Seth is the man

I thought this was a really good audio slideshow that I came across while getting ideas for my last mulitmedia assignment...It was done by the one and only Seth Siditsky. Are most people doing audio slideshows or video?

Use of Soundslides

Hey, I googled "multimedia journalism" today, and our blog comes up on the 4th page!

Anyway, I came across a set of soundslides by the Midland Daily News in Midland, MI. They have a lot of really great photos in these projects.

This project has an interesting use of black and white and color. What do you think about the usage?

Also, I found it interesting that the multimedia pages are very different in layout and design from the rest of the newspaper page. The layout for the multimedia is cleaner, but it doesn't really seem to connect to the homepage. What do you think of the different layouts?

All out multimedia

This is a piece by the News & Observer out of North Carolina that talks about a serious issue through multiple venues. It starts out with a video, continues on with a photo gallery, and then moves into figures and research. I like the straightforward and direct design of the interface, and the sort of Soundslides-ish feel of it. It's easy to navigate, engaging and informative. I would give it my stamp of approval if such a thing meant anything at all.

Good Tips on Audio Slideshows

Colin Mulvany has posted a good round up of ways to improve your audio slideshows.

Soundslides

I have been looking at Soundslides presentations at various newspapers, and the Shelby County Reporter in Alabama has some kind of nice ones, but I thought they could use some improvements.

The Shelby Shufflers had some nice images, and some of the audio with the music is nice too. However, I think it gets too long and redundant.

The Blue Star Salute has some nice images and audio in parts, but the images do not always go along with the audio. The thing that bothered me most about this one was that all the pictures were up for the exact same amount of time and were not coordinated with the pauses or phrasing of the sentences in the audio. The part where the cannon is shot off is really nice though.

Valentine's Day

Okay, it's Valentine's Day, and I'm hoping for something interesting in the way of "True Love Stories" from somebody. So, first I found the Palm Beach Post's "Love Conquers All" bit. I was a little uninterested for the most part, though the last one had a bit of an interesting side to it. The Oregonian has two pieces for Valentine's Day, one on an elderly couple getting hitched and the other on a florist, both of which were lacking. And for some seemingly inexplicable reason, hometownannapolis.com decided to post 4 photos in a Soundslides (minus the "sound" part) about pets getting dressed up for Valentine's Day.

My enthusiasm for this holiday remains deflated.

Cape Cod Times

I often find newspaper and other news websited cluttered. I find it difficult to focus on reading with dancing ads in the corners and too many things on the screen at once. I think the Cape Cod Times has a pretty clean, simple site that is easy to look at. The color scheme is subtle, and the site is easy to navigate.

They also have a pretty big multimedia section with videos, audio slideshows and photos.

A gathering in yonder mountains ...

So, up in the mountains, every year, a big group of photographers, editors and videographers get together and learn from one another. This is the first year that multimedia journalism was included in the mix at the Mountain Workshop. I think some of the pieces are pretty cool, though my computer might not be cut out for the layout/design of the site.

I found this through the Mastering Multimedia blog that I tripped across a while ago. I haven't really had the time to fully explore the site, but all I know is that the guy who runs it, Colin Mulvany, is the multimedia editor for the Spokane, Washington, Web site spokesmanreview.com.

Washington Post Photostories

I've always been impressed by The Washington Post's online content. They take it to heart with audio slideshows, chats with reporters and videos. Here is a list of some of the photo stories they have done in the past. It's a great way to learn new things.

On a funnier note, and this has nothing to do with the class, but I was bored and looking through youtube videos. It's okay to laugh because no one was hurt or killed.

History of the Fortune Cookie

Multimedia journalism is not just limited to hard news stories. As you can see at the New York Times, you can create an audio slideshow about something as seemingly insignificant as the history of the fortune cookie. It's short, to the point, and interesting. While you should always try to set your sights on big projects, it's little pieces like this that seem like they would be easy and fun to complete, quickly racking up a huge library of audio slideshows.

-Rusty