"Pimp My Blog"

Project due Tuesday, Jan. 28: Create the coolest blog you can.
- Play with design.
- Use the customize options to add features.
- Write a blog entry explaining the process you went through, and why you chose the things you did.
Best blog wins a prize.
Grades:
A -- Blew me away. Fun design, cool features. Lots of extra elements such as pictures, audio or video.
B -- Good blog. A few interesting elements.
C -- It's okay, but it's obvious nobody spent a lot of time constructing it.
D -- It's there, but it looks no different from the ur-blog created on Jan. 23.
F -- It's not there.

Blogger.com and Wordpress.com have helpful tips. Feel free to go online for advice, too:

Blog critique

Due Tuesday, Jan. 28

Go out on the World Wide Web and find a blog. Any blog will do, but I would encourage you to avoid the super-popular ones. Technorati.com can help guide you to blogs on any topic.

I like chickens and Technorati helped me find a blog about raising chickens in the city!
In your critique, please tell us:
- what you like and dislike about the blog;
- how often it is updated (avoid "dead" blogs);
- whether the Comments indicate anyone is reading it;
- what media elements beyond text does it use.
Post your critique on your own blog. Here's my critique of the Urban Chickens blog. Likes: The posts have a lot of interesting information. For instance, did you know that you shouldn't wash the eggs your chickens lay? They are laid with a protective coating. Washing removes the coating. If you leave it on, you don't even have to refrigerate them. Plus, the site has interesting photos of chicken coops. Dislikes: The ads. They're all over the place. Updated? It hasn't been updated since April 2013. It appears to be dead. Comments: Most posts got no more than 1 comment. One got 6; that was among the last posts. Media elements: Just photos. I don't see any video.

Class blogs

Please post the URL of your blog here, as a comment.
I will create a bloglist once I have them.

Multimedia examples

Please post the URLs of your multimedia examples here, as a comment.

Final Project

For the final multimedia project in the class, please choose two or more of the forms we have worked on during the semester and tell a fresh story.

You may work in teams or solo.

The more challenging the project, the higher your potential score. You may add a form we haven't used in class, such as an interactive map, or one of the multimedia tools the groups presented to the class.

You may combine podcasts, slideshows, audio slideshows, and videos.
Examples: a podcast, slideshow or video that plays out of an interactive map; or a video that combines still and moving pictures.

This project does not require a text component, but a text component can be one of the elements.

Monday, Dec. 2: Post an outline of your project on your blog. Include each team member's responsibilities.


Deadline:
8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 16: Project is due at the start of this class period, which is the time set aside for your final exams. The final projects will serve as your final exam. Each team will present its project.

Video Project 2

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

As with Video Project 1, 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.

The text should follow web-writing rules: One sentence for the lead; one or two sentences maximum for subsequent paragraphs.

Intermediate deadline -- Nov. 20
-- 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 Dec. 4

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

Evaluation:

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

Narrative: 50 points
The video and the accompanying story engage the intended viewer. There is an interesting narrative arc -- start, middle, finish.
Mechanics: 30 points
The video 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, paragraph style, etc.

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

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?