Final video project

I was in the midst of a freakout about what to do my video project on. Two of my original ideas fell through and then my camera broke. Then I had an epiphany. Why not create a video about the most popular topic on campus right now? Senioritis. So here it is.

If at first you don't succeed...

I'm not really sure what my stance is on the great video debate. I think that it's such a new thing that it's too early to be putting all these restrictions and rules on it. I think right now it's all about trial and error. See what works, see what stories are best told using video, see what people like, see what is more compelling, interesting and informative using video.

I am leaning toward the idea that every reporter should have a camera with them at all times. You never know what you're going to capture, or even randomly come across while you're out on an interview or something. As it stands, there isn't a designated video person at most small papers, so reporters should get used to using the equipment, even if it's just a crappy digital camera. That being said, I think papers should really invest in having a trained professional that knows about video and supply them with the equipment to make good video. Video is going to be the future, so it's going to be important to get on board. 

It's going to take a lot of time for video to evolve, especially with small local papers. You can't just start doing something and expect it to be perfection. I think the only way for it to get to a professional level and be mainstream is to try everything. The things that work will improve, and the things that don't will be dropped. 

I definitely think newspapers should put more effort in to "advertising" the multimedia material on their website. It is a website after all, it doesn't have to look like a replica of the front page. I think it should be a big section at the top of the website that grabs viewers' attention. It should be one of the first things a viewer sees, therefore it should provide them with something different than what they're getting delivered on their doorstep.

I think it's more important to be creative, innovative and original and try a million random things than to work to try to perfect a small handful of projects.

It's not May

For some reason I put May on the title page of my video..major copy editing sin. Just letting you know I meant March...

Natalie's first day

A few issues...

There are a few problems with my slideshow...for example ignore the robot voice in the background of one section. It came out when I did some noise removal but it's less distracting than it was before. And my pictures don't really go along with my audio but I couldn't get on a boat so it's the best I could do!

Soundslide

Photo shoot in my apartment

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get pictures to go along with my audio because the fisherman that I interviewed is done for the season. I'm hoping maybe he will be back in Seabrook at some point so I can at least get pictures of him near his boat or on the water. I definitely learned my lesson about always having my camera on me! I wished I had taken pictures when I first interviewed him.

For my next project I'm going to interview a woman I've known for a number of years. She is in her 40s and has cerebral palsy. She's very independent and is quite a character. I'm going to have audio and photos, but I can't interview her until the weekend so instead to practice some of the things we learned on the video I had a mini photo shoot in my apartment. I made my roommate try some "poses" out for me and tried out different settings on my camera and different angles. It was fun, I was a lot more aware of the background and angles than I usually am. I had trouble getting her to look natural. She was either very serious or looked like she was fake-smiling. I think I got a few good shots, though. I think it was good practice for when I take pictures for my next project.