Magzalez’s eyes on media

A couple of my co-workers at The Alligator took on the next installment of Gainesville Explorer. They went to the McIntyre Stained Glass Studio. Lots of good video was shot, and lots was left unused unfortunately. The main problem seemed to be the potential for two story lines, but neither had a clear beginning or end.

The video and audio was shot and captured by Chris Hayes and Ken Schwencke. I just helped Ken edit it after. It was a long and tedious process–editing with another person–but I think I did a good job of showing him some of the ropes of Final Cut Pro as well as my work flow, which I consider to be a good one.

A couple good photos came from this as well. You can see one on the front of the Alligator Web site. I think a photo gallery will be going up too.

As promised, I’m back again with more grading of my Gainesville Explorer videos and slide shows. But before I begin, I have to point you to Mark S. Luckie’s blog, 10,000 words. This link came via Megan Taylor.

In ranking the top-seven student newspaper Web sites. he named The Independent Florid Alligator No. 1. While I’m excited about this because I will be officially employed by The Alligator in a few weeks, there is more immediate coolness. The first “standout feature” he mentions is MT’s very own brain child, the source of much of my love and my anguish, Gainesville Explorer! Hooray for us.

But back to what I came here for.

Lake Wauburg:

• The good: I really liked the opening shot. I always wanted to start one of my videos with my entrance into the place, maybe have the camera sticking out of my car as I drove through the gates. I never had someone to hold the camera while I drove, or drive while I held the camera, so I never got to do it. But getting this shot of the U.S. Highway-441 sign satisfied me at least a little bit. As far as shots go, I really think I got around and got some good ones. I like the interview that I took back when I thought this was going to be a Soundslides. I liked the photos I used. I also liked how I matched up the visuals with the audio well.
• The bad: It was a windy, windy day. Unfortunately, you can probably tell that from the video because of how shaky the camera was. I had a hard time keeping it still. For some reason, the actual video quality is worse on this video than on some of the others.
• What I might have done differently: I wish I would have had a video camera the first day I went out. I ended up just taking my photo camera because there was no video camera for me that day. But the first day, the director at Lake Wauburg took me out on a boat ride. It would have been nice to use some of that as video. Also, I should have put who was talking at the beginning of the video instead of the end. The other thing was that the establishing shot was too long–should have cut it by a few seconds. Overall, I didn’t have too many regrets about this one.
• Grade: B

Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail:

• The Good: One of the best parts about this story was actually going to the location. It was one of my favorites, probably No. 2. The good thing about this one was that I got it done. It was my first photo story since taking photojournalism a year ago. I liked the little motion thing I did with the bike riders, but the only really good photos are the one of the man and woman taking a break from jogging, right at the beginning and the one of the flower at the end.
• The Bad: The pictures just aren’t very good. I didn’t get enough pictures either. In my defense, the weather was awful, and I’m still a novice with the photo taking. The motion thing I did with the bike riders was good overall, but the first transition was off and weird. The voice over is pretty rough and boring, but this place was pretty boring–in a good way.
• What I might have done differently: I couldn’t control it, but I wish the weather could have been better. It would have made all the difference for the story. People would have been other there, the lighting would have been better and the overall atmosphere would have been more vibrant.
• Grade: C-

Gainesville Raceway:

• The Good: The opening sequence for this video is great. I like how it feels like you’re about to start a race. It was probably the only time that a shaky camera was a good thing. It looked like you were actually in the car. I really liked the interview. The guy was really sincere, he seemed to really love what he did.
• The Bad: There are some audio problems. I was very windy, and I picked that up on my mic. It wasn’t too bad though. I may have used one too many cross dissolves, but I don’t think it brought down the quality at all. The real mistake I made in the video was a shot of two cars ready to race, but in a lapse in judgment, I didn’t show them take off, oh well.
• What I might have done differently: I would have brought a different tripod, and by that I mean I would have brought the monopod. I had some tripod troubles with this video, but it was OK. This was one of my favorites, so I don’t have too many criticisms.
• Grade: A
  

Ginnie Springs:

• The Good: This was easily my favorite assignment, both in terms of location and outcome. I think I got some really good shots. The natural sound was great and so was the music I played over the natural sound. Heck even voice over was OK. My favorite part of the video was the part with the bus. The bus and the music had a very cool going-to-camp feel to it. It was the perfect amount of hokey. The other thing I noticed is that there is an insane amount of color going on in these pictures. It’s really cool. I’d say the best thing overall was my choice to shoot photos instead of video. I just don’t think it would have been the same as a video.
• The Bad: My one big criticism is that though the voice over is OK, as in my voice sounds good, the information is alright, it really gets lost with the really good natural sound, music and photos. Watching it over again, I found myself forgetting that I was even talking.
• What I might have done differently: Well, you can’t see this in the video, but I was carrying around a monopod the whole time, and that was annoying as hell because I didn’t even use it. The other thing is that I would have loved to have been able to do some of the stuff there, but alas I was working. If my camera was water-proof, I would have gone tubing and taken photos along the way.
• Grade: A+

Things definitely got better toward the end. So what did you think of the whole experience?

Hooray for a truly successful photo story! I went out yesterday with my girlfriend, cousin and two of my friends to Ginnie Springs in High Springs, Fla., about 40 minutes out of Gainesville. Ginnie Springs was the last stop this semester for the Gainesville Explorer series at The Independent Florida Alligator, which, as you know, I have had a heavy hand in.

Well I went out to the springs thinking I was going to shoot a video. I have been taking my new D-SLR camera just in case–ya know, the way photographers nowadays are taking video cameras out just in case? I do everything backwards.

I started with some pictures of my friends and realized that the lighting was just too good not to take advantage of the photography. The springs is also a very low-key, relaxing place. There wasn’t a whole heap of movement going on. So with that in mind, I never even bothered taking my video camera out, I just walked around like a regular photog, fly-on-the-wall style.

I tried my best to adhere to some of the guidelines of composition I learned way-back-when in my photojournalism class, ones have been applying to video lately–rule of thirds, fill the frame, get close, repetition of shapes, etc. One of my hindrances in all of this is that I only own one lens, 18mm-55mm, so when I say I have to get close, I mean it.

All in all, the photos came out pretty OK, but it took more than pictures to make my Soundslides successful. I got very good, rich sound. I just sat by one of the springs for about a minute and a half and captured the sound of the water and people rustling and bustling about. Then I decided, rather crazily, that I would play “Swanee River” on my lap harp over the natural sound. Then I did a voice over. The voice over could have been better, but I couldn’t believe how nice the music and the natural sound went together. My first few shots are of a bus riding by with some inner tubes and a bunch of people. The sound of the laughter, water and music gave it a going-to-camp feel.

So check out my audio slide show of Ginnie Springs for yourself, and tell me what you think. It may not be the best Soundslides in the world, but this is the best slide show I’ve done since I made one about a dance teacher here in Gainesville a while back, and it is officially my favorite Gainesville Explorer piece.

Maybe for one of my next posts, I’ll recap all the videos and slide shows I made this semester for the Gainesville Explorer series, grade them and talk about the dos and don’ts I learned from them.

Well I finally got a photo story done. It’s not amazing or anything, but it’s good enough. It is of course another installment to the Gainesville Explorer series. The photo story is about the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail.

I’m only just starting to pick up photography. I know I have the eye for it, it’s just the technique I need to hone in on now. I took a photojournalism class a while back, and I did OK.

In this particular photo story, I tried to use some video techniques–multiple, sequential pictures that gave the illusion of motion. Hopefully I’ll have more time to work on this.

On an unrelated note, it has been raining in Gainesville for days and days. It doesn’t look like it’s ever going to let up. It’s put a real damper on outdoor videos and pictures. I never got a chance to shoot that video Friday, and these pictures were shot in really crummy, about-to-rain light.

On another unrelated note, Rafael Nadal, my tennis hero other than Gael Monfils, lost in the finals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to Nikolay Davydenko. It was a bummer.

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.