Multimedia Reporting Fall 2016

Class Agenda – September 21, 2016

Update on scheduling:

We will be having a guest speaker on Monday, meaning we will not be able to schedule in production of your photo essays that day. This means that I will be giving you production time on Wednesday instead, and that your final photo essays will be due by END of class on Wednesday next week, not by the start of class.

For next class:

Our guest speaker will be WNYC’s Jim Schachter, who will be having a discussion with you about the state of multimedia journalism. As prep for next class, there are a couple of things he’d like you to do.

  • Go to the list of the finalists for this year’s Online News Association awards: http://journalists.org/2016/08/16/2016-online-journalism-awards-finalists-announced/
  • Pick a finalist of your choice, watch/listen/look at it closely, and come to class prepared to talk about that project’s strengths and weaknesses. Did your find it absorbing? Why or why not? Was it worth the effort that went into consuming it? Why or why not? What worked and what didn’t? Would you have approached the subject differently? Did it give you any ideas for a technique you’d like to try or a story you’d like to tell?a

For the rest of class: Continue editing photo projects

 

Class – Monday September 19

Scheduling:

Final drafts of photo essays will be due by class time on Wednesday, September 28, meaning we will not have class time dedicated to production that day. (We will spend class time viewing the finished projects together.) Our last class dedicated to production time will be Monday the 21st, so it will really be important to have most/all of your photos done by that day so you can take advantage of the school’s computers and programs for editing.

If for some reason you’re still shooting on Monday night or Tuesday and don’t have editing programs at home, let me know and I’ll see if I can arrange for some

Discuss your next assignment: Radio 

Pitches will be due the same day as your final photo essays, September 28. I know that’s a lot happening at once, but because the following week we’ll be having class Wednesday and Thursday and not at all the week after that, I want you to have time to properly develop your ideas.

Your assignment will be to report and produce a three- to four-minute narrated radio story on a topic that relates to the election in some way. You will record natural sounds, interviews, and your own narration, and edit it together based on a script you will write. Start thinking about potentially sound-rich stories that are relevant to issues that have been arising with this presidential campaign.

Sample story: Aceh Punks

Tutorial:

Assembling your photo essays using Google Slides (formerly known as Google Presentations).

Finally figured out how to properly post my pitch… woohoo

Hey Class,

Thank you for your feedback in class over both the mannequin idea and the pitch with 2 talents chefs which compliment each other within their fusion.

Over the weekend, I did some more thinking about  my first pitch– being the one about the two talented chefs pursuing the exact opposite of what people would think yet completing each other in fusion.
As much as I hope to recycle that idea in some way, I thought broader about the neighborhood where the restaurant is situated in: The east 90s of the Upper East side. I would describe it as a very sleepy section of Manhattan and a tight knit community.  Angela, the owner of her chefs table, (from the chef pitch) has lived in the neighborhood for decades.
The neighborhood is one in character which really hasn’t been subjected to change all that much. However, what will change it is the 2nd avenue subway station being erected opening soon. I would want to see what the long time community people of my neighborhood feel about the subway finally operating in November or December (???) ,and how they foresee that effecting businesses in terms of the atmosphere.
I have noticed some changes for myself like businesses with local personable stores closing and being sold to commercial franchises or switching staff and many successful long time businesses forced to close because of the subway.
Focused Ideas:
– commentary on that from people that have been living in the midst of the construction
-gaining a better understanding of the status of those vacant buildings along 2nd ave
– shots of the neighborhood
-candid shots of the locals before asking them to comment
– the constructions workers and their experience of building this massive project
a source: there is a store front the MTA set up on 2nd avenue in the 80s which may be a valuable resource

Pitch idea

I’d like to interview women  from Mexico that sell food and beverages on the street on 116th street. When you buy food from them you don’t know anything about heir lives, and I’d like to put a story behind Their faces. Go beyond the transactional nature of the conversation

Class – September 12, 2016

An Introduction to DSLR Photography

In-class assignment: Photo Scavenger Hunt

An image that captures at least one of each of the following elements of composition (some images will include multiple elements):

  1. Leading lines
  2. Monochromatic colors
  3. Layers that tell a story
  4. Repeated patterns
  5. The decisive moment
  6. Portrait
  7. Contrasting colors
  8. Movement (could be artistic blur or crisp action shot, your choice)
  9. Rule of thirds

We will critique each other’s scavenger hunt images in class on Wednesday. You may check out a school camera if you will also be using it to work on your photo essay this week (remember that they are limited in number) but you are also welcome to use your own camera or your phone for this assignment. If you would prefer to leave early and do this assignment in your own neighborhood or out and about in the city, you’re welcome to, but make sure you send me your images by midnight tonight.

Photo Essay Pitch

I would like to do my photo essay on one musician that plays in the subway. I want to interview him/her about why they choose to play there, whether they are trying to get their music out there or they’re just trying to earn some money, as well as their overall experiences. The photos I will take will be first and foremost of the musician, as well as people’s reactions.

Photo Essay: Behind the jewelry

Hi!

I have decided to do my photo essay about one of the many companies who creates the jewelry for basically every major brand in New York. Places such as Tiffany’s, Cartier, Harry Winston, and many others have companies that, most of the time, are the mastermind of their production and create their pieces. However, it is very seldom for us to listen about these production companies or the workers.

I am going to be conducting my project in CITY CASTING. It´s very rare to hear anyone speaking about the very tedious and time-consuming process that it takes when you are creating jewelry, and when I realized the work not only requires the designing of the jewelry, but it also requires labor, I was very surprised. I have known the workforce in this company for a while now them being basically the head behind every piece, even though they are undermined, underpaid and overworked most of the time.

I am planning on giving more of a humanitarian visualization of the industry, and documenting the process as they are working. I will be speaking to them one-on-one and will try to speak to them about their job and their experience in the jewelry industry.

 

Photo Essay: Smiling HogsHead Ranch

Hi everyone,

I’d like to do my Photo-Essay on the Smiling Hogshead Ranch Festival which will be taking place this Sunday on September 18th. Smiling Hogshead Ranch, which is a volunteer-run organization that specializes in “Guerrilla Gardening”, hosts numerous activities from “Community Cook-offs” to “Cooking Workshops” in an effort improve the lives those who participate with healthy lifestyle alternatives. I believe this event is worth covering since it’s a community-based event that is facilitated by individuals who wish to bridge the gap between people and healthy lifestyles.

-Phillip