June 16th, 2006, 1:03 pm

Flash for Journalists @ AAN

Session: Flash for Print Journalists

Presenter: R. Scott Horner, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Friday, June 16, 2006 at the Peabody Hotel, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2006 AAN Annual Convention (Association of Alternative Newsweeklies)

Here are my notes, kids. Sorry that this is so text heavy!

Critical Points

• Pair up a reporter/photographer to create a Flash project
• Keep your story under 2 minutes
• Keep it traditional - beginning, middle, end
• Transitions should be under a minute
• Images should display for 3-5 seconds
• Who tells the story? A subject or a narrator?
• Watch your file size. At 1.5 minutes, 18–25 images are 1-2 MB, audio anywhere from 200-600K, for a total of 1.3-2.7 MB
• Sound design is as important as visuals - it sets the timing of your story, so produce it first
• Audio that you should collect: narration, interviews, ambient noise, music, sound effects
• Royalty-free music is available via a search for “podsafe” music
• Layer the audio to produce a rich experience
• Full framed projects look like a movie; mixing in verticals is ok, but …
• If you need more images, use creative cropping

An audience member begs the question, “Aren’t photo slideshows just too quaint in the age of streaming video?” Horner responds:

• We have the resources to do this now - we have photographers out there, but not a lot of folks shooting video
• We can display the photos larger than we could a video
• We need to master these skills so that when video becomes the standard, we’re ready

Programs to use

• Soundslides ($40)
• iPhoto will produce a html output
• Photoshop CS produces slideshows in Flash

Resources

• Don’t get stuck in the mindset that you can’t produce this content because of resources
• The content is there; you just have to ask for them to take the extra step. A reporter will produce text … and audio. A Photographer can shoot more … audio and video. Graphic artists can give you animation. and source art for animation
• The trick is to get these projects started early because everyone needs to know what you’ll need
• Attend planning meetings so people can gather the content you’ll need as they are in the initial stages of reporting
• Choose your projects wisely. Determine the potential of the project, and how this will help tell the story

Finding a project: Ask these questions

• Can sound help the story?
• Will movie add to the narrative?
• Are there graphics that can be animated?
• Would a simulator, calculator, or database make sense?
• Are the photos strong enough to warrant a slide show?

If you have two of these, you’re good to go.

Getting started

• Brainstorm: don’t go with your first idea
• Reality check: time, resources

How do you integrate these projects with the rest of your site?

• Sun-Sentinel has a multimedia gallery.
• Content is promoted via the story in print and online, and then housed permanently in a multimedia section (The Edge)
• You don’t need to have a specific branding strategy for your multimedia; “No need to come up with a flashy name” — (get it, “Flashy!”)

What are your staffing resources like?

• He recommends getting one nerd who can do the heavy scripting, and teaching the basic skills to photographers, etc.

How do you get your bosses to like this?

• You have to show them a project that you did, and let them see that it is possible.

Random facts mentioned during the session

• Boston University has a podcast on cheap audio equipment
• Spend about $50 on a mike. Semi-shotgun, directional
• Go to InteractiveNarratives.org for great examples of interactive work
• Using the voices of reporters helps to brand your reporters as experts