DAY 3. Roll Camera

We rolled tape on our first interviews today! Nicely done by everyone, thanks to the professor for giving us some class time to get out into the field. I’m watching the footage now…. lookin good!

IDEAS: Behind the scenes camera! We need one. We can do a vlog. Butter.

NEEDS: Server space to capture footage on. That way we can all access it on campus for editing. We should be able to get some space for our class. Pam should talk to her good buddy John for us.

FOLLOW UPS: Did Bush tap into social security funds to pay for war?

NOTES: I think we’re on the right track with our roles on set.  It’s good for us to only direct and approach the interviewees one at a time.  It’s important they don’t feel overwhelmed.  And, we need to make sure they know where to look while we’re rolling.  Usually that’s at the person that’s interviewing them.

             Did we write down any names? This guy’s name is Lewis Proehl, or is it Louis Prull……? crap!

GREAT! It’s looking great! I’ll edit together a little clip video of todays interviews and upload it…..

…..DONE! Here, check it out:

 

Day 2. At the Library

May 14, 2008 – Afternoon

Location: Valley Library Quad

Feeling: Confident

Nick and I agreed to meet up a the library to shoot some reactions and environment shots of an Iraq war death toll display where small flags represented a certain amount of deaths in Iraq.  The flags were spread out all over the quad, and the display definitely made you think. BUT, what do you know, the display had been taken down earlier that morning. Total bummer.  Well, Nick and I printed out a few of the surveys we made up to hand out to students, went over again our other sources and content and tried to think of some alternatives to fill in for the flag display.  We thought of talking to the protesters that demonstrate outside of the court house regularly.  I think their ideas will contrast compellingly to the interviews we get with recruiters and military personnel, and of course the everyday student perspective.  All is not a lost, I feel we’ve got enough content ideas to put together a nice piece. 

Day 1. Our first meeting

May 13, 2008 – Evening

Location: In the classroom

Feeling: Enticed 

We finally got to speak together as a group, and I think we’ve got a great project on our hands.  We’re going to put together a documentary about student reactions to the war in Iraq.  We’ve got some good ideas for interviews, like current students that already have done a tour in Iraq, or that will be re-enlisting after school (we’re lucky to have Nick on our team who is actually involved with the military so he can help us get an inside perspective).  Also we’ll be talking to students on campus about what they think of the war and if they’ve considered the age similarity between their peers and soldiers, if they know anyone in the military and why they think someone their age might join the military.  Jenna has got a great lead for a profile about a girl who’s fiance will be going to Iraq, so I think we’ve got some good material. I’ll be putting my video skills to work and Nick is skilled as well in those matters, Jenna is eager to learn, I’d say we’re going to make a nice documentary.

In Class Speech review 4/15/08

Theresa Hogue Introduced New Technologies to Gazette Times

Theresa Hogue, 32, a features reporter and podcast editor for the Corvallis Gazette Times, introduced the idea of podcasting to her employer back in July of 2000. Hogue addressed an audience of 16 on Tuesday, speaking to an interested NMC writing class about her roles in new media settings throughout her career.

“I brought podcasting to the Gazette Times” Hogue said, 
claiming that the Gazette Times was the first newspaper in Oregon to use podcasting on their website. Hogue explained that she learned how to podcast from her earlier studies at Portland State.

Hogue graduated from PSU with a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Professional Writing. She received her first e-mail address in 1995 while working as a copy editor and columnist for the PSU student newspaper the Daily Van Guard. “The internet was just getting started” she said, and went onto describe how she would introduce new technologies to the newspapers she later worked for. In Forest Grove, working for the News Times, Hogue showed the staff how to use the computer page layout software “Quark” after seeing they were using page layout technologies that were over 30 years old. The old layout process involved wax casting where you could make corrections by rubbing out letters. “I showed them how to use Quark” she said.

When she moved over to the Gazette Times in Corvallis, she proposed the idea of incorporating podcasting into the already existing web site. A podcast is a digital media file (audio, video, etc.) that is formatted to be downloaded and played on a portable media player or a computer. She received further training online, seeking out free tutorials and free software, and got podcasting up and running on the G.T. website. The corporate offices took note and started investing money towards training of new media technologies.

When asked about how the new style of reporting was received at the Gazette Times she said there was a hesitancy to go to podcasting and a resistance to non-traditional techniques, even among some of the younger employees. But, as the system progressed, podcasting turned into something fun. The teams were enjoying taking recorders out into the field and editing their audio later. When it became something fun, she didn’t have to push it onto the reporters as an extra chore.

“Everything online is to boost traffic” she said, and “having an audio or video component adds.” Hogue also writes a blog for the Gazette Times, following a wide trend of journalists as bloggers as well. She maintains a blog for the G.T., which she is accredited to, and also has a personal blog which she posts anonymously. “It’s in the voice of my Chihuahua” she said, “you can be fairly anonymous online.” 

“Most blogging I do [for the G.T.] is media criticism” explained Hogue. But, the blog is much more of an opinion piece than her regular G.T. articles. “I can do anything I want to on my blog” she said, which is absolutely not the same as her printed pieces. The reporters at the G.T. are not required to write a blog, but most of the staff can be read in the blog section of the G.T website.

Event coordinator, Pamela Cytrynbaum, said that Hogue is “a wonderful example of the kind of flexible and thoughtful reporter the industry demands.” 

“I found it really relevant” said Adam Schwartz, a junior in the New Media department. His sentiment was shared by fellow classmate Hannah Boekemann, who said, “As a journalism student I was interested to hear advice from a pro.”

New Media Beat Journal #2

To continue from where my last journal left off, we were discussing television online. In particular, The Daily Show’s website.

“I guess that’s why it says Beta up in the corner.”

The final line from my last blog is true, the Daily Show’s video streaming platform is still something that needs some work, but it looks like some of that work is being done. This week on the website (http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml) it’s easy to navigate straight to the videos from yesterday’s show. The slider approach to video browsing is gaining ground. I can browse all the way back to January of 1999, see the holiday jokes from 2003 or watch the videos from last nights broadcast. If I want to I can rate the videos I watch, or even list the videos from highest audience rank to lowest for a given month. Cool stuff.

What about the commercials? We hate commercials! How many commercials are there? Unfortunately, there’s more than none commercials you have to watch to see Jon and the crew. It looks to be every other time you switch videos you’re subjected to an advert. AND THEY DO ONE OF THE MOST ANNOYING THINGS THAT COMMERCIALS CAN DO: The audio on the commercial is way louder than the audio from the show. So when the commercial comes on, you’re blasted and you have to turn it dow, then when the shows back on you can’t hear so you have turn it up. SO ANNOYING! It’s an old TV trick that needs to die. As is the case with most web video streams featuring commercials, you get maybe 3 different commercials you’ll be subjected to repeatedly.

The worst killer of all TV streams, though, is crappy internet connection. When my home cable connection is sluggish or lagging, web streams are impossible. You spend 85% of the time watching the buffering graphic that pops up when the video lags. At least the Daily Show has a buffering graphic to keep us entertained….some sites don’t.

New Media Beat Journal #1

Beat Journal – Web Based Streaming Video

I don’t have a subscription to cable television in my home. But I do have the internet. I generally despise watching TV because of the low brow content, the redundant and intrusive commercials, and the bore of surfing around trying to find something interesting. I must admit though, there is some television content I do enjoy and wouldn’t mind watching. Luckily for me there is a plethora of TV content available online.

I have a couple staples I turn to in my times of boredness, The Daily Show and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, both of which are availble to watch online……sort of.

The Daily Show recently changed up their video streaming interface. Now they offer a slider type video search, wherein you slide the selector over a certain date (month, day, and year) to select the videos from that day. So far the system is not up to snuff. The newest videos are displayed on the main page for the site, but trying to seek new material via the slider doesn’t yet bring up the newest videos. I guess that’s why they say “Beta” in the upper corner.

Reader Responses 4/22/08

Reader Response – Average person spends more time using media than anything else

Another study full of confusing percentages and unbalanced fact giving, but interesting nonetheless. Focusing on how people spend their time during the day, I was looking for some counter facts to help the facts of time spent using a media device make more sense. The study labeled cell phone use, instant messaging and e-mailing as media usage. These are also forms of communication between people and groups. What I want to know is, how many hours a day did the 400 participants spend talking? What percentage of their day was spent sleeping? How often was the person multi tasking by having a conversation with someone while using a media device? I want comparisons!

Im also perturbed with the whole “average american” title that’s granted to tests and studies of a sample group. I know there’s some scientific formula that shows that the large group pretty much mimics the small group, but it still feels phony to me. I can understand how we may reflect the practices of a sample group into society as a whole, I don’t think this “average american” that only exists in charts and numbers really deserves it’s title.

Reader Response – Bearing Witness: Five Years of the Iraq War

These new school multi-media presentations are awesome. Reuters did a great job with this one.

A main feature that really stands out is the timeline function. Being able to click through a timeline of text, images and video that tells the story of the invasion of Iraq is quite compelling. Its an easy way for us to wrap our minds around the events that took place. 

Now jump over to the maps. More pertinent information displayed in an interesting and thought provoking way. This presentations use of graphics to convey information is excellent.