Magzalez’s eyes on media

This is a video that Mauri Mohler and I did the other day for Newszine. It is about the University of Florida Student Government’s bike repair shop.

I really liked the way it came out. We got a lot of good detail shots, nice sound and good information. The biggest problem is a lack of b-roll in certain parts.

I did most of the shooting with help from Mauri, and she did most of editing with a little help from me.

I also put together a Soundslides about the riots in Tibet and India. I am still working on my voice overs. I know I have a good voice but:

• I don’t read out loud very well
• I have a hard time sounding interested
• I usually don’t have the time or patience to get it right

I’m thinking about starting a cooking blog. I’ll take notes of what I cook, the ingredients I use, hopefully take some pictures and just discuss some of my methods.

I think it’ll be a fun project. There will be opportunities for video, pictures, slideshows and other things. It will also give me a chance to start up a new design and fiddle with WordPress some more. I’ll have to visit some cooking blog sites to gather some ideas on how to get this going, but I’m excited.

I thought I’d point at that when I started this post it was just a thought, but now as I finish it, I’ve pretty much made up my mind.

Any cooking blogs you might recommend?

Yesterday was the start of the Sony Ericsson Open in my native town of Miami. It is considered the fifth most important tournament of the year, behind only the four grand slams.

The Miami Herald pulled through in creating a nice multimedia piece for the event, which attracts residents, tourists and celebrities alike.

First, check out the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open Fan Guide for yourself.

And now for my analysis:

The Good: 

• Making the package to begin with was a great idea. This tennis tournament is the sort of thing you get out of the ordinary readers flocking to your Web site for. If they see an interesting, helpful multimedia piece. That is going to keep them coming back.
• The information, including the map of the area, directions, what to and not to bring, etc.
• The overall presentation looks nice, sleek and interesting.
• Players to watch is a good idea for a section. Put some names out there that people are going to recognize or remember.
• The history of the event is crucial in giving context. This is easily my favorite section.
• Kudos on the right-side navigation. I love it.

The Bad:

• Whenever you click on a section, you have to exit out of it to get back to the main navigation. This is no good. People like to skip around, and you’re adding unnecessary steps for them with this design.
• The map in the “directions” section looks great. The way you put in the information works well. But I was very disappointed to be redirected to Google maps after I input my information. I know this could have been done differently and more effectively.
• The “Tennis 101″ section is no good. There is too much information in this topic, and as it is, it is underdeveloped here. I also don’t think it makes to include it. For the most part, people who will be looking at this, in my opinion, are those that are already interested in tennis, and if they are not tennis fans already, they are not going to go to a “fan guide” for an event to learn about the sport. This section was just plain silly.
• On the “Site map” page, I am not sure what the functionality of having the “Click here to use your mouse…” sign is. This looks weird and unprofessional, not to mention the whole “click here” faux pas.
• The photography seems to be uncredited, though I may have overlooked it.

The Ugly:

• Way more work could have been put into each players’ action shots. These photos just look poorly Photoshopped.
• The “Back to main” buttons don’t have enough of a contrast.
• I thought the overlay could have been a darker color. It would have looked nicer and the visibility would have been better.

Overall, it’s well done. There are some strange design choices, and the information could have been edited down. But it looks great and works well. I’m glad they took the initiative in doing this. Now if they could just put together some Soundslides instead of ugly photo galleries. Video would be nice too, but The Herald needs a lot of help in that department. You know, I could help you!

Yay tennis!

I’ll look later to see if The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is doing anything.

My Capoeira video has been uploaded onto the Newszine Web site. It is a smaller, but higher-quality, version. My classmates’ videos are also being posted as I write this. In the next couple of days I will link those videos and give mostly my praises to them but also explain what could have been done better.

Catch you on the flip side.

Well, first I’ll tell you about the photo story that was going to be, but wasn’t. I just acquired a Digital SLR camera, something I have been wanting for a long time. Although I took a class in photojournalism, I still have a lot to learn.

Unlike a lot of photographers that are having to learn video, I consider myself a videographer that should try and master photography.

Well, I was sent out to do a photo story instead of a video because all the video cameras at The Alligator were taken. Although I knew the video opportunities would be nice, I agreed and set out with just an 18-55mm lens.

It’s the only one I had! The camera is brand new for Pete’s sake. So, needless to say, the cloudy and turbulent day it was at Lake Wauburg on the day of March 22, 2008–one day after my 21st birthday–the photo story was a failure, and I was forced to go back today, this time with a video camera and do it all over again.

I did incorporate some of the photos I took in the video–yay Ken Burns! And so it goes that I made another video for the Gainesville Explorer series.