Tuesday, December 8, 2009
My project appears to be done
Hence if there is any problems with the uploading of the video on YouTube (knock on wood), my project appears to be done. It is about 4 minutes and 40 seconds. It contains my voice as a narrative. The only beef I have with it is that most of the audio when I am talking and same with Suzanne Power is scratchy. There is an abundance of pictures of UNH fans, the hockey players, etc. The video has a combination of audio, picture and video. The end includes the accomplishments of the UNH hockey team and a couple of quotes from "Dot" Sheehan, who is one of the Senior Athletic directors. I added a few combination of transitions so the pictures won't seem to be bland. Overall, I am mega excited that the project is done. I think for my first project I did a really good job. It took a maximum amount of work and perseverance, but I did what I had to do. To some of you, it could be better. There may be some missing pieces. However, that is why we need readers and viewers to be more observant when it comes to reading the news; it is an education of what is around you in your everyday life. I hope you all enjoy it. If I don't get a chance to post the video online, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. Hope everyday is not dreading to do their last stage of their stories. Good luck everyone.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Project as of 12/5/09
Another day, another post about the update of the project. I continue to have my doubts on my project, mostly because I want to make it really good. The presentations on Wednesday did not help too much when it comes to confidence. But no matter, I will do my project my way.
I got some live shots of the hockey game from the TNH. Some of them are really good and I think it can add a lot when it comes to my project. It will be better than some of the hockey pictures than I had before.
Anyway, I went to the hockey game last night and got some recordings on the chants again. The audio is not even as close to as good as the one I lost because 1) it was not again Maine and 2) no one is passionate about facing UMASS Lowell. They are the #8 team in the country. To have the opportunity to dethrone them out of the top ten ranking in the country could gain monumental confidence in the hockey team. But that is okay because the student section was once again sold out. In the beginning of the game, the crowd was pretty loud. In the middle of the game, the crowd was quiet because the Wildcats were not playing particularly well. In the end, the crowd got into it and the recordings got better. Once I get the audio put together, I should be able to get to the next step, putting the audio, video and photography together in IMovie.
My last objective is to talk to the director of the ticket office. I have to wait until Monday if I can even talk to her because she is traveling with the UNH Football team this weekend. She was initially annoyed at me because I did at the last minute. I did then say I notified someone on Tuesday which gives you or someone else time to talk to me. She was okay afterward. I am concerned that she will not be committed to the interview on Monday. If it does not happen, then I may just have to talk about the tradition of going to the game, which I guess will not be too bad. It's crunch time now. Whatever happens, that's life and there is nothing I can do about it.
I got some live shots of the hockey game from the TNH. Some of them are really good and I think it can add a lot when it comes to my project. It will be better than some of the hockey pictures than I had before.
Anyway, I went to the hockey game last night and got some recordings on the chants again. The audio is not even as close to as good as the one I lost because 1) it was not again Maine and 2) no one is passionate about facing UMASS Lowell. They are the #8 team in the country. To have the opportunity to dethrone them out of the top ten ranking in the country could gain monumental confidence in the hockey team. But that is okay because the student section was once again sold out. In the beginning of the game, the crowd was pretty loud. In the middle of the game, the crowd was quiet because the Wildcats were not playing particularly well. In the end, the crowd got into it and the recordings got better. Once I get the audio put together, I should be able to get to the next step, putting the audio, video and photography together in IMovie.
My last objective is to talk to the director of the ticket office. I have to wait until Monday if I can even talk to her because she is traveling with the UNH Football team this weekend. She was initially annoyed at me because I did at the last minute. I did then say I notified someone on Tuesday which gives you or someone else time to talk to me. She was okay afterward. I am concerned that she will not be committed to the interview on Monday. If it does not happen, then I may just have to talk about the tradition of going to the game, which I guess will not be too bad. It's crunch time now. Whatever happens, that's life and there is nothing I can do about it.
Good presentations peers!
Coming into Wednesday's class, I did not know what to expect when it came to the first round of multimedia presentations. I have been looking forward to the final projects because I have been anticipating on how my classmates made adjustments to their final projects. We had a rough start at first because the sound was a little quirky, but once that was fixed, the presentations were off and running.
Sylvia's project was actually a lot better than I expected. When I learned that her project was going to be about love relationships, I was not fond of it because I thought it was a little lame and kind of gossipy. But once she released facts about relationships between high school and college, I became more interested. She taught her audience that couples learn more about each other and have different personalities when it comes to high school and college. I wish that she got a picture of the psychiatrist, but the source probably did not want that. She had really good pictures too. This version had more variety than on the rough draft. It was a massive improvement. Well done Sylvia!
Once again, Cam's project was impressive, but this presentation was much better than his last one. What I loved about the story was the relationship between Cam and his father. Through video, audio and pictures, the audience can feel the emotions before, during and after the race. I really liked the candid pictures of Cam and his dad when they were both younger. Personally, I am very close to my family and thanks to them, they make me strong, confident and their teachings make me the best person I can be. That is what I see in Cam's story, love and trust. The pictures were just gorgeous and I thought the video interviews were well done. Once again, Cam's second crack was amazing and I don't see anyone in the class that will come close to as good as his presentation.
I liked AJ's project a lot. At first, I thought it was a little boring because it was just another story about a band of people congratulating the military of fighting for our country. But once AJ managed to get to the older veterans and the family members of the troops that were coming back, I thought it was pretty cool. The pictures were really smooth and crisp. I could tell it must have been a difficult process of choosing them. What impressed me the most was the music. I liked the alternate version of the "Star-Spangled Banner." It was very modern and mellow. The video interviews with the soldiers were really powerful. The project was very good because it had a really strong ending, which is what I like the most. I was in the Parker Media Lab when AJ had problems what IMovie, but it appeared that she combated it enough that everything came out well in the end. Love the persistence AJ. Keep it up.
Mike's presentation was really solid and kind of groovy. I was really impressed of his composure with the camera when he had the video recordings of the concert and when he was taking pictures of it. The trust with the use of the camera was obvious and that is a very difficult obstacle to overcome. The audio recordings of the band members at first was irritating at first because of the noise of the background, but the more interviews there were, the more appropriate the B-roll was. I think it was my favorite project when it comes to creativity for college students. We all love music and we all love going to concerts and rocking out. Mike gave us that and it was a job well done.
These presentations intimidates me even more now once it will be my turn. I guess that it what happens when you encounter high quality work. I am going to have to step it up with my project. Once again, well done classmates. I am looking forward to next week's presentations.
Sylvia's project was actually a lot better than I expected. When I learned that her project was going to be about love relationships, I was not fond of it because I thought it was a little lame and kind of gossipy. But once she released facts about relationships between high school and college, I became more interested. She taught her audience that couples learn more about each other and have different personalities when it comes to high school and college. I wish that she got a picture of the psychiatrist, but the source probably did not want that. She had really good pictures too. This version had more variety than on the rough draft. It was a massive improvement. Well done Sylvia!
Once again, Cam's project was impressive, but this presentation was much better than his last one. What I loved about the story was the relationship between Cam and his father. Through video, audio and pictures, the audience can feel the emotions before, during and after the race. I really liked the candid pictures of Cam and his dad when they were both younger. Personally, I am very close to my family and thanks to them, they make me strong, confident and their teachings make me the best person I can be. That is what I see in Cam's story, love and trust. The pictures were just gorgeous and I thought the video interviews were well done. Once again, Cam's second crack was amazing and I don't see anyone in the class that will come close to as good as his presentation.
I liked AJ's project a lot. At first, I thought it was a little boring because it was just another story about a band of people congratulating the military of fighting for our country. But once AJ managed to get to the older veterans and the family members of the troops that were coming back, I thought it was pretty cool. The pictures were really smooth and crisp. I could tell it must have been a difficult process of choosing them. What impressed me the most was the music. I liked the alternate version of the "Star-Spangled Banner." It was very modern and mellow. The video interviews with the soldiers were really powerful. The project was very good because it had a really strong ending, which is what I like the most. I was in the Parker Media Lab when AJ had problems what IMovie, but it appeared that she combated it enough that everything came out well in the end. Love the persistence AJ. Keep it up.
Mike's presentation was really solid and kind of groovy. I was really impressed of his composure with the camera when he had the video recordings of the concert and when he was taking pictures of it. The trust with the use of the camera was obvious and that is a very difficult obstacle to overcome. The audio recordings of the band members at first was irritating at first because of the noise of the background, but the more interviews there were, the more appropriate the B-roll was. I think it was my favorite project when it comes to creativity for college students. We all love music and we all love going to concerts and rocking out. Mike gave us that and it was a job well done.
These presentations intimidates me even more now once it will be my turn. I guess that it what happens when you encounter high quality work. I am going to have to step it up with my project. Once again, well done classmates. I am looking forward to next week's presentations.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Updated project
As of right now, I am still trying to speak to someone at the ticket office. Someone is going to call me tomorrow and then I can make an arrangement with whoever calls and then interview them. I want to talk to someone from the ticket office because maybe he or she can give me an idea what the atmosphere when students are buying their tickets. I will make a judgment to see whether it will be worthy enough to add that person after the interview.
I tried to call one of the editors of the USA Hockey Magazine to ask why they added the fish tradition in the article, but I have had no luck. I am going to keep calling until they respond. But I did find another article that added the fish tradition why it is so famous.
I also added some narration of my story. I did an introduction, the nutgraph, introducing my sources, and the ending. The narration is not all of the way finished, but it is getting there. I edited all of my photos that I am going to use on Adobe Photoshop. I may take a few more pictures at Friday's game and then will edit a few more. I could also go to the TNH during production night and get some photos then. If the photos are good, it could add a lot of emotion and dimension to the project. I think once I get all of my objectives done, I will use IMovie to use the stuff. I will use still photography and audio and then add some video. At this point, it is a day-to-day process until Friday. Once December 4th is here, I will then take full advantage of audio recording since I lost the original recording on the chants.
Losing the original audio recording definitely hurt, because I guess this is something I should learn from it...don't save too much audio in one project; you will lose everything. If I keep being productive in this story, I think it can work out well. If anyone has suggestions, let me know. Thanks.
I tried to call one of the editors of the USA Hockey Magazine to ask why they added the fish tradition in the article, but I have had no luck. I am going to keep calling until they respond. But I did find another article that added the fish tradition why it is so famous.
I also added some narration of my story. I did an introduction, the nutgraph, introducing my sources, and the ending. The narration is not all of the way finished, but it is getting there. I edited all of my photos that I am going to use on Adobe Photoshop. I may take a few more pictures at Friday's game and then will edit a few more. I could also go to the TNH during production night and get some photos then. If the photos are good, it could add a lot of emotion and dimension to the project. I think once I get all of my objectives done, I will use IMovie to use the stuff. I will use still photography and audio and then add some video. At this point, it is a day-to-day process until Friday. Once December 4th is here, I will then take full advantage of audio recording since I lost the original recording on the chants.
Losing the original audio recording definitely hurt, because I guess this is something I should learn from it...don't save too much audio in one project; you will lose everything. If I keep being productive in this story, I think it can work out well. If anyone has suggestions, let me know. Thanks.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Here is where I am right now
Hello all. I am currently home, sitting on a couch with a blanket on my legs because my mom does not put on the heater during the day (stupid oil company being too expensive!). Anyway, here is where I am now. I inserted all of my audio recordings on my travel drive, but man was it a difficult process. It cost me four minutes of audio from the rough draft, which is a shame because it had all of the cheers and some interviews. But on the positive side, I have the recordings of all of the crazy UNH/Boston University fans, which in the end, isn't all so bad.
I will have to go to the next game, which is on December 4th and get the audio recording of the cheers then. I do finally have a news hook though. On Monday, the UNH website posted an article by Jess Myers on the USA hockey magazine about best college traditions. UNH was up there for having the fish be thrown into the ice when the Wildcats score their first goal. I thought it was pretty cool that our hockey team was in the article. I will give the writer or the editor a buzz or email and ask them why UNH was in there.
Soon, I will post photos of the people that I talked to and maybe one additional photo on the blog. Once I get the editing of the sound all squared away next week, I will probably put that up on the blog as well. I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving and I will see you all next week.
I will have to go to the next game, which is on December 4th and get the audio recording of the cheers then. I do finally have a news hook though. On Monday, the UNH website posted an article by Jess Myers on the USA hockey magazine about best college traditions. UNH was up there for having the fish be thrown into the ice when the Wildcats score their first goal. I thought it was pretty cool that our hockey team was in the article. I will give the writer or the editor a buzz or email and ask them why UNH was in there.
Soon, I will post photos of the people that I talked to and maybe one additional photo on the blog. Once I get the editing of the sound all squared away next week, I will probably put that up on the blog as well. I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving and I will see you all next week.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Hockey stuff at the Boston University game
Last night, I went to a UNH hockey game vs. Boston University, one of the Wildcats' biggest rivals. It was a critical game for me to go to because the next home game would be on Friday, December 4, which would be cutting it close to my presentation. I was so desperate to getting into the game, I had to pay $26 because the student tickets were sold out. Although, I thought it was worth it because I talked to two BU fans that gave me some good input what it is like to be a real fan.
I talked to two insane UNH fans, Mike Elliot and Mallory Goudin before the doors open. They are at the Whittemore Center a couple of hours before the doors open and when they get into the game, they get the fans all riled up before the game and during the game. When I asked both fans of why they go to the games, they looked at me like I was asking a stupid question. But since they are such big fans, that is their plans on Friday and Saturday nights.
The opposing I talked to, Suzanne Power and Chuck Nixon are both super fans for their BU hockey team. They are married, but I did not get into the last name part. They both went to the university for their undergraduate, but they followed the team even more when they graduated. Suzanne told me when she first went to BU, she did not know anything about hockey. But once she started going to the games, she became obsessed. She went to every hockey game, home or away, no matter what day it is, what the weather it is, or even the team they played. If BU is playing, she is there. When it comes to Chuck, when he went to BU, he went to some of the games, but he was not obsessed about the team until around 1994-1995. The couple are very proud fans. Whenever they get out of work on Fridays or Saturdays, they gear up into their BU hockey gear and go to the games, no matter where it is.
Both of them are very impressed by the UNH hockey fans. Suzanne said that the fans at UNH are very intense and they love their hockey team. She also said that from what she has noticed, they are the most traveled fans she has ever seen. In Chuck's perspective, he thinks that UNH has great fans and that they are very nice people.
I felt that I got a lot of key quotes and reasons why they go to the games. My next objective is to talk to the people that work at the ticket office and sell the tickets to the UNH fans and get their input. Maybe I can even get pictures of people getting their tickets. I also took more pictures at the game, they consist of the main people I talked to and some more dimensions of the Whittemore Center. I finally have the main characters in my story, now I just got to do the editing.
I talked to two insane UNH fans, Mike Elliot and Mallory Goudin before the doors open. They are at the Whittemore Center a couple of hours before the doors open and when they get into the game, they get the fans all riled up before the game and during the game. When I asked both fans of why they go to the games, they looked at me like I was asking a stupid question. But since they are such big fans, that is their plans on Friday and Saturday nights.
The opposing I talked to, Suzanne Power and Chuck Nixon are both super fans for their BU hockey team. They are married, but I did not get into the last name part. They both went to the university for their undergraduate, but they followed the team even more when they graduated. Suzanne told me when she first went to BU, she did not know anything about hockey. But once she started going to the games, she became obsessed. She went to every hockey game, home or away, no matter what day it is, what the weather it is, or even the team they played. If BU is playing, she is there. When it comes to Chuck, when he went to BU, he went to some of the games, but he was not obsessed about the team until around 1994-1995. The couple are very proud fans. Whenever they get out of work on Fridays or Saturdays, they gear up into their BU hockey gear and go to the games, no matter where it is.
Both of them are very impressed by the UNH hockey fans. Suzanne said that the fans at UNH are very intense and they love their hockey team. She also said that from what she has noticed, they are the most traveled fans she has ever seen. In Chuck's perspective, he thinks that UNH has great fans and that they are very nice people.
I felt that I got a lot of key quotes and reasons why they go to the games. My next objective is to talk to the people that work at the ticket office and sell the tickets to the UNH fans and get their input. Maybe I can even get pictures of people getting their tickets. I also took more pictures at the game, they consist of the main people I talked to and some more dimensions of the Whittemore Center. I finally have the main characters in my story, now I just got to do the editing.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
A little nervous about presentations tomorrow
For some reason, when it comes to presenting my work, I am always self conscious that someone's project is going to be better than mine or what kind of criticism I am going to get. I know it is a rough draft, but I want to make it good because when it comes to composing my final project, I will have momentum from my rough draft. As of right now, I am currently trying to put together a slide show of pictures of fans and the hockey players and some audio from the fans cheering and talking about going to the games. I have not been able to talk to additional people about the hockey game because I have been unable to go to a hockey game for about a month.
Friday will be critical because that is the last game for me to go to until my final presentation, although there is also a game on December 4, but hopefully that will not be too late. I forgot to get student tickets yesterday, so they got sold out. I had to pay $26 to go, which is a shame because had I remembered, I could have gotten in for free. I got tickets in the other side of the student section, which could possibly be good because then I can get some perspective from the opposing fans about going to UNH hockey games.
I am anxious of what people will think about my pictures. It was hard with the horrible lighting in the Whittemore Center and a lot of them came out fuzzy. If anything, when I take a second crack on Friday, we shall see how it works out. I know that this is a rough draft, but I am an overachiever and I want to do the best job possible, whether it is good or bad. Wish me luck.
Friday will be critical because that is the last game for me to go to until my final presentation, although there is also a game on December 4, but hopefully that will not be too late. I forgot to get student tickets yesterday, so they got sold out. I had to pay $26 to go, which is a shame because had I remembered, I could have gotten in for free. I got tickets in the other side of the student section, which could possibly be good because then I can get some perspective from the opposing fans about going to UNH hockey games.
I am anxious of what people will think about my pictures. It was hard with the horrible lighting in the Whittemore Center and a lot of them came out fuzzy. If anything, when I take a second crack on Friday, we shall see how it works out. I know that this is a rough draft, but I am an overachiever and I want to do the best job possible, whether it is good or bad. Wish me luck.
Monday, November 2, 2009
My final project as of right now
Before I met with Sandy, I was excited about my progress with my progress with my project. As you know, I am working on an experience at a UNH hockey game. I have covered three games so far, two of them were against the University of Miami (Ohio) and the third one was against the University of Maine. The first Miami game did not go so well because my battery of my camera died during the game, so I got more coverage in the second game.
There is a combination of video, still photography and audio recordings. With the video, I am entering the arena, then shows the concession stand, then the UNH Apparel area. There is a photography area for the UNH hockey players. Then I show the ice. I also have some interviews with some rabid fans, a member of the band and other UNH students. I also have some game coverage and intermission activities. The video part was very challenging, but I think I have some good stuff. In the Maine game, I have some audio recording of the fans chanting and two separate interviews with two students. I took several photos between the fans, the hockey players and whatever else is going in the arena. I felt pretty good about it because all three of them were sold out and they were all fun and competitive games.
It is all good stuff, but Sandy told me something that gave me a new perspective on my project, "Every story needs a character." I know the epiphany sounds something like a child can think of, but sometimes I need that to get me going. If I can talk to and even sit with some fanatic UNH fans and how they get the chants going, maybe the project will have more meaning to it. Before, I liked it the way it was, but then it would not be much of a story. I initially thought it would have been cool because it would have been a cool feature. But once Sandy told me about the character stuff, I realized he made a good point. I was stressed out and discouraged at first because for one, I put a lot of work so far and I felt like I didn’t get anything done. The second thing is that I am going to have to put more work into it. The problem is, the deadline for the rough draft is November 18th and the next hockey game I can go to is on the 20th. I am really going to have to be more aggressive than usual and do everything I can to get that story.
What I am worried about in the story is what if I become too aggressive and scare people off? My problem is that I care too much about my work. I should have the attitude that I can’t be a professional overnight, so I can’t have too many expectations for myself. My vision for this story is to make the viewers to understand why going to a UNH hockey is like a cult. Why is it so exciting? There is so much passion and intensity in the arena for each game, no matter who the opponent is. Of course, the excitement is even more invigorating when they play their Hockey East conference rivals like Maine, Boston College and Boston University. It was the reason why I went to UNH in the first place (other than the academics and the beautiful sights of course). Once I talk to the rabid fans, I think my story will be complete, after the massive editing I would have to do.
There is a combination of video, still photography and audio recordings. With the video, I am entering the arena, then shows the concession stand, then the UNH Apparel area. There is a photography area for the UNH hockey players. Then I show the ice. I also have some interviews with some rabid fans, a member of the band and other UNH students. I also have some game coverage and intermission activities. The video part was very challenging, but I think I have some good stuff. In the Maine game, I have some audio recording of the fans chanting and two separate interviews with two students. I took several photos between the fans, the hockey players and whatever else is going in the arena. I felt pretty good about it because all three of them were sold out and they were all fun and competitive games.
It is all good stuff, but Sandy told me something that gave me a new perspective on my project, "Every story needs a character." I know the epiphany sounds something like a child can think of, but sometimes I need that to get me going. If I can talk to and even sit with some fanatic UNH fans and how they get the chants going, maybe the project will have more meaning to it. Before, I liked it the way it was, but then it would not be much of a story. I initially thought it would have been cool because it would have been a cool feature. But once Sandy told me about the character stuff, I realized he made a good point. I was stressed out and discouraged at first because for one, I put a lot of work so far and I felt like I didn’t get anything done. The second thing is that I am going to have to put more work into it. The problem is, the deadline for the rough draft is November 18th and the next hockey game I can go to is on the 20th. I am really going to have to be more aggressive than usual and do everything I can to get that story.
What I am worried about in the story is what if I become too aggressive and scare people off? My problem is that I care too much about my work. I should have the attitude that I can’t be a professional overnight, so I can’t have too many expectations for myself. My vision for this story is to make the viewers to understand why going to a UNH hockey is like a cult. Why is it so exciting? There is so much passion and intensity in the arena for each game, no matter who the opponent is. Of course, the excitement is even more invigorating when they play their Hockey East conference rivals like Maine, Boston College and Boston University. It was the reason why I went to UNH in the first place (other than the academics and the beautiful sights of course). Once I talk to the rabid fans, I think my story will be complete, after the massive editing I would have to do.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Final Project Plan
My final project is going to be about the culture of going to a UNH Hockey game. What it is like to go, what goes on there, why it is such a great atmosphere. I thought this story would be cool because UNH hockey was one of the reasons I decided to come to this school to begin with. Also, it is such big thing to do on campus on the weekends.
I have already taken some video clips and put it together for my previous project, so I can use some of my better clips and use that for the final project. I plan to use some audio recordings for some of the chants that they do because it is a big thing in the hockey game. I am going to take pictures of the other teams and how the fans react to them. Since Maine came this weekend, I got some good pictures and audio clips of the fans and the opposing team. I learned that my other peers really liked my idea, which made me surprised because I usually do not get such positive feedback on any of my story ideas. The feedback that I got was very positive. They liked it because they know how passionate a lot of the students are about the hockey at UNH. They suggested that I should focus mostly on the fans instead of the players views of what it is like to play hockey.
My ideas of the project has not changed at all. In fact, I feel more confident in doing it. My challenges are going to be staying on top of the fans chants and cheers and watching the game. Sometimes I do not take the right pictures or record all of the chants in time. There are no warnings of when the chants happen, so I have to be more aware of my surroundings. I felt lukewarm about the other ideas in my group because the story ideas were either just okay or they seemed too unrealistic to accomplish. I think my classmates will do well, but it depends on how determined they are to succeed. I am super excited about this project. I think the biggest obstacle was having some other people agree on me doing it. Once it passed, I am more focused and more prepared than anything now.
I have already taken some video clips and put it together for my previous project, so I can use some of my better clips and use that for the final project. I plan to use some audio recordings for some of the chants that they do because it is a big thing in the hockey game. I am going to take pictures of the other teams and how the fans react to them. Since Maine came this weekend, I got some good pictures and audio clips of the fans and the opposing team. I learned that my other peers really liked my idea, which made me surprised because I usually do not get such positive feedback on any of my story ideas. The feedback that I got was very positive. They liked it because they know how passionate a lot of the students are about the hockey at UNH. They suggested that I should focus mostly on the fans instead of the players views of what it is like to play hockey.
My ideas of the project has not changed at all. In fact, I feel more confident in doing it. My challenges are going to be staying on top of the fans chants and cheers and watching the game. Sometimes I do not take the right pictures or record all of the chants in time. There are no warnings of when the chants happen, so I have to be more aware of my surroundings. I felt lukewarm about the other ideas in my group because the story ideas were either just okay or they seemed too unrealistic to accomplish. I think my classmates will do well, but it depends on how determined they are to succeed. I am super excited about this project. I think the biggest obstacle was having some other people agree on me doing it. Once it passed, I am more focused and more prepared than anything now.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Shooting Video
Since I am such a big UNH hockey fan, I thought it would be cool to take some shots of what it is like to go to a hockey game and why the fans get so into it. It was a good time because Friday and Saturday were their first home games of the season and it was against University of Miami in Ohio, which they were the #1 team in the country. I was really excited about shooting video while I was planning it because not only do I learn how to do it, but I can be watching the game in the process.
It was a lot harder than I thought. On Friday night when I used Sandy's camera, the video card was full as I was taping one of the interviews I had with a UNH student. Luckily, I had another camera that can shoot video, so I ran back to my dorm, got my camera and then came back. As I was filming again, the battery died. So the multimedia gods punished me that night, but I was fortunate that UNH was playing the next night.
Saturday ended being great because I had better shots and I interviewed better people. When I was walking around the arena, I saw Bobby Butler, one of the two captains of the hockey team. When I asked if I can interview him, he told me that I should consult with the Sports Information Director first, so that irritated me. Then I talked to some fans, two people who work for the media groups for athletics and a member of the band. I also took some shots of some cheers, some of the activities during intermission and the game. It really worked out for me that the hockey team played again on Saturday.
Video recording to me was the biggest challenge because I always had to be on the move during the game since it has such a fast pace. Trying to hold it as still as possible was another obstacle, but I know I am not a professional. Another thing that made me paranoid was when I was filming and making sure that I was not some sort of creeper. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun. I think visually, video recording is the best way of journalism that we have done so far in this class because when someone is talking, viewers can see what they look like and they can see what happened in this particular news story. Even though this was my first time, I was really proud of myself when it came to recording.
So far, editing is not as difficult as I thought it would be, but it is tedious. Making sure that I put everything in the right order took some time. Once I tighten everything, it should come out a little smoother. I am really looking forward to what everyone thinks of this video. Hope it turns out to be good results!
It was a lot harder than I thought. On Friday night when I used Sandy's camera, the video card was full as I was taping one of the interviews I had with a UNH student. Luckily, I had another camera that can shoot video, so I ran back to my dorm, got my camera and then came back. As I was filming again, the battery died. So the multimedia gods punished me that night, but I was fortunate that UNH was playing the next night.
Saturday ended being great because I had better shots and I interviewed better people. When I was walking around the arena, I saw Bobby Butler, one of the two captains of the hockey team. When I asked if I can interview him, he told me that I should consult with the Sports Information Director first, so that irritated me. Then I talked to some fans, two people who work for the media groups for athletics and a member of the band. I also took some shots of some cheers, some of the activities during intermission and the game. It really worked out for me that the hockey team played again on Saturday.
Video recording to me was the biggest challenge because I always had to be on the move during the game since it has such a fast pace. Trying to hold it as still as possible was another obstacle, but I know I am not a professional. Another thing that made me paranoid was when I was filming and making sure that I was not some sort of creeper. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun. I think visually, video recording is the best way of journalism that we have done so far in this class because when someone is talking, viewers can see what they look like and they can see what happened in this particular news story. Even though this was my first time, I was really proud of myself when it came to recording.
So far, editing is not as difficult as I thought it would be, but it is tedious. Making sure that I put everything in the right order took some time. Once I tighten everything, it should come out a little smoother. I am really looking forward to what everyone thinks of this video. Hope it turns out to be good results!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Ninth Floor
I looked at a couple of multimedia stories from One in 8 million and Mediastorm. When I viewed "The Ninth Floor" by Jessica Dimmock, I felt like I did not want to look at any other story. As a curious journalist who is always looking for more interesting news stories, I decided to look at one more and then decided there is no way I would write about anything else other than "The Ninth Floor."
This story is about three drug addicts: Jessie, Dionn and Rachel who lived in an apartment with a man named Joe Smith in New York City. The new roommates of Smith's were all drug addicts, which influenced him to also be a drug addict. Once Smith ran out of money to pay their rent, they were all evicted. All of them split up. Jessie was addicted to Heroin and Dionn and Rachel are on Methadone. Jessie was in and out of the hospital. She had trouble staying clean. There were photos of when she was in the hospital, she was doing morphine, which was her medicine. Dionn and Rachel were an item. They had a violent but loving relationship. The couple conceived a baby and luckily the infant did not have any Methadone in its system. Dionn went back to school and Rachel is watching the baby. The information said that the photographer followed these people for about three years. She followed them through the highs and lows of their drug addictions.
I loved this story because reading and listening about drug addicts always intrigued me. Even though drug addicts are everywhere, everyone is different. Drug addicts are people too. I would always think about how they are low lifes and I should not feel bad for them because they made their decisions. But at the same time, I always think that they have the potential to do great things if they quit their addiction and pursue on their dreams they use to have.
This photographer had a lot of different styles. She had a combination of the landscape portraits and the action shots (an instant which it was like a film). The photos were beautiful and very powerful. When I was looking at the photos, I cringed, I shivered and my eyes watered. There were photos of them inserting the needles into their arms, they were naked, having sex and some other disturbing endings. The audio added a lot to the story because while viewers see the photos, you can tell who is talking and their emotions they must be feeling as the interviews wore on. There were also captions on updates of the subjects.
I thought the photographer did a really good job presenting the subjects in their good days and bad days. I was not a fan of the photos of them being naked. It is not that I am offended by those photos, but I felt that they were unnecessary.
Overall, I thought it was a great piece of journalism. What I look for in a multimedia story is if I can relate to it, if my attention span can last longer than five minutes and if I feel more than one emotion. What was compelling about this work is that it took three years to put everything together. It showed that it took that much time and the journalist did such a good job editing everything to the T.
This story is about three drug addicts: Jessie, Dionn and Rachel who lived in an apartment with a man named Joe Smith in New York City. The new roommates of Smith's were all drug addicts, which influenced him to also be a drug addict. Once Smith ran out of money to pay their rent, they were all evicted. All of them split up. Jessie was addicted to Heroin and Dionn and Rachel are on Methadone. Jessie was in and out of the hospital. She had trouble staying clean. There were photos of when she was in the hospital, she was doing morphine, which was her medicine. Dionn and Rachel were an item. They had a violent but loving relationship. The couple conceived a baby and luckily the infant did not have any Methadone in its system. Dionn went back to school and Rachel is watching the baby. The information said that the photographer followed these people for about three years. She followed them through the highs and lows of their drug addictions.
I loved this story because reading and listening about drug addicts always intrigued me. Even though drug addicts are everywhere, everyone is different. Drug addicts are people too. I would always think about how they are low lifes and I should not feel bad for them because they made their decisions. But at the same time, I always think that they have the potential to do great things if they quit their addiction and pursue on their dreams they use to have.
This photographer had a lot of different styles. She had a combination of the landscape portraits and the action shots (an instant which it was like a film). The photos were beautiful and very powerful. When I was looking at the photos, I cringed, I shivered and my eyes watered. There were photos of them inserting the needles into their arms, they were naked, having sex and some other disturbing endings. The audio added a lot to the story because while viewers see the photos, you can tell who is talking and their emotions they must be feeling as the interviews wore on. There were also captions on updates of the subjects.
I thought the photographer did a really good job presenting the subjects in their good days and bad days. I was not a fan of the photos of them being naked. It is not that I am offended by those photos, but I felt that they were unnecessary.
Overall, I thought it was a great piece of journalism. What I look for in a multimedia story is if I can relate to it, if my attention span can last longer than five minutes and if I feel more than one emotion. What was compelling about this work is that it took three years to put everything together. It showed that it took that much time and the journalist did such a good job editing everything to the T.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Germs recording
The second recording project that we did was we did a story on the places on campus that could spread the most germs. We interviewed people at the gym, in the library and in health services. The project was a lot of fun and we had some solid interviews, although there was one that gave us such short answers that it was easy to cut it out.
My team thought this project would be easier because we have used Audacity before, wow were we wrong. Editing the clips was the most tedious part because one of our sources kept saying "um," so it took us quite a while to take out that word. Some of the interviews was also too quiet, so we had to make the person louder, which I say we succeeded in that.
The interviewing was the best part because we got some really good answers from our sources. If our editing was as fun as our interviews, we would have gotten it done swiftly, however, we failed to do that. What I did learn is that when a reporter gets all of the information, it is so exciting to see how the story can turn out because when you listen to the recording, you can picture what is going on.
My team thought this project would be easier because we have used Audacity before, wow were we wrong. Editing the clips was the most tedious part because one of our sources kept saying "um," so it took us quite a while to take out that word. Some of the interviews was also too quiet, so we had to make the person louder, which I say we succeeded in that.
The interviewing was the best part because we got some really good answers from our sources. If our editing was as fun as our interviews, we would have gotten it done swiftly, however, we failed to do that. What I did learn is that when a reporter gets all of the information, it is so exciting to see how the story can turn out because when you listen to the recording, you can picture what is going on.
Photos
I took some photos of three different things in Beverly, Massachusetts, my hometown. The first set of photos I took was a cross country meet between two elementary schools St. Mary's and St. John's. I was attracted to it because when I was driving home, I saw the parking lot that was filled with cars and I figured what could be going on. I say a field of people and children walking across. When I asked, a man told me what was going on. So I took some shots of the girls racing against each other. It was hard to get an action shot of them running because of my inexperience using a camera.
The second set of photos was the construction of Beverly High, which the city had to close down a very popular and beloved elementary school, McKeown so they can have the funds to build it. The project will be finished by next summer and it seemed to be close to being finished. I figured getting a photo of kids in front of the school because it represents the old soon to be the new.
The final set of photos that I took were the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. It was recently closed and it will be moved to another location of the state, which is unknown at this time. There are some pictures of the place having a lease. This is significant because it hurts the people in Beverly that will be forced to find another RMV.
This was the most fun assignment that I had, but the most difficult. The hard part about the assignment was finding the right news and get the best shots. Since I just take photos for fun, trying to take it seriously was hard for me, but it was a learning experience.
The second set of photos was the construction of Beverly High, which the city had to close down a very popular and beloved elementary school, McKeown so they can have the funds to build it. The project will be finished by next summer and it seemed to be close to being finished. I figured getting a photo of kids in front of the school because it represents the old soon to be the new.
The final set of photos that I took were the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. It was recently closed and it will be moved to another location of the state, which is unknown at this time. There are some pictures of the place having a lease. This is significant because it hurts the people in Beverly that will be forced to find another RMV.
This was the most fun assignment that I had, but the most difficult. The hard part about the assignment was finding the right news and get the best shots. Since I just take photos for fun, trying to take it seriously was hard for me, but it was a learning experience.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Recording Project
In my audio recording project with Danielle Curtis and Sylvia Rosen, we interviewed Sheila Mosley, a house keeper for Smith Hall. I felt that interviewing Sheila is the best source because not only do I have a acquainted relationship with her, but I feel she was a good source to our story. In fact, our recording was a lot better than I thought. Her social background was very interesting and it had a good mix of information, humor and intelligence.
The recording was a little difficult at first because the first recording had no sound. Once we fixed the volume of the recorder, the sound turned out great. Listening was the best part because when I closed my eyes, it brought me back to the successful and fun interview that we had. While my team was listening, we were constantly looking for what can we improve and what we can delete. The editing was also fun because whenever we heard something quirky, we would laugh a little bit and then fix it. We organized an order that fit really well with the story. A couple of times, we had to choose an option of fading in and out between sound and it was better. Editing was the most difficult part because we had to be sure that the sounds worked with each other and whether we should insert sounds in the right places. Once we figured that it, the operation went really smooth.
We were a good team. Each of us contributed equally. Even though Danielle was good with Audacity, Sylvia and I also suggested a certain order of sounds of the interview. The computer was slow at times, but combining our computer knowledge and a couple of staff members in the Parker Media Lab, we overcame that problem. We had fun as a team because we all wanted the same thing with this project: a good story and to learn how to use this kind of journalism.
I have learned that audio recording can be fun because you can listening to what the source is saying. However, as a journalist, I have to be careful on which sounds should stay in or take out. Also, I have to put the story in the inverted pyramid style. After this assignment, I have a slight idea of how to actually use Audacity and how to record. Now, I just need more experience with these instruments.
The recording was a little difficult at first because the first recording had no sound. Once we fixed the volume of the recorder, the sound turned out great. Listening was the best part because when I closed my eyes, it brought me back to the successful and fun interview that we had. While my team was listening, we were constantly looking for what can we improve and what we can delete. The editing was also fun because whenever we heard something quirky, we would laugh a little bit and then fix it. We organized an order that fit really well with the story. A couple of times, we had to choose an option of fading in and out between sound and it was better. Editing was the most difficult part because we had to be sure that the sounds worked with each other and whether we should insert sounds in the right places. Once we figured that it, the operation went really smooth.
We were a good team. Each of us contributed equally. Even though Danielle was good with Audacity, Sylvia and I also suggested a certain order of sounds of the interview. The computer was slow at times, but combining our computer knowledge and a couple of staff members in the Parker Media Lab, we overcame that problem. We had fun as a team because we all wanted the same thing with this project: a good story and to learn how to use this kind of journalism.
I have learned that audio recording can be fun because you can listening to what the source is saying. However, as a journalist, I have to be careful on which sounds should stay in or take out. Also, I have to put the story in the inverted pyramid style. After this assignment, I have a slight idea of how to actually use Audacity and how to record. Now, I just need more experience with these instruments.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Websites
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/ is a fascinating website when it comes to pictures. It shows the pure definition of the sites and the people. In journalism, a picture says a thousand words, before you read the article of course. These photographers must have used expensive cameras to make the pictures look so smooth.
http://www.ap.org/OVN/video.html If you are crazy about media videos, this is the site to be. The AP are the people that are the first to report the stories, so the audience may be the first to hear about the stories before other news medias.
http://masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com/ Even though this blog may seem like it is blogging propaganda at first, the rest of it really grabbed my attention. since I am taking a multimedia course, I think it is worthy to understand the goods and bads of the new media. Since I am a new blogger now, it is a good way to give them advice to jumpstart their new way of journalism.
http://www.ap.org/OVN/video.html If you are crazy about media videos, this is the site to be. The AP are the people that are the first to report the stories, so the audience may be the first to hear about the stories before other news medias.
http://masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com/ Even though this blog may seem like it is blogging propaganda at first, the rest of it really grabbed my attention. since I am taking a multimedia course, I think it is worthy to understand the goods and bads of the new media. Since I am a new blogger now, it is a good way to give them advice to jumpstart their new way of journalism.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Multimedia
Hello everyone. Welcome to my blog. This is the first time that I have ever taken a class that incorporates multimedia. Since the world of journalism has changed rapidly with the advanced technology, I was advised that if I wanted to compete getting a powerful news story, I needed to learn how to use these gadgets. I think taking this class will benefit me on the long run. I have read some stories that shocked me this week; most of them on msn.com. One story was a couple who were going to conceive their 19th child. Each and every one of the 18 children have been born naturally. I did not think that was physically possible. I also read an article about how Curt Schilling is interested to run for the late Edward Kennedy's seat in the Senate. We all know that Schilling is known for the loving the spotlight, but this is a big one. Since I went on a study abroad to London in the previous semester, I am more interested in the world news. What I want to be looking for is more pictures of people in the international world and see how they live. What makes me nervous is weather the multimedia I put on this blog can satisfy my viewers, since I am already intimidated by this course. But I will conquer my fears and do what I need to do to improve myself as a journalist. Since I live in an international dorm, I want to do profiles or feature stories about the international students that live in the dorm. I hope that this will be a good semester and I am looking forward to learn how to use the technology required in this course.
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