The newspaper I chose to look at that produces video was the Chicago Tribune.
The Chicago Tribune was an interesting choice because I never associated newspapers with video. I have always looked at newspapers in the physical form, and the adjustment to them being online is still tricky for me to grasp. Personally when I look for news online, I will use a news stations website.
Anyway, I proceeded onto the Chicago Tribune website, where I found a link of just videos they have. I went to that part of the website, and realized there were numerous videos about a lot of news in Chicago and worldwide.
When you go to the website for the videos, they immediately start playing. Before every video there is an advertisement, which got a little annoying. There was also no way to stop the constant playing of videos unless you stopped it.
Basically there was an automatic constant setting where the videos would continuously play, which gave zero time to absorb the news one just received.
I could not find a way to choose a video to watch because they were all on this continuous playlist. I also noticed that some videos were from news stations in Chicago, and only some were videos the Chicago Tribune produced.
The videos the newspaper produced were different than news stations. The videos were a little long 2-3minutes, and some were just interviews. Instead of having a news anchor tell the stories or a reporter, sometimes just the person they interviewed would. I found this to be interesting, and it was different than what I have always seen.
In all the content of the news was still interesting because it was "news," and I did think the videos were professional looking based on the images and content of the stories.
I prefer iReport over the videos from the Chicago Tribune for a few reasons. I liked how in iReport users can become storytellers and show their first account of what happened as long as it is accurate. This doesn't happen in the newspaper videos unless it is done through an interview.
I did prefer the navigation system in the Chicago Tribune over the navigation in iReport. On the newspaper's website it was easy to find videos because they were all in one location. The only hard part was finding a way to search for the news you were looking for. In iReport I had a lot of trouble navigating and found it confusing on where to find accurate news.
Overall both websites could use a little bit of work in their video and navigation area. The videos for each website are used differently. In the Chicago Tribune they give you the facts and a story of what happened, whereas I feel iReport gives more videos of what is actually happening to make the viewer feel like they are there.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
iReport Critique
I first created an account for CNN iReport before I explored around on the website.
I have mixed feelings about iReport because I did like how it had viewers own stories on current events, but I was a little confused with the website. I am not the biggest tech person in the world, so I first explored around on my own but I was confused on what an assignment was versus an actual report.
They did offer a tour for the "newbies" so I did it considering I was a little lost. The "tour" was really a list of steps but it explained everything and was extremely helpful.
This website offers a lot but I think it is important to know how to get an assignment, or what to post, how to join groups, meet people, and promote a story you found interesting. All of this was explained, so after I did this I was ready to explore.
The website started to grow on me because I realized it hosts a lot of different mediums. There are slideshows with small captions and some that include stories. There are hard news stories but there are also feature stories. The variety on this website is abundant and I think thats definitely an advantage for its success.
I also liked how its pretty international with some stories in foreign languages, so that is a great asset because it helps people not involved in that country get an idea of what is going on. I also like the idea of getting a video "vetted," because that means if CNN approved it which is pretty awesome to get your story out in the public.
I do like the idea of this website, I just think it can be a little confusing at first if you do not take the "tour" to get all the details. I like how people can submit stories and any type of media to then become "vetted" because its a good way to get credit for a well put together piece.
I think it is a good website and I think it will succeed with the information it provides giving viewers a variety and allowing viewers to contribute. The use of different mediums of media is really good on this as well, they have definitely taken advantage of the "new age."
I have mixed feelings about iReport because I did like how it had viewers own stories on current events, but I was a little confused with the website. I am not the biggest tech person in the world, so I first explored around on my own but I was confused on what an assignment was versus an actual report.
They did offer a tour for the "newbies" so I did it considering I was a little lost. The "tour" was really a list of steps but it explained everything and was extremely helpful.
This website offers a lot but I think it is important to know how to get an assignment, or what to post, how to join groups, meet people, and promote a story you found interesting. All of this was explained, so after I did this I was ready to explore.
The website started to grow on me because I realized it hosts a lot of different mediums. There are slideshows with small captions and some that include stories. There are hard news stories but there are also feature stories. The variety on this website is abundant and I think thats definitely an advantage for its success.
I also liked how its pretty international with some stories in foreign languages, so that is a great asset because it helps people not involved in that country get an idea of what is going on. I also like the idea of getting a video "vetted," because that means if CNN approved it which is pretty awesome to get your story out in the public.
I do like the idea of this website, I just think it can be a little confusing at first if you do not take the "tour" to get all the details. I like how people can submit stories and any type of media to then become "vetted" because its a good way to get credit for a well put together piece.
I think it is a good website and I think it will succeed with the information it provides giving viewers a variety and allowing viewers to contribute. The use of different mediums of media is really good on this as well, they have definitely taken advantage of the "new age."
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Audio Slideshow 400-Word Story
Do Snow Days Help Students?
A recent Harvard study
has found that snow days actually help students learn.
Public Policy Assistant Professor, Joshua Goodman has
found that snow days do not hurt student achievement. Instead, the study finds
that when schools are kept open during snow storms that some students suffer.
Dr. Goodman collected data from grades three through tenth from
2003 to 2010. The study focused on seeing how annual variations in absence
rates and closures are related to student learning and achievement. This data
was then compared to variations in snowfall across time and space.
So what did all of that data and testing
conclude? Closures have no impact on student learning but absences do.
This is all
because moderately bad weather prevents some students from getting to school
while others will still attend anyway. On days when many students are absent,
teachers often spend the following days playing catch up so that everyone is on
the same page.
When teachers
have to play “catch-up, it makes it
harder for the them to keep the students that did attend during the storm
engaged. Not only did some students miss
school during a snow storm, but teacher absences and tardiness also increased
resulting in valuable class time being lost.
On the flip side,
when school is cancelled teachers can rearrange their schedule and cut out any
down time that was previously planned.
This would result in no lost learning for the students.
According to
state laws there are a certain number of school days that are required to be
held each year. If the number of snow
days exceeds that specific number, then they must be made up.
The study
concluded that schools in general are very well prepared for major disruptions
that cause school cancellations but they are far less prepared for moderate
disruption. The lack of preparedness for moderate disruptions leads to
increased absences as some students are unable to attend school these days.
Schools are
looking for ways to get students transported safely, but sometimes the
conditions are so bad that just cant happen.
The other option is to cancel school all together and make it up on a
day when the weather will not be impacting student attendance.
This doesn't
sound like a bad idea considering not only will it benefit the students but it
is also safer and more cost efficient.
In conclusion,
the study is causing schools to think of alternative ways to benefit students
on snow days, even though the students would rather see their school name
scrolling on the closing list news feed.
*Joshua Goodman*
Photos: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Photo editing: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Audio: Stephen Decatur
Audio Editing: Holly Cannon
Sound slide editing: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Text: Stephen Decatur
Text editing: Holly Cannon
Music: Free offline from a free music source (freeSFX), and the soundbite is "Winter Storm"
Photos: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Photo editing: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Audio: Stephen Decatur
Audio Editing: Holly Cannon
Sound slide editing: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Text: Stephen Decatur
Text editing: Holly Cannon
Music: Free offline from a free music source (freeSFX), and the soundbite is "Winter Storm"
Monday, March 17, 2014
Audio Slideshow Synopsis
Stephen Decatur and I will be working on our audio slideshow project together. We plan to do our slideshow on the March 12th-13th, 2014 winter storm. This storm happened last Wednesday into Thursday, and we took many pictures throughout the storm to add to the project.
Our audio slideshow will be like a story including pictures of before the storm began, while the snow was falling, and finally the aftermath. We are planning on gearing this project towards Lyndon State College because all of the pictures were taken throughout various parts of the college. We feel students and faculty at the college would appreciate and relate to it most. We have numerous pictures from various stages of the storm, and it's very interesting to see almost a time lapse of how the storm just kept producing more snow.
We plan to make the slideshow a little more interesting by adding in pictures we took of students doing various other things around campus on Thursday. We plan to mention in the audio portion how the college decided to close on Thursday, and we are planning on showing images of students doing homework, hanging out, watching movies, walking with skis or snowboards, etc.
This audio slideshow is supposed to demonstrate and show how the storm evolved and what students at the college did with their day off. It will be informative in both the weather aspects and social aspects of students. The audio portion will include students opinions on the storm, what they did during the storm, and what they think of the numerous classes being cancelled due to weather this semester. There have been numerous snow days this year compared to past ones, and I think students opinions on missing classes would be an interesting addition to our project.
We plan to add music in the beginning and end of the slideshow to make it more appealing and interesting. It would also help the flow of audio and images go smoother instead of just jumping into us speaking immediately. This is how we plan to execute our audio slideshow and what we plan to put in it. The pictures will be visually appealing while the text will add information about the storm, student life, and student issues regarding class cancellations.
We hope you enjoy it!
Our audio slideshow will be like a story including pictures of before the storm began, while the snow was falling, and finally the aftermath. We are planning on gearing this project towards Lyndon State College because all of the pictures were taken throughout various parts of the college. We feel students and faculty at the college would appreciate and relate to it most. We have numerous pictures from various stages of the storm, and it's very interesting to see almost a time lapse of how the storm just kept producing more snow.
We plan to make the slideshow a little more interesting by adding in pictures we took of students doing various other things around campus on Thursday. We plan to mention in the audio portion how the college decided to close on Thursday, and we are planning on showing images of students doing homework, hanging out, watching movies, walking with skis or snowboards, etc.
This audio slideshow is supposed to demonstrate and show how the storm evolved and what students at the college did with their day off. It will be informative in both the weather aspects and social aspects of students. The audio portion will include students opinions on the storm, what they did during the storm, and what they think of the numerous classes being cancelled due to weather this semester. There have been numerous snow days this year compared to past ones, and I think students opinions on missing classes would be an interesting addition to our project.
We plan to add music in the beginning and end of the slideshow to make it more appealing and interesting. It would also help the flow of audio and images go smoother instead of just jumping into us speaking immediately. This is how we plan to execute our audio slideshow and what we plan to put in it. The pictures will be visually appealing while the text will add information about the storm, student life, and student issues regarding class cancellations.
We hope you enjoy it!
Monday, March 10, 2014
2 Slideshows and a Photo Gallery Critiques
Slideshow without audio:
For the slideshow without audio, I searched around and found a quick slideshow on the technique of cake baking. I love to bake, so I figured this could be a fun slideshow to look at it. It was a slideshow that contained 14 actual photos and an advertisement as the end slide. It was an interesting slideshow that gave some helpful tips. It started out with how to heat the oven and why the temperatures are different for one another, then went into how to weight cake mix, how to put them in the oven and check when they're done! I wished they actually finished the cake and showed how to decorate it. They finished the slideshow by telling the reader to cool the cake. The slideshow did start out with a finished cake, but I think it would have been more interesting to add in how to decorate a cake. I think the decoration is way more interesting than the actual baking process! In the end it does come down to taste, but presentation is key!
I do think this slideshow did tell the story well of how to bake a cake. It gave useful tips, some that I did not know before. I did like this form of slideshow because it gave step by step instructions. I like how it did not have sound because if I was actually using this slideshow as I baked a cake, I wouldn't want to keep rewinding if I missed something that was said in the audio instructions, that is why I prefer to have the text and photos. Without sound I think the reader can bake the cake at their own pace, whereas with sound it could get frustrating if you do miss a step.
The link I used: http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/08/sweet-technique-cake-baking-how-to-preheat-arrange-oven-racks-slideshow.html#show-179710
Slideshow with audio:
For the slideshow with audio, I decided to stay on the theme of baking. I liked the idea to pick one main topic and then see how it differs with each type of media. I chose an audio slideshow of a woman making pan-de-muerto. It was very interesting and something I have never made before or ever heard of. She started off the slideshow with some information about herself and what she was going to be making. I did like her slideshow because she spoke very clearly and everything she spoke of matched up with the photos. I didn't like how fast it was though and I think this is the downfall of the audio slideshow. If I am a baker trying to make the recipe as she speaks it on the audio slideshow, I think I am going to have a hard time. I think this because if you miss something or are finishing the step that was given before therefore get lost on what you are doing/what you have done, then the whole recipe will get messed up and confusing! With that being said, I did think she told a story about how to make the recipe. I liked how she had captions on the pictures as well just to help the listener say they did mess a step. She went through in a chronological order, so the audio and photos made the story move along in order. I can't say that I liked the audio slideshow better than the slideshow without audio because they both had their positives and negatives.
The link I used: http://www.finecooking.com/item/21467/audio-slide-show-how-to-make-pan-de-muerto
Photo Gallery:
For the photo gallery, I decided to stay on the theme of baked goods. I found two links because I was not sure which one would count more as a photo gallery. Both links are very similar in the way they are set up on the page. One link is a photo gallery of how to bake a cake and it shows pictures of the ingredients needed, mixing, and the final product. The other photo gallery I found was from an actual bakery and they had pictures of the different decorated cupcake designs they do. I realized that by looking at both websites, telling a story through a photo gallery is very difficult. For a photo gallery, one has to click every individual picture just to see it. That gets hard to tell a story when sometimes the reader is not sure what order the next picture is, do you go down or across? I also noticed that no text was involved on either website also making it hard to tell what is exactly going on. In this case, I think adding sound to both photo galleries would just make it more confusing. The problem here isn't sound, the problem here is that the story just can't be told through a photo gallery. In my opinion adding sound doesn't make the story, one can rely on images to portray a story. The order, and how specific a picture is, is what actually makes the story. By looking at all three types of media, I would say I preferred the audio without sound to be the best one.
The links I used: http://www.stockfreeimages.com/5071844/Baking-a-cake.html
and http://lyndells.com/cakes.php?type=decoratedcupcakes
For the slideshow without audio, I searched around and found a quick slideshow on the technique of cake baking. I love to bake, so I figured this could be a fun slideshow to look at it. It was a slideshow that contained 14 actual photos and an advertisement as the end slide. It was an interesting slideshow that gave some helpful tips. It started out with how to heat the oven and why the temperatures are different for one another, then went into how to weight cake mix, how to put them in the oven and check when they're done! I wished they actually finished the cake and showed how to decorate it. They finished the slideshow by telling the reader to cool the cake. The slideshow did start out with a finished cake, but I think it would have been more interesting to add in how to decorate a cake. I think the decoration is way more interesting than the actual baking process! In the end it does come down to taste, but presentation is key!
I do think this slideshow did tell the story well of how to bake a cake. It gave useful tips, some that I did not know before. I did like this form of slideshow because it gave step by step instructions. I like how it did not have sound because if I was actually using this slideshow as I baked a cake, I wouldn't want to keep rewinding if I missed something that was said in the audio instructions, that is why I prefer to have the text and photos. Without sound I think the reader can bake the cake at their own pace, whereas with sound it could get frustrating if you do miss a step.
The link I used: http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/08/sweet-technique-cake-baking-how-to-preheat-arrange-oven-racks-slideshow.html#show-179710
Slideshow with audio:
For the slideshow with audio, I decided to stay on the theme of baking. I liked the idea to pick one main topic and then see how it differs with each type of media. I chose an audio slideshow of a woman making pan-de-muerto. It was very interesting and something I have never made before or ever heard of. She started off the slideshow with some information about herself and what she was going to be making. I did like her slideshow because she spoke very clearly and everything she spoke of matched up with the photos. I didn't like how fast it was though and I think this is the downfall of the audio slideshow. If I am a baker trying to make the recipe as she speaks it on the audio slideshow, I think I am going to have a hard time. I think this because if you miss something or are finishing the step that was given before therefore get lost on what you are doing/what you have done, then the whole recipe will get messed up and confusing! With that being said, I did think she told a story about how to make the recipe. I liked how she had captions on the pictures as well just to help the listener say they did mess a step. She went through in a chronological order, so the audio and photos made the story move along in order. I can't say that I liked the audio slideshow better than the slideshow without audio because they both had their positives and negatives.
The link I used: http://www.finecooking.com/item/21467/audio-slide-show-how-to-make-pan-de-muerto
Photo Gallery:
For the photo gallery, I decided to stay on the theme of baked goods. I found two links because I was not sure which one would count more as a photo gallery. Both links are very similar in the way they are set up on the page. One link is a photo gallery of how to bake a cake and it shows pictures of the ingredients needed, mixing, and the final product. The other photo gallery I found was from an actual bakery and they had pictures of the different decorated cupcake designs they do. I realized that by looking at both websites, telling a story through a photo gallery is very difficult. For a photo gallery, one has to click every individual picture just to see it. That gets hard to tell a story when sometimes the reader is not sure what order the next picture is, do you go down or across? I also noticed that no text was involved on either website also making it hard to tell what is exactly going on. In this case, I think adding sound to both photo galleries would just make it more confusing. The problem here isn't sound, the problem here is that the story just can't be told through a photo gallery. In my opinion adding sound doesn't make the story, one can rely on images to portray a story. The order, and how specific a picture is, is what actually makes the story. By looking at all three types of media, I would say I preferred the audio without sound to be the best one.
The links I used: http://www.stockfreeimages.com/5071844/Baking-a-cake.html
and http://lyndells.com/cakes.php?type=decoratedcupcakes
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