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I'm outta snappy titles.

2010-04-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

I missed my update for last week because I was editing video for 12 hours. I’m really excited about the outcome; a montage of type with the 20 questions asked to every new attendee at Gamblers Anonymous. So far it’s received a good response, but I want to revisit it the end of the semester. Once the first question is asked and answered, I think the character is introduced enough that I can edit in BRoll over the interview to break the monotony. I’m also thinking about grouping questions together to increase the pace near the end. We’ll see. I still have more work to do before I can get that far.

My interface is done, the video is exported and placed. Everything functions. Now, it’s just a matter of pulling the rest together. My first audio assignment has been reedited and is ready to go. My next big piece is sifting through the interview with her parents, which I’ve started. My biggest challenge is pulling together details on the legislation. Every door I’ve opened has closed, so I’m not entirely certain how that will end up, which concerns me.

Push on.

Crisis Guide: The Global Economy

2010-04-19T09:37:00.001-05:00

Spend ten minutes looking at Crisis Guide: The Global Economy and it becomes clear why it was the 2009 winner of the Business & Financial Reporting Emmy Award. Not only is it an impressive example of journalism, it also capitalizes on every intrinsic feature unique to Flash. In addition to being a 2D animation tool, Flash is an interactive storytelling tool. Flash facilitates “step-up-and-engage” interactivity not possible through traditional “sit-back-and-watch” multimedia. With that in mind, the Council on Foreign Relations, in conjunction with MediaStorm, produced this interactive feature to explore how the crisis came about. Crisis Guide invites users to interact with audio, video, stills, graphs, and charts allows them to dig deep and explore a complex issue.

From a design perspective, the interface is intuitive and well organized. Only after peeling back several layers of information does the user realize the volume of information held in 860 x 548 pixels. Designers disguise this by first breaking the piece into six chapters and then breaking chapters into subchapters. Subchapters contain a myriad of storytelling features. The Timeline section breaks the economic crisis into comprehensive manageable pieces by unifying text and stills into visual, interactive timelines. Another section mixes Google Motion Charts with expert analysis in a manner that allows a high level of user interaction.

Aside from obvious designer critique of color, line, shape and basic usability, which are phenomenal, designers employed two conventions I appreciated from a film perspective: They paced the videos with music and mixed black and white still with color video. Nice attention to detail. Also, they used native languages with subtitles to explain the global impact of the crisis was a risky choice. At cPOY, judges discouraged this. But, here, it may serve to break readers from their US-centric focus.

One step backward, two steps forward

2010-04-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

Major triumphs this week.

Structure: The interface will have 4 chapters, separated by days from the GA daily bible, A Day at a Time. The days are:

May 20: “Compulsive gambling is a lonely disease.” This section will focus on the compulsion and life during the active addiction.

April 1: “Avoid slippery places.” First audio piece

March 1: “Now that we’re free and no longer gambling, we have so much more control over our thinking.” This section will focus on my subject’s recovery and post bankruptcy life. A huge part of this section includes a video interview with her parents, and may push into the current political landscape.

I haven’t settled on the fourth section header yet, but it’s near. Perhaps:

April 8: “Trash can be the foundation for treasures.” This day speaks to the long battle called recovery, which doesn’t actually start until beyond the first two years in a program.

Time to get down to brass tax. Reediting the previous audio and video pieces and then editing the final video piece. The fourth section will likely explore the political climate, including the interview with Dan Smith as well as numbers and statistics.

Final project: Epic fail.

2010-04-12T17:11:00.003-05:00

At some point, it happens to everyone: Lost audio. On April 3^rd, I spent nearly three hours interviewing my subject and her parents. All parties were engaged, comfortable, opening up. Eventually, the interview shifted into a very organic conversation between daughter and parents, sharing feelings, divulging secrets — a true family breakthrough. I checked, double-checked, triple-checked the audio recorder and kept a dutiful eye locked on levels. Sadly, that helps little when you accidentally save the audio to the recorder instead of the card, then dutifully return the recorder — stripped clean — to the photo window.

On the positive side, I finally settled on structure for the final project. Each chapter will be based on one day in the Gamblers Anonymous book “A Day at a Time,” each day will be selected based on pivotal moments in my subject’s recovery (to be decided this week).

I also went to a few GA meetings, met people, embraced the community. I met my subject’s state funded councilor, sadly just in passing and not for an interview but hopefully that meeting is next.

This week: Re-interviewing my subject and her family. That’s slated for Saturday in a video studio (real lights, real camera, real equipment, oh my!). I also want to settle on the days used for structure and plan interview questions that lend well to those topics. Again, I’ll also chase my subject with a camera. Need — more — frames.

SportsShooter VII, Day 3

2010-04-10T23:12:00.000-05:00

Southern California surfer wades into the water at Huntington Beach.

A stand up paddle surfer navigates the waves at Huntington Beach in Southern California. The sport started as a way for surfing instructors to manage large groups but has emerged as a global sport.

Belmont Shore Rugby Club crushed the Huntington Beach Unicorns at Fulton Middle School in Southern California in a win so great the players lost track.

SportsShooter VII, Day 2

2010-04-10T02:51:00.001-05:00

Four-year surfing veteran, Michael Fu, 26, of Montery Park, was hit with his surf board Friday morning while surfing at Huntington Beach. He blames this, his first, injury on choppy waters and intense wind.

A pole vaulter successfully completes his jump at a track and field event at UC Irvine.

A University of California — Irvine long jumper nails her landing during a track and field event at UC Irvine.

SportsShooter VII, Day 1

2010-04-09T02:53:00.003-05:00

La Habra Boxing Club in La Habra, California has a warm sense of community rooted in rich history.

Timothy Valencia, 8, learns the ropes of boxing from former professional boxer Jerry Williams during his first visit to La Habra Boxing Club in La Habra, California. The gym and it's unique sense of community have become a beacon for at risk youth.

Valencia has his hands wrapped by Williams during his first visit to La Habra Boxing Club in La Habra, California.

Veronica Zermeno, 19, is drawn to La Habra Boxing Club's sense of warmth and community. Her first time in the ring, she made her opponent bleed. She apologized.

Trudging along

2010-03-22T15:15:00.001-05:00

Preoccupation with my website inspiration and post post-production video recovery fogged my vision for an adequate Friday afternoon final project update. So, at long last, here it is:

Simply put: As of right now, I don’t posses enough assets to build a storyboard — yet. But, I do see that on the horizon. As I mentioned before, for better or for worse, I was consumed by video last week. Hopefully, that video will become some part of the final project, in one form or another. For a number of reasons, I made the decision to cut the audio separate from (and before) the video, and, in doing so, I think I progressed in technique, started to conquer the software, and produced much stronger results. While the video needs work, the audio seems cleaner, crisper, and more fluid than the previous week. Happy Kristen. Now to conquer video. Commentary? Critique?

On the docket for this week: more research, setting up more appointments, and planning interviews that will consume spring break. I’m going to jump into this with both feet, but wise planning is essential as my subject is super busy. In addition, I’d like to recut the audio from the audio assignment—clean it up and add a second bit of narration—in hopes of adding it to the final.

PS: Sadly, no photo updates for this week.

Luge Crash at the Olympics: a critique

2010-03-13T23:29:00.000-06:00

The Luge Crash at the Olympics is an interactive multimedia graphic published by the New York Times immediately following the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili during Olympic training. The feature breaks Kumaritashvili’s final journey in eight parts. It combines a three-dimensional course graphic with video stills of the fatal run. Each still is annotated with a short snippet of explanation, for example: “As he comes out of turn 16, he is very high on the ramp.”

The interface is simple, clean and understandable. The feature begins with an aerial illustration of the course. It’s white design sets the stage for a winter Olympic story and blends with the stark layout of the New York Times website. The navigation, placed in the upper left corner, consists of hyperlinked slide numbers, which (thankfully) put the user in control of potentially graphic material. Each click rotates the graphic through the course following Kumaritashvili’s decent. The three-dimensional graphics are clearly rendered and easier to follow than real time video. A yellow line drawn on the course identifies where the luger was at each point.

The Flash interface allows the publication to offer depth only possible through a combination of motion graphics, stills, explanatory text and an interactive map. There’s no better way to supplement the article than this.

If I were to change anything, I would probably add audio: live commentator thoughts or natural sound for moments captured by the stills, something to bring the user into the moment. Although, perhaps the moment is not where the user wants to be.

I would certainly remove the final “point of impact” image.

Keep on keepin' on

2010-03-12T09:37:00.001-06:00

I made decent progress on collecting assets for my final project this week, including photographs, audio and a video of my subject reading (and answering) GA’s 20 questions. Admittedly, my focus has been on the video project due Wednesday, but I think I’ve collected some versatile material.

I plan to focus on the video project next week, which will, I hope, be included in part or in whole with the final project. I’ll also revisit my initial audio project a third time (already revisited once for further noise reduction) and add more narration for a stronger “radio piece.”

As spring break approaches, I’m scheduling every waking (non working) moment making pictures of my subject. Paying bills, heading to work in the financial industry, and attending meetings. Every night of the week she attends an AA or GA meeting. While I can’t document the anonymous organizations from within, I can attend meetings and make my own observations for guiding the story.

I also have an interview set up with Dan Smith, Board Approved Clinical Consultant and International Gambling Counselor. Dan is my subject’s state funded GA counselor. I hope he can shed some light on pending legislation and future impact. In addition, I hope to speak with her parents or sister at some point.

The times (and projects) they are a changin'

2010-03-05T00:41:00.002-06:00

The derby is still a go, but probably an exterior project I’ll follow for backup.

Refocus.

My subject is a compulsive gambler. In 2008, she lost over $60,000 in 6 months, or just under 1.5 times her yearly salary. Her bankruptcy became final on March 1, 2010, one year after she blacklisted herself from Missouri casinos.

Senate Bill 902 (effective August 28, 2000) allows up to one cent of the state’s portion of the [casino] admission fee to be allocated to the Compulsive Gamblers Fund. This fund is used for treatment services, as well as prevention and education programs. It funds the ongoing (and intense) treatment my subject needs to stay clean.

Missouri Governor Nixon recently proposed cuts to the problem gambling treatment funds. I have heard that the Missouri House of Representatives agreed with these cuts.

Additionally, Pinnacle-owned River City Casino opened it’s doors to St. Louis today. The 1904 World’s Fair-themed complex located in South St. Louis County, was built 4/10 of a mile from Harris House, the 28-day rehabilitation center my subject called home during early recovery.

In another interesting twist: March 7 through 13 is National Problem Gambling Awareness Week.

This week, I did a preliminary audio interview with my subject to flesh out the story and I have a second interview planned for Saturday. Next week, I’d like to focus heavily on my research. I hope to set up an interview with Daniel Smith, my subject’s Gambling Councilor (paid for by the Compulsive Gamblers Fund) and read up on Governor Nixon’s proposal. Production-wise, I’d like to bring video to the project, although equipment availability is crucial. Failing video, I remain armed with a camera.

To be conventional or unconventional...?

2010-02-24T00:43:00.001-06:00

On many levels, Seth M. Gitner, multimedia journalist, has a unique portfolio site for a photographer, one that challenges convention just enough to stand out. However, conventions become conventions by being intuitive, user friendly and reducing user frustration. Some conventions aren’t worth breaking.

As a reader settles into Gitner’s homepage, the first impression is refreshingly more relaxed than its sobering, photojournalistic counterparts. The photographer’s name—white and sans serif—drapes a square, muted image of run down cars, and thick gray bars ground the top and bottom of the interface as a place to stow navigation. While the square interface sets the site apart from a traditional rectangular portfolio site, it leaves little room for displaying large format images, a huge drawback to a photographer. Also, sadly, this is the only time the photographers name is graphically displayed; there’s no branded home-button or logo.

While Gitner separated the work into two, logical sections—multimedia and photography, the latter divided a second time into singles and stories—the gallery navigation could be reincarnated in a more intuitive manner. The current series of linked numbers along the top gray bar go unnoticed at first, and grow awkward through use. This is a likely candidate for conventional “previous” and “next” buttons.

One under-utilized element Gitner employed is using a load bar for each image link to signify that something is happening. This idea is so great that it alerted me to three broken links in the “Singles” gallery (1, 11 and 12). This is an easy fix.

While the singles gallery employs innovation, the multimedia gallery should take a cue. As it stands, each multimedia piece loads an external website in a new window, a risky decision that comes with additional load times and, potentially expired content and dead links. Ideally, multimedia pieces should play natively on the portfolio site with a link bank displayed in explanatory text.

Bottom line: Admirably, Gitner employs several unconventional features; some decisions pay off (load bars), others confuse (unconventional navigation). When designers take risks, conventions are born.

Main_pageSean06 (aka 22 Months: The Long Haul)

2010-02-15T07:30:00.007-06:00

22 Months: The Long Haul is an interactive, multimedia story by the Associated Press. At least, that’s what I think it’s called. The main page has two head/deck combinations. This is the larger, but less descriptive, of the two. The title may also be To Iraq and Back: Stories from the longest deployment on the ground.

The page title—Main_pageSean06—gives no additional hints. Instead, it’s a non-descriptive, non-informative header that leaves no identifying trace in a reader’s browser history. It should likely be changed to reflect the projects title and, perhaps, the organization: AP: To Iraq and Back.

Aesthetically, the page is a bit awkward. The bulk of the Flash interface, an oddly shaped geometric image, floats on a white background in the upper left corner of the browser window, as if the designer didn’t know how to use the < center > tag. Seven icons sit across the top of the screen, most are meaningful images, but one—the top of a lamp—gives little indication of what’s to come. Clicking on each icon brings the user to a page with a headline, a short description, and some vein of photo story: image thumbnails with complimentary audio, a slideshow of images, or a multimedia piece.

All audio plays automatically, something I’m not completely opposed to. However, instead of the audio setting up the scene, the short description does, making the stories hard to follow.

There is no home button, meaning once you’ve clicked on a story, the only way to navigate is across stories or reload the page.

Rollovers changes are slight and hard to catch, and active hit areas are far too large. In fact, at one point I thought I was navigating an interactive timeline in “Doctor’s diary” until I realized I was viewing the other stories.

On several occasions, I broke the navigation by pausing the audio, clicking on another link before the current story had stopped playing, or clicking in the wrong location.

Ultimately, the site seems to be a good idea with poor execution. Taking time to capture and edit quality audio could have taken this piece to the next level. Additionally, usability experts are rarely unnecessary.

Derby Time

2010-02-12T20:50:00.004-06:00

For my final project in EPJ, I’d like to create an interactive story focused on the Missouri Demolition Derby circuit. The motion, the mud and the sound of mangled metal make these a great candidate for multimedia.

The season starts February 19^th with an indoor bout in Springfield, Mo., picks up speed into the summer months and continues through October. Due to the length of the season, there are only two derbies currently scheduled before the end of the spring semester—Springfield (February 19^th and 20^th) and Bloomsdale (April 17^th). As a result, a lot of what I do throughout the semester will be preliminary work for a longer piece I will continue to follow after the semester ends. The downfall is that there is very little time to find a story and shoot action.

I’ve made contact with Troy Jones—a mid-Missouri derby fanatic and head-honcho of the Midwest section of wecrash.com, the one-stop-shop for everything related to derby life—to gather information and suss out stories ideas and photo making opportunities. Some thoughts I have about focus include the serious driver, the new driver, and depicting the wide variety of derby classes.

En Garde

2009-11-24T00:57:00.007-06:00

I don't know that I'm cut out to shoot sports, but it sure was a fun endeavorer.

126 mile commute.

2009-08-21T00:52:00.002-05:00

Tourist at heart.

2009-08-06T00:51:00.002-05:00

Highline Park

2009-08-01T00:45:00.006-05:00

Highline Park

Stealing the gas man's soul.

2009-07-29T00:39:00.001-05:00

Inside the 8,722 square miles that make up the kidney bean shaped state of New Jersey, only qualified gas station attendants are allowed to pump gas. Too bad I captured the gas man's soul with my camera.

West 4th Subway Station

2009-07-16T00:30:00.003-05:00

Why hello, Panorama.

2009-07-04T00:03:00.004-05:00

Saschka sheds panoramic light on Kristen's life while waiting for the last train to Jersey.

Rain, rain. Go away.

2009-07-02T12:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's 5-day forcast was dry until Monday.

Blurry city.

2009-06-26T22:11:00.004-05:00

I make tasty messes.

2009-06-21T22:04:00.001-05:00

Date night dinner for one.

2009-06-19T20:49:00.001-05:00

Sunday morning sickness.

2009-06-14T11:00:00.004-05:00

In Brooklyn, they use safety scissors.

2009-06-13T22:45:00.003-05:00

Daily view.

2009-06-05T23:14:00.002-05:00

For the record...

2009-05-25T10:33:00.003-05:00

...I didn't own the hat until after the photo.

"Active Construction Zone"

2009-05-21T10:19:00.002-05:00

Hello, again.

2009-05-17T00:44:00.007-05:00

8 years, 1 month and 22 days since my maiden blog post, uploaded from the Mac lab at Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy.

6 years, 1 month and 27 days since I abandoned the blogging boat.

Time to do this thing again.

To the Ely Walker resident who let their dog pee in the elevator this morning

2008-05-01T10:52:00.000-05:00

I admire the time and dedication it takes to care for your K9 friend. I appreciate your attentiveness to the responsibilities of being a dog owner---feeding and fetch, walking and playing. Personally, I couldn't do it.

Apparently this morning, neither could you.

We, the residents of Ely Walker---and more importantly the cleaning crew---understand how arduous a task cleaning up after Sparky can be. This is especially true when he drains his bladder in the elevator on a day you are running late to work.

Be assured that there are no hard feelings. In a few hours time, I will be grateful for the obligations that kept you from performing your dog-owning duties this morning. Later today when I meet with the Vice President of International Sales for my financial review, I'm sure the smell will be the deciding factor in whether or not I receive the substantial raise I've been entitled to for the last 18 months; the same raise that will finally afford me the luxury of laundering the pants that soaked up the scent of the glorious yellow puddle I failed to avoid in the elevator. How selfish of me to assume that you, a dog owner, would feel obligated to clean up after your four-legged friend.

Next time, set out an orange cone to let the rest of us know that we should raise our pant legs and step to the right when entering the elevator.

I had a stand off in the gym today

2008-02-03T10:48:00.003-06:00

Eye to eye, step for step, right...left...right...left...right. Critical brown eyes of calm stare back at me scrutinizing my every move. Left...right...left. The rhythmic beating of each foot independently hitting the belt and springing back to make room for the other to drop, spring back and propel my body forward, still in space. Right...left...right. Did she see me stumble? Persevere. Left...right…left.

Bear down and sprint.

Breathe in, lock eyes with her. Breathe out, the stare intensifies. Right…left…right. Left leg forward, right arm to match. Right leg forward, left arm to match. The shadows dance in time and tempo with the pace. They create a new beat, a new music, a new path; beacons that goad me further into the confrontation. Isolation; her and I.

Right…left…right.

I stare back at her, examining each movement. No flaws – every imperfection in line with improvement. The jealousy multiplies my determination.

Inside her heart, she knows who she is.
Inside hear head, she is who she is.
Inside her soul, the two combine through concentric circles that are only unleashed in this moment – evoked by adrenaline and introspection. Alone with her thoughts, away from prying eyes and criticism, locked in a gaze with me.

Her skin glistens under the lights with sweat – the product of fortitude that illuminates the curve of each muscle. Definition appears that only this microscope could bring; the reflective microscope found in this still moment sealed with the sacred gaze of a woman running against herself, running towards herself, running to find herself in the reflection.

In me.

She finds peace.