assignments

Assignment: Multimedia Feature, Multimedia Collaboration

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The final project will be a publication that integrates research, writing, audio, video, and graphic elements in the exploration of a larger overarching theme. The purpose of this assignment is to expose you to the processes of pitching, developing, organizing, managing and producing a multimedia publication—both as individuals and as a collaborative team. Format

The title of this collection will be ONE MONTH IN MURPHY, and will pursue stories that touch, in some way, Murphy Hall. That is, you could do a profile of a worker who cleans carpets in Murphy or go to an event that is advertised in Murphy—the story doesn’t have to stop at the building walls, it just needs to have some connection to this place. The project will be divided into two parts: 8 individually produced multimedia features, and 16 collaboratively produced pieces across different media.

class

Class 2/18: Introducing Photo Galleries

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In class, we discussed the different types of photos that you might include in a photo essay for your upcoming assignment. The photo essay is a form made famous in TIME magazine, where photographers like Ansel Adams and W Eugene Smith made some of the most important contributions to the genre. Incidentally, many wedding photographers essentially use the tools of the photo essay. Inspired by this post on Poynter (as well as some discussion of it here), let's take a look at a photo gallery produced for an NPR story on health care for some examples of the different sorts of photos (or illustrations!) in multimedia publications. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=44&v=N_3m52fzBV0

The different shots that the Poynter article identifies here are a scene-setter, a medium shot, a portrait, an action shot, a macro/detail. 

Poynter's description is in italics, mine in standard font.

assignments

Class 2/6: Parts of an Audio Package

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In class on Monday, we went over the next assignment for the course: an audio package. The elements of an audio package are as follows:

Research: Always research first. This could be research of a social, cultural, or political phenomenon that your story is trying to explore, research about the person you'll be interviewing or place you'll be recording in, or research on other types of a stories that have been told in this arena. If you don't know what to look for, you won't know how to recognize it when you find it! Sound effects: Buzzing crowds, footsteps, cash registers, glasses clinking on the bar, traffic speeding by--all of these things help you create a soundscape for your listeners that you can use to paint a picture before, after, or between your segments. 

Wild track: This is the "room tone" of the sounds wherever you will be doing your interviewing.