Video in Newspapers

This homework assignment is due on Monday, Nov. 4.

Go online and find a newspaper that produces video.
Check out its offerings and tell us what you think.
Is it professional-looking, or does it look amateurish?
Are the videos longer than an average television news report (1-2 minutes), or shorter?
Are the subjects interesting?

Video Project 1

Create a video package that runs 1:30 to 2 minutes, and a 400-word text to accompany it.

As with the audio slideshows, create a journalistic narrative with a beginning that introduces the subject, a middle, and an end.

Post the project on iReport.com, and embed the video on your blog.

Include sound. This can be natural sound or an interview, or both. It can also include your own narration; however, the project must include sound created outside of your group. Do not interview family members or significant others.

Any music needs to be royalty-free.

The text and the video package should complement each other and not simply repeat what the other says. For instance, a team could put together a video about rehearsals for a play, and the text could review the play.

Intermediate deadline -- Nov. 6
-- Post the topic of your video project on your blog, along with the sound source or sources you plan to use, and each team member's assignment.


Final deadline Wednesday Nov. 13:

-- Upload the project to iReport and embed the video on your blog, along with the 400-word text that accompanies it.

Repurposing

Tom Clancy obit:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/showbiz/2013/10/02/lead-dnt-tapper-tom-clancy-dies-at-66.cnn.html 

Pigs!

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/09/26/pkg-valencia-ga-atlanta-wild-pigs.cnn&iref=videosearch

iReport assignment

For Monday, Oct. 28, please go to iReport.cnn and do two things:
1. Sign up for an account;
2. Look around on the website and write a blog post telling us what you think about the site -- what you like, what you dislike, whether it is a good idea.

Embedding an audio slideshow in Wordpress

To embed a Soundslides project in a Wordpress blog, follow these instructions*:
1. Create your audio slideshow in Soundslides.
2. Export and Zip
3. Sign in to host.soundslides.com/admin
4. Upload slideshow (upload the zipped publish_to_web folder
5. Once the project is uploaded, click Embed
6. Ignore the embed code in the box (which begins <iframe... )
7. Instead, click the link for the legacy Flash embed code.
8. You'll get something that looks like this: 
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="620" height="533" id="soundslider"><param name="movie" value="http://hosting.soundslides.com/16285/soundslider.swf?size=1&format=xml" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed src="http://hosting.soundslides.com/16285/soundslider.swf?size=1&format=xml" quality="high" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="620" height="533" menu="false" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object>
9. Copy everything from <embed src= ... to </embed> You should get something that looks like this: 
<embed src="http://hosting.soundslides.com/16285/soundslider.swf?size=1&format=xml" quality="high" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="620" height="533" menu="false" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>
10. Replace this: <embed src with [gigya src
11. And replace everything after flash" with a bracket: ]
12. You should get something that looks like this:
[gigya src="http://hosting.soundslides.com/16285/soundslider.swf?size=1&format=xml" quality="high" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="620" height="533" menu="false" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"]
13. Publish away
* http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/using-soundslides-in-wordpress?replies=7

soundslides practice

Soundslides test

Assignment for Oct. 14

Why waste a week-long break? Due on the Monday you return:
Find two slideshows and one photo gallery on separate Web sites and critique them on your blog. One of the slideshows must have audio; the other should not. Photo galleries don't ordinarily include sound.
Include the URLs so we can find them.
Address the following in your critique: Do the slideshows and photo galleries function well as storytelling tools? Which does the better job? Why or why not? What difference does sound make?

Here's a slideshow, "Driving across Canada," created in about 5 minutes (and it looks it!) using Photobucket.

Audio Slideshow Project

Due dates:
Oct. 16: Post 200-word synopsis on blog.
Oct. 23: Post completed project on blog.

Guidelines:

Create a 2- to 3-minute audio slideshow using Soundslides.

Tell a story with this project.
Consider it a journalistic narrative, with a beginning, middle and end.
Include sound from an interview with someone outside of your team, family and love life.
You can mix the sound with your own voice(s), or just use the interview sound.
You can include a music bed as long as you are using the music with permission, or the music is rights-free. (Give credit in the text component of the project.)
Figure out how to identify the project at the top so the viewer will understand what is going on.
Change photos every 4 to 5 seconds.
Embed the slideshow on your blog.

Write a 400-word feature story to accompany the slideshow. Use web-writing techniques: Simple sentences, short paragraphs, search-engine optimized headline. The story should not be simply a transcription of your audio slideshow. They should complement each other. Include a credits paragraph outlining what each team member contributed, like this:
Photos: Martin Zook
Photo editing: Ken Miller
Audio: Cordelia Smith
Soundslides editing: Mort Glassner
Text: Ken Miller and Cordelia Smith
Music: “Flickering Butterflies” by The Griff Wexler Band, used with permission


Synopsis: Post a 200-word summary of your project on your blog. Explain what your slideshow will be about, which sound sources you plan to use, who the intended audience is, and what makes this an interesting story for that audience. List each team member and his or her responsibilities for the project.

Evaluation:

If you want credit for this project, post every element (synopsis, slideshow, story) on your individual blog.


Narrative: 50 points
The slideshow and the accompanying story engage the intended viewer. The photos are an interesting mix of wide, medium and close-up shots that exhibit good composition.
Mechanics: 30 points
The audio approaches professional quality; the writing is free of grammar, style, and spelling errors.
Format: 20 points
The project is posted correctly and meets the guidelines for length, sound sources, shot changes, etc.

A missing synopsis loses 10 points, a missing story, 40; and a missing slideshow, 50. Late work is assessed a penalty of 10 points per day (including the synopsis).

Ideas:
Offices of messy professors
Sports:
Intramurals, hockey game, softball practice
Campus tour
Cooking lesson
Concert or performance
Public meeting
Interview an LSC band
Follow a Public Safety officer on his/her rounds