Toolkit 1 down – 2 to go..yeay!

The one thing I can say about this class is that I always enjoyed it in retrospect. Simple – when I was doing the work in the field I cursed and cursed, but once the results were out I was really glad I did it. Another thing I really enjoyed (and was also frustrated by) was the unexpectedness of things. A rainy day when you want to take pictures, interviewees who don’t say too much, unexpectedly helpful people, all of it!

I had come in to this class expecting much lesser than I got. But I feel so much more confident about some things that I had no idea about before. I came into this class after a web design class and was riding high on the ‘I want to know more about this online stuff’ wave. I am so glad this class went beyond my expectations. Now I want to learn even more about the online medium. I really wish we had gotten to learn flash too. That would have been a pretty good learning experience.

I know for a fact that all the things I learned in this class will be more helpful in reality than any of the research papers I wrote!

I am really excited about learning to make soundslides. I feel like going out and making soundslides of every single thing! Overall, though I was a little apprehensive about the fieldwork involved due to some practical issues I faced I am very glad I stuck with it.

Final Package Done – The Water Wars Story

My third sound slides and final story package both are something that I can be proud of. The first couple of attempts were just that – attempts. Trials. Errors. However, by the time I got round to this final one I knew what kind of pictures looked good, what kind of sound actually made an impact. That is not to say that I managed to get the perfect pictures and sound; just that now I know what to expect from myself. Here goes nothing: Click on the image to view my final story package

The funniest thing about the very first sound slides attempt was that ‘my mom liked it’. It was this very same parent of mine who confessed a few days ago “The third one was much much better than the first”. Well, thank you mom!

Well here’s what I thought of the individual aspects of the final package.

Pictures:

They are beautiful but dangerous creatures! Rule of thumb – a nice vacation picture that adorns your walls at home is most unlikely to win an award. The getting down on your back rule applies. In my story package, there is a picture of a boat marooned on the dry shore of Lake Lanier. That part of the shore was a) Down a slope which could only be scrambled down literally on your back. Try doing that with an expensive camera and it adds a new dimension to mental trauma. But it was definitely worth it because that picture has a fence with a no trespassing sign, a marooned boat and a shoreline – all telling a story.

Sound:

First time around no natural sound, second time – very bad interview sound and third time around respectable sound. One of the biggest practical issues I had to grapple with for the sound was how many times you have to go to a certain place to get the perfect sound. It is kind of tough to achieve when you don’t have a car. But gathering and editing sound was probably the most underestimated part of this semester for me – in terms of how much work it would be. Overall, the sound for the final package was gathered from three different water bodies. All for 30 seconds!

Map:

As mentioned in the previous post, creating the map for the story package can be easy if only you do it a few times before the actual thing. It is easy; just takes practice. The decision to create a map instead of a data chart was simple. The best way to explain this three state dispute was to trace the river path along the states and map the major water consumers. There is also an excellent CNN interactive map on the issue.

Overall, the final story package felt like I knew what I needed to do to get good results. The only part I needed to work on was getting exactly what I wanted. I am sure that will improve with time a practice. I really wish we had another fou months of this so I could churn out some more ‘decent’ ones.

Soundslides two

I actually had a lot of fun doing this assignment. I covered the events at the India Cultural and Educational center on 13th street. I have been here for a year and a half and I hadn’t even steeped into the place till now. It was quite emotional for me being there, especially during October.

In India, October is the month for a lot of festivals and celebrations. When I went there I realized how they bring a piece of home right to another country. I also really liked the idea behind its creation. The Indian community in Gainesville was worried by a number of consecutive suicides by Indian students in the city more than a decade ago. It was this that made them come up with a way of integrating Indian and other students into the community here.

Going there helps a lot of shy and introverted students open up because there isn’t the unfamiliarity of a “foreign land”. The organizers themselves admit that after the first semester, when the students get acclimatized they don’t often return. But they are still satisfied with helping them get over the initial hiccups.

Also, the best part about this place is there is no restriction on who can organize events there. You don’t have to be an Indian. In fact, the latest event there is going to be a Lebanese soiree. Even for the Indian events, as you can see from the soundslides, there are a lot of students from different nationalities participating.

Personally , what I love best about their approach is the fact that there is no religion involved! Being an atheist and coming from a religious country, that was quite a relief. It was a refreshing experience to see people doing good just for humanity’s sake.

Oh! And here are the results from my soundslides2.

My photo 1 attempts

These were the two pictures I liked from my Photo 1 assignment. One of them was not approved by Professor McAdams, as it did not advance the story, but I was really attached to it so I wanted to show it off.

This was the good one. This one was aimed at showing the subject looking lonely and lost in a crowd. It was actually quite accidental. I was supposed to meet with her in school, but ended up on the same bus with her. The bus was so crowded that she did not notice me for a while — until of course after this shot. But I loved this picture. It was a shot I wasn’t anticipating. It just happened.

This was the one I wanted to keep, but I don’t think I can. It was ideally supposed to be an introductory picture of the subject, which gave us a glimpse of the fact that she is a student and that she is married. The necklace she is wearing is a symbol of marriage. It is the American equivalent of a ring. However, Professor McAdams thought it wouldn’t advance the story too much so I may take it out.

However, this close up reallly had me wishing we were doing profiles instead. Ah! The agony of losing one good picture!

Nat Sound – Less is more?

I know we are all encouraged to use the best equipment possible to record interviews, but I made quite an interesting discovery while recording the nat sound for my interview. Before going any further, I must clarify that I am all for recording interviews with the best quality equipment. What I am talking about is the nat sound.

Before I bought my own recorder, I was experimenting with an old recorder borrowed from a friend. Some of the nat sound I recorded involved the sounds of a crowd. When I went home and heard the recording, I was disappointed. The sounds of the crowd were muffled. We had heard in class, time and again, the importance of clear recording.

However, one discovery I made was that the muffled effect provided by the old recorder was actually perfect for the background sound, under the voice of my subject. Another question was whether purposely using such a recorder would constitute an “unethical practice”.

I would be very interested in knowing if anyone else has had any similar serendipitous encounters while recording the nat sound for their slide show.

A question on interview questions

Preparing for the interview with my subject I was faced with an ethical dilemma. Am I, or am I not allowed to ask leading questions? Especially since we are trying to make the soundslides as ‘interesting’ as possible? Is there a degree to which I can push the envelope or is it just a plain old “No”?

What was interesting to me was, since I was focusing so much on the subject I was not thinking too much about what (the ethics of) questions I was going to ask.

So, I would definitely like to bring this up in class to know if there is a right or wrong answer.

Also, here is something from today’s reading http://www.visualedge.org/lessons/SoundStory.pdf “Don’t put words in people’s mouths. During an interview, you can ask someone to repeat something and speak in a full sentence, but remember that your job is to elicit a story, not build one based on your own preconceived notions. Don’t stage events.”

Does that mean the right answer is no?

Please don’t take my photos away!

That is precisely how I would feel if someone was to take all the photos I had shot and etched a deep red mark across them saying, “These just don’t cut it!” Pardon the pun, considering we are talking about editing.

Combining my Photo 1 experience with what I read in Kobre about editing and the ethics of photojournalism, made me uncomfortable. It made me think.

After shooting nearly 250 photos, I was sorting through the pile, trying to get my “best 20″, when I realized that I am probably the kid who needs boundaries set for me. It was extraordinarily difficult for me to dissociate from the emotion or thought I had experienced while taking the picture. It was exactly what we talked about in class — Trying to make the image look like what you thought it was SUPPOSED to look like. Kobre, in his section on editing talks about the the diametric views Life and Look magazines had about letting photographers edit their own work. I realized that if I was working at Look, I would never meet a deadline. It is a little easier not being in the room when someone is taking the red ink to it.

It may be argued that it is unprofessional, but it is easier just realizing it, than thinking you are a whole different photographer than you think you are.

Also, in the same section Kobre points out that photo editors need to “find out what pictures their readers are actually looking at, than base editorial decisions on their own biases”. I have a problem with that view. I believe, the choice of the editors almost always depends on the content of the newspaper/website/magazine. I mean, how many pictures of poodles and babies can you print in Time magazine? Also, as we saw on the MSNBC site, if photo editors started pandering to the audience, we would never have witnessed some of the most moving pictures in photojournalism history.

Capturing the sunrise

Last week when I left class I was totally inspired by the guy who takes black and white photographs. I was especially impressed with the concept of “Where you stand..and when you press the button”. I made it my mission to make this weekend an exercise in photography. My friends and I had planned a trip to St. Augustine and I was delighted at the opportunity for capturing beautiful images.

I remembered Kobre’s advice of getting the overall pictures and the medium and close up shots to convey different moods. Initially, on the road it was mostly photographs of the scenery trying to get the overall picture. It all seemed to blur past, making for very bad images and sometimes very surreal ones. That is when I started learning how to use my friends fancy zoom lens camera. I put it into sports mode and lo and behold! Suddenly the scenery didn’t look like a scene from a Nascar race.

Then I tried taking these “medium shots” of some people in the back of a pick up truck. That however, made me feel very paparazzi-like, especially when the subjects gave me some dirty looks. Not a good idea fellow photographers! (Unless of course, you are an investigative journalist)

However, most times I tried sticking to taking pictures without too much interference by the equipment, i.e., zooming in and out, changing modes and all that kind of thing. Remember…where you stand and when you click.

But, there was one aspect I was really interested in, which was taking pictures in soft, evening light and retaining the softness of the light (not making it look like a day shot), and simultaneously making sure they didn’t look all dark either. For that, I exposed the lens to the light (basically leaving the shutter open so it lets the light seep in for about 30 seconds), and then clicked, so there wasn’t too much light from the flash, or too little from not letting enough light in.

In all the scenery shots, I mostly concentrated on composition. I must admit, Professor McAdams’ advice of looking at the frame of the picture before shooting really made a difference. It is amazing how much difference half an inch of interference can make.

Coming back to the Kobre reading, his advice about arriving early and leaving late is not very new to me. My father who is a Public Relations Officer and a journalist ALWAYS dishes out that kind of advice. Hence, reading Kobre’s suggestions on how to network to get stories, etc. felt like revisiting teenage memories. I must admit though, I have seen in my father’s case, how well it works. I have proof that Kobre knows what he is talking about.

Journalism Web Design Experiences

 

{Co[u/a]rse Work??? – My Journalistic foray into the realms of internet(-esting) commonality}

I was not a geek. Not a technology geek anyway. However, all that changed when I started the journalism program at the University of Florida. Fresh from Law School with a family history of the journalism bug, I did not in the least have an inclination toward the technological world. I was in the journalism program because I loved to write. Period.

I am from India, the land of the rising micro chip, and I’d be damned if I was to be another “computer engineer”. Little did I know of my latent geek potential.

My knowledge of the world of computers and online jargon was restricted to Yahoo Messenger and emailing homework to my professors. Typing LOL made me feel internet savvy. And, why did I NEED to know this stuff anyway. I was a lawyer and a prospective journalist. People in “our profession” didn’t need in-depth internet or computer info.

And then I encountered my first Web Design and Electronic Publishing course under David Carlson.

My adviser suggested I take the course to stay up to speed on the new trend of online journalism. I did not relish the thought of being ignorant and decided to dabble in some web design myself.

Initially it was very difficult for me to wrap my brain around the fact that it took complicated strings of jargon to come up with that one flower you saw on the screen. Why could they not have invented a simpler way of doing things? But, I must admit the satisfaction of seeing the final results in the class exercises, however small, made me hate XHTML lesser and lesser each day. Eventually, poring over lines of code to find glitches became a mission more than an assignment.

Gradually I got initiated into the alien world of geek talk. There were Cascading Style Sheets to discuss, strict and lenient codes to talk about and Dreamweaver to fall back upon like a true friend. Technology subliminally crept into my blood and made me feel like I needed to know more.

I designed my first web site in that class. It was an attempt at a guide to all things Indian. It was not necessarily a great journalistic job, but it was a pretty good attempt at Web Design. It spurred me on to design another Web site for one of my professors’ Visual Communication course. I am still waiting for that project to get online.

What excited me the most about these projects was their easy access. All I had to do was send my folks back home a link and they could view my entire project in a few minutes. That is when the potential of online journalism hit me. It was access to stories 24/7 from almost anywhere in the world.

My most recent encounter with technology has been in the Journalists’ Toolkit 1 class. Now I can totally relate to Professor McAdams going into raptures of delight about del.icio.us and Google Reader. I understand now, how it can all seem so overwhelming: this almost unlimited access to unlimited stores of information.

As for my pursuit of all things technological, I foresee a long but eventful journey. The last bit of computer jargon I learnt was “dual-boot”. I stumbled across it when I was doing some research on the new PC game Bioshock. I am not quite the computer gamer – yet. It was a gift for a friend who IS a techno maniac. So now I know that you can have two operating systems, Ubuntu and Windows installed on your PC at the same time. This lets you play games like Bioshock which are designed for Windows, while preserving Ubuntu for other processes. Didn’t quite get that? Well then, you will just have to wait for the next time I spout my latest findings at the techno geek convention!