There you have it folks, my first attempt at putting together a Soundslides production. I have to say I’m pretty proud of it. The interview was hilarious to say the least so I had some help there but all the photos were just taken with my point and shoot digital camera. It’s nothing too fancy but I think it served its purpose here.

I think that if you use Soundslides correctly, you can show very cool things that video can’t capture the same way. Photos force you to freeze in the moment. They are able to take you into iconic moments that force you to bond with the central character (if done correctly of course).

For anyone trying Soundslides for the first time, here are some tips from my own personal experience:

1.) Shoot in sequence (wide, medium and tight) that way your final show has some movement and depth without literally making the photos move on screen.

2.) Get your audio edited exactly how you want it before you import it into Soundslides or start laying photos. You cannot edit sound once it is in the program and many times you have to start an entirely new project if you need to import audio again.

3.) Start from the front and work your way down. Lay your photos in order as best as you can because moving one photo can affect the rest of your sequence. If you keep the majority of your edits in the back of the sequence the less of a chance you have to throw off the front parts that you have already completed.

4.) Have fun with it! This experience was a little daunting at first but once you get rolling, it can be an awesome tool to show off your work in a whole new way!

Hey Uncovered followers! So I just had one of the most challenging/exciting/fun weeks in a long time. All last week I was on the set of the Travel Channel show, Ghost Adventures. This was the first live event for this show and it lasted for SEVEN straight hours!

You might be thinking how in the world can one show keep the interest of people for seven hours? I have to admit I thought the same thing when I initially heard about the show, but if you watched it, it was anything but ordinary!

Ghost Adventures took multimedia and fan interaction to a whole new level, but first let me give you a little background on the building. The Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is the largest hand cut stone building in the United States and second largest in the world. It has about 2.5 miles of corridors in the main building alone including a wing that was constructed during the Civil War. We ran miles of cables and hooked up over 30 cameras.

Check out the website for more stories and photos on the TALA…

Ghost Adventures main page

I almost immediately felt like I was in over my head when I walked onto the set. The massive amount of equipment coupled with the miles and miles of cables and a super creepy building would probably give anyone a nervous feeling, but I think mine was exacerbated because I am very easily scared.
I don’t do well in ‘haunted houses’ so I was actually excited when I found out that people watching would get an online experience that would highlight the terror that I had during my week of working a the TALA.

Included in the camera count were eight cameras that streamed live to the internet where people could watch them at home while also watching the show. People could text or email in about anything they saw on the cameras which then scrolled live along the bottom of the TV screen. There were open discussion boards along with live chats with people that were in the building during the show. All in all, this crazy operation really pulled a new type of television experience off.

After being a part of this awesome production, I have started to wonder if this is where television is headed. I feel like a lot of talk is directed at reviving media like newspapers but what about keeping things like television fresh and interesting? Rumors are flying that 3D TV might be the next big thing, but I have to wonder how much 3D television my eyes could take. Recently, I have noticed that I have the tendency to lose interest in TV and movies very quickly but maybe I wouldn’t if I felt like I was interacting with the show directly rather than just passively watching. I’m not really sure that I would have stayed glued to the set for 7 straight hours if I wasn’t live at the event but maybe I would have watched for an hour or two at home.

Check out the web camera locations here

What do you think? Is this where TV is headed or will this type of set up only work so often? Would you watch a show where you could immediately respond online or see parts that aren’t shown during the show streaming right to your web browser?

On Oct. 23, West Virginia Uncovered hosted a Multimedia Reporting Workshop “Sound and Slideshows.” Bill Kuykendall, a West Virginia native and multimedia professor from the University of Maine, talked about techniques for good audio reporting.

We have archived here the two morning sessions. The first is “Telling stories with sounds: Anecdotes, Oral histories, Soundscapes and slideshows,”

People have said that combining the many elements of journalism will save the craft, but, man, is it hard! My background is in broadcast news, and for the WV Uncovered project, I have been paired with a newspaper guy. These two elements of journalism could not be further apart, but I think that as we work to combine our different schools of thought, the results will be great!

Here are some problems we’ve had and some tips for you to be able to work more easily with other journalists:

Some of our first problems started immediately with the interview. When a print person interviews, it is okay to talk over the interviewee or to prod them in a certain direction midsentence; however, for a broadcast person those methods are total no, no’s. We can only use nonverbal listening cues and strive to wait for the perfect spots to stop and ask another question. On-camera interviews are, in my opinion, harder to put together because not only do they have to look good, but the person talking has to be comfortable enough to speak in front of the camera, not to mention all of the problems one can have with equipment and lighting. I recommend having a quick conversation with your partner to discuss your own personal interviewing techniques and what each person expects from an interview. Be honest about what you need but also be accommodating to the other person.

Be aware of your surroundings and your partner. If you are working on a multimedia project together, you should collectively want the best possible product and do things to help the other succeed. If a video camera is running, be aware that talking will be picked up with other natural sounds, a still camera shutter will hurt the audio, and flashes can ruin video. Also, realize that if pictures are being taken, you want to stay out of the shot and find a place where you can get your video shot while the other person can take his/her still photos. Don’t be afraid to ask the other person to stop shooting, stop talking or just move to a different position but do it with the intention of making sure you both get the best product so that you can combine your elements later.

When it comes to editing, patience is a virtue. The process is so incredibly different that it can be very easy to step on each others’ toes. A print story and a video story take completely different media to create and edit and it can be very hard for the two to merge. Personally, I think a broadcast person has an upper hand in this process because they are familiar with writing and editing video. The best way to explain the process of video to a print person can be explaining to them that the sound is like a radio script and the visual elements get laid over it. For a broadcast person this can seem like a ridiculous way to explain it, but it really is the simplest way to break it all down. Be understanding and take your time explaining the process. The earlier you do this the smoother the entire process will be.

Keep your eye out for our first multimedia story, and you be the judge of how well we merged our crafts to bring you our first Roane County Story.

Have you had any similar experiences? How did you make it work?

An Australian campaign could ban television for children under two and limit time allowed for those five and younger.

The proposed campaign will be called Get Up and Grow and will be part of Australia’s anti-obesity drive. The final report is not yet complete, but proposed content includes children from newborns to age two being banned from television and children aged two to five allotted only one hour per day. The proposal says children miss out on opportunities to socialize, learn crucial language skills and develop a full range of eye motion if introduced to television or computers too early. The law would be directed at daycare centers and their counterparts but the government would heavily encourage parents to follow the guidelines as well.

At first, I thought this bill was crazy! Who in the world would be able to dictate how much time kids spend in front of the television? After reading further though, I did find that little line that says it’s mainly for the daycare system. Still, this is a pretty strict rule to follow, and not directed at the right age group.

While I do think it’s a good idea to keep kids away from television too early, I wonder why this is being tagged under an anti-obesity campaign. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the time to really limit television is in children age five and up. One and two-year-olds do need face time with people to develop, but how much does that help obesity? When children are older than five, that’s when they are really going to be able to “Get Up and Grow” like the campaign says. Let’s see if this thing passes and if parents follow along with the suggested guidelines.

What do you think…is it okay for the government to impose these rules? Do you think they will make any difference?

Read the Full Article Here

Babe has nothing on these little guys!

If you haven’t already seen these guys all over the internet today, check out the newest pet sensation.
Click Here
These micro pigs are irresistible! When they are born they only weigh 9 oz. and will usually only grow to be about 60 pounds and 14 inches tall. Basically they will grow up from being the size of a tea cup to a small dog in approximately 2 years. The average cost…about $1000!

The extreme cuteness of the things initially drew me to the story but as I read along the focus turned from the pigs and their breeders to which celebrities own them. Rather than giving me another adorable picture of the pigs, the author threw in a picture of the Harry Potter star that reportedly owns a micro pig.

I think this paints a pretty good picture of where the worlds focus often lies. We go from a cute story about these little pigs to pointing out which hot celebrity has a micro pig too. It’s crazy to think that the pet choice of a celebrity would influence the average citizen.

Do you or would you choose something based on a celebrity? Or would you buy one of these pigs based on cuteness alone?

Not only have I had writer’s block lately, I have also had a hard time getting people to read the blog. Again, this is my first time blogging, and I am finding it hard enough to just think of something to write, much less how to get people to actually read it. So, like any internet savvy person, I Googled how to get my blog read. This is where I found out about a trick that hopefully works – using words heavily searched on Google that day in entries. Theoretically, I should be able to enter in random words from the most searched topics of the day, and then people might find my blog when they search for such things.

Coal Ash

NFL week 4

My big fat Greek wedding.

Beyond just adding pointless words into my post, here are some other tips I picked up along the way:

Give Love to Get Love
This is something at which I really need to work, so, rather than just reading other blogs, I also need to leave comments and direct other people to those blogs as well. The more you help promote other blogs the more those authors should also help you.

Use Titles Effectively
Develop titles to not only catch the attention of readers but also to pick up hits from search engines. Use websites like Google Trends and WordTracker to organize your titles so that they will be picked up by search engines and get viewers.

Keep Up with Your BlogRoll
Add people to your BlogRoll that are kind enough to add you to theirs.

Update Often with Quality Content
This is also one of my biggest problems. I have a hard time remembering to update, but when I do remember, what should I actually post about? I think sticking to a theme is a great place to start. Pick a topic to center your blog around and get writing.

If you have to use gimmicks like inserting frequently searched works (Ike Taylor) or actually thoughtfully maintaining your blog, keep reading, posting, commenting and, above all, keep it interesting!

In my last entry, I wrote about the city of Spencer and what I had learned on their Facebook fan page, but this weekend I had the awesome opportunity to actually go and see it for myself!

It only took two and a half hours to drive there from Morgantown, but considering only 50 miles of the drive were on the highway, it felt more like five hours. My partner even had to take a Dramamine to keep from getting car sick on the roller coaster of a road.

Upon arrival, we checked in with our partner newspaper, the Times Record, and got a tour of their building where I saw my first printing press. We were just about to leave the paper and check out the town when someone made the suggestion that we stop to take a look at the unmarked graves from the Spencer State Mental Hospital beside the elementary school. We couldn’t resist.

Without giving away too many details for our upcoming story, while we were snooping at the school we met a bus driver who went to work at the hospital when he was only 17. And get this – he was a night watchman! We spent some time talking to this gentleman and his friend, got his number and then went on to our final destination for the day: Marjorie’s house. Marjorie is the main character in our upcoming Spencer piece that will feature her and the amazing life she has led over the past 92 years.

I was excited to meet her until the moment we pulled up to her house. I was panicking on the inside. Did we have batteries? What questions did we want to get answered? Did she remember we were coming? Whose car was that in her driveway? I thought she didn’t drive. Did the trunk magically open when we were driving and the camera fall out somewhere along the road?

In the end, things turned out okay. We got two great interviews and some awesome B-roll. (Nope, I’m still not telling you what our story is about. You will just have to wait and see like everyone else.) I think part of my fear, though, was because I had not interviewed anyone by myself in weeks. I think I was rusty. Even so, I think mental and physical checklists are always a great idea.

This article from BraveNewTraveler has some great tips for journalists on real-world interviewing. Here’s my summary along with some added tips.

Come up with a list of questions you know you need answered.

Write them down. By the time the interview comes along, you should have a good idea of where your story is headed, so come up with questions that help keep the direction. With that said, also be ready to ask questions on the fly as they come to you.

Bring a friend along.

Friends are always great to have along. The person not conducting the interview can wear the headphones and watch the shot if you are filming.

Bring along your other friends, also known as “supplies.”

Don’t feel weird if you bring your office along. Pack anything and everything you might need because nothing would be worse than shooting with a dead mic or a cord that won’t stay down. Bring things like tape, batteries, white paper, clothes pins, pens and pencils, extra tapes or camera cards, headphones and diffusion if you have lights.

Don’t stress out.

This is supposed to be fun. If you are stressed out the people around you will be stressed too. Cover all of you bases beforehand, and things should run smoothly. But if Murphy’s Law does come into play, take it all in stride. Just be excited that you get the opportunity to speak to this unique person and do the best you can with what you’ve got.

Now get out there, go someplace cool and give interviewing a shot. Just don’t forget to pack the camera.

The webcast of Lois Raimondo, Shott Chair of the WVU P.I. Reed School of Journalism, took place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday September 24, 2009. Dean Maryanne Reed begins the program with a few remarks.

Lois Raimondo is an international award-winning journalist. Before coming to WVU, Raimondo was a staff photographer for The Washington Post and worked as chief photographer for The Associated Press bureau in Hanoi, Vietnam. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Newsweek and Time.

I have spent the last week getting ready to take a trip to Spencer, WV this weekend to get started on the first project with their local paper. When I started researching for the project, I assumed that it would be really difficult to find information on the area because it is rural West Virginia. To my surprise the town of Spencer actually has its own website, but even more surprising was the fact that they have their own fan page on Facebook of all things. City Of Spencer

Simple observation has led me to believe that many more people are creating these fan pages to promote their community, business or even ideas. A fan page allows the user to make a page that is very similar to a personal Facebook profile. People can leave comments on the wall, post photos and even get notifications when updates are made. After checking out the Spencer fan page, I was impressed by how many times it’s updated throughout the week. People in the community were posting pictures of community events like the fishing tournament and advertising for future events. Comments were also left about how much they enjoyed or didn’t enjoy things that were happening in the town. This could be used as a great way for the government to get direct feedback from their community.

Many sites have recommended using the fan page for a variety of reasons. One of the most compelling is that your page can be found inside of a Facebook search but also through a general web search engine. You can also have an unlimited amount of friends to a fan page. Whereas, if you made a standard profile you would max out at 5,000. Even the small town of Spencer has over 900 followers with many posting to the website regularly.

As an avid Facebook user I would also recommend that fan page creators update and update often, maybe even more than they would their own page. I would also link other pages off of the fan page to keep followers coming to the page for new information, almost like a blog. Also, the more you update, the more you pop-up in followers’ mini-feeds and recently updated sections.

So speaking on behalf of Facebook junkies everywhere, Spencer, WV is doing something that many people should emulate. The town is using this social media outlet to create an online conversation to keep people updated but also to create community among those that share common interests. Check out Spencer’s fan page this week and get noticed by creating or maybe joining a few of your own.