA members’ input and suggestions as we can."

Colin says people can contact him with suggestions to improve the contest. Please also feel free to leave comments here with suggestions.

No lack of frequency here

So, there's another new product that my coworkers and I are working together to produce. It's called The Barn Report, and it's for a special section on our site with reporting on the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo (which is a HUGE deal here).

No one can say there's a lack of frequency on this one. We produce one video per day about a child who is showing animals for rodeo competitions. The links for the videos are under "The Barn Report" which is in the center of the rodeo page near the bottom. I did the very last one "February 5."

New product

Our multimedia team here at the Express-News will be working together each month to produce 60 seconds. We'll be choosing various people in our community and doing an extremely focused video or audio slideshow profile. Each story lasts 60 seconds. I like the first one a lot so far!

Really comprehensive camera search advice

Cyndy Green has posted a great guide for buying a video camera.

Link via Andy Dickenson.

Mosey on

Print, photo and video came together for this story about an annual trail ride. I did the video (I got to ride a horse for a little bit!).

YES! They get it

So, everyone knows I've held some criticism for NYtimes slideshows because many of them are just boring reporters' voiceovers. That's been changing recently.

Now this package about a neighborhood church has come full circle!! I am so impressed and happy. I hope we see more of these.

There's great nat sound throughout the entire thing. We hear the voices of the real people. There's also a voiceover...It's well written and the voice is interesting and attractive.

They've also used one of my favorite methods for presenting large packages: One at a time. There are three "chapters" and it looks like they came out in three successive days.

Link via Hart Van Denburg.

Jan. NPPA contest results

Go check out the NPPA multimedia contest site to see this month's winners.

I'm a bit surprised at the individual video 1st place winner. I never got to see it during judging because the Mercury News site was acting up when I tried to view. But I watched it today. I'm impressed at the beauty of the video; it's very well done and it was a joy to watch to the end. The reason I'm surprised it won is because it seems like something that belongs in an art museum, not a journalism contest. But kudos to Richard Hernandez for producing such a beautiful work of art.

For team video, I think the first and second place winners are right on. I voted for them! The third place: When I watched it, I thought to myself, "Okay, I get it, that's enough," which in my book is always a death sentence for a video.

I'm extremely happy with results for individual slideshow. The three winners were the best in that category--I voted for all three, but in different orders (I would have put it this way: street racing, soldier, giraffe).

Whoop whoop! My coworkers Lisa Krantz and Anita Baca won second in the team slideshow category. During judging, when I tried to watch the first and third place winners, they didn't hold my attention for the whole thing.

Question also crossed my mind

I recently began reading a new blog, VisualEditors. One of its bloggers, Tracy Simmons, posts an interesting question this morning, "Should we leave multimedia to the photo department?" She talks a lot about ASSes (go check it out). Here's my answer to her question:

NO!!

If we did leave multimedia to photographers, I would not be a multimedia producer right now. I've never been a photographer...All my experience before this position was as a reporter at my school newspaper, internships, and as a freelancer.

Since I started my position seven months ago, I've learned so much about telling visual stories. Readers of my blog know that I enjoy lecturing about shooting and editing techniques needed to tell a good video story.

Tracy talks mostly about ASS, but I'd also like to point out a few observations about video. Photographers may have a leg up on the visuals part, but reporters seem to have a leg up on the story part. Photogs who switch to video sometimes struggle in interviews because they don't have the experience in knowing what questions to ask, and how to ask them, in order to get the information that they need. Photogs also struggle with the responsibility of putting the story together...All their training conditions them to be the "fly on the wall" and it's sometimes uncomfortable to be forced to take a more active role. Especially if it involves a voice over!

Also, when shooting video, the visuals that you must gather are much different than what a photog looks for for stills. Still photogs are conditioned to find the perfect iconic image that illustrates the story in one shot. But videographers are looking for strings of images that show a sequence of events or actions. I've observed that it takes active thought to change the old habits.

I think my point here is that both reporters and photographers will face an equal learning curve as they're transitioning to producing multimedia. At this point, I think it's a bad idea to exclude anybody.