I was looking for inspiration (multimedia inspiration, anyway) tonight as I edited sound bites for my final project. I found plenty in an audio slide show about Children's Hospital on washingtonpost.com. A few things struck me about the piece:
1. Both the beginning and end of the slide show were smooth. It started with about five seconds of natural sound inside the hospital, then moved seamlessly into the first sound bite, a piece of an interview with the chief of surgery.
The last 20 seconds or so brought the slide show to a natural close. The chief of surgery's voice was back, talking about saying good-bye to the old unit. As he spoke, a photo showed a patient looking over his shoulder as he and his mother waited for the elevator, presumably to leave the hospital.
2. There were a couple of segments at which the audio and photos matched perfectly. My favorite example was hearing a woman read from The Lion King while looking at a photo taken from an angle that let me look over her shoulder at the book and the tiny baby treated to story time.
3. The quality and variety of the photos-- vertical and horizontal; wide, medium and tight; and intense emotion. It seemed that each photo was more powerful than the one before it. And each added to the story.
At this point, I already have the raw material for my final project. Now I just have to edit it into the perfect audio slide show. I hope my work will bear at least a slight resemblance to the quality of the Children's Hospital piece.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
The Pope in the U.S.: Audio on Sites Big & Small
Pope Benedict XVI may have provided religious inspiration to Catholics during his recent visit to the United States, but he didn't stop there. He also seems to have inspired the news media...to use audio, that is.
I came across an interesting audio feature on nytimes.com: "Catholic Views, Catholic Voices," a collection of sound bytes from interviews with 25 Roman Catholics in five cities across the country. The feature shows an eclectic mix of opinions of Pope Benedict XVI himself and what the interviewees hoped he'd accomplish in his visit here. This is "man on the street" if I ever saw one.
Some of the interviews were conducted indoors, others outdoors -- think city street, birds chirping in the backyard, or just plain air. The second group was definitely more natural, while the indoor interviews seemed almost too formal. Each sound byte was accompanied by a head shot of the person speaking, which was a nice addition.
The only real problem I had with the piece was the case of a man who gave his interview in another language; his translator was a woman. Admittedly, it isn't too big a deal, but I have to wonder: Doesn't a company with the resources of The New York Times have at least one male translator?
Maryland Newsline, the University of Maryland's student-produced online newsmagazine, used audio in its reporting of the papal visit in a very different way. While The Times' piece was stand-alone audio, Maryland Newsline incorporated audio into its written story by linking to interview sound bytes from within the text.
This created an interesting layer to the story: After reading about a souvenir vendor at the Mass at Nationals Park, for example, I could hear him speak about what sales had been like that day. Although the recorded sound wasn't perfect, it worked well in the context of the article. It helped set the scene and gave me a taste of the vendor's personality without going on too long.
Whether it's a news site that's big or one that is small, audio can work for them all.
I came across an interesting audio feature on nytimes.com: "Catholic Views, Catholic Voices," a collection of sound bytes from interviews with 25 Roman Catholics in five cities across the country. The feature shows an eclectic mix of opinions of Pope Benedict XVI himself and what the interviewees hoped he'd accomplish in his visit here. This is "man on the street" if I ever saw one.
Some of the interviews were conducted indoors, others outdoors -- think city street, birds chirping in the backyard, or just plain air. The second group was definitely more natural, while the indoor interviews seemed almost too formal. Each sound byte was accompanied by a head shot of the person speaking, which was a nice addition.
The only real problem I had with the piece was the case of a man who gave his interview in another language; his translator was a woman. Admittedly, it isn't too big a deal, but I have to wonder: Doesn't a company with the resources of The New York Times have at least one male translator?
Maryland Newsline, the University of Maryland's student-produced online newsmagazine, used audio in its reporting of the papal visit in a very different way. While The Times' piece was stand-alone audio, Maryland Newsline incorporated audio into its written story by linking to interview sound bytes from within the text.
This created an interesting layer to the story: After reading about a souvenir vendor at the Mass at Nationals Park, for example, I could hear him speak about what sales had been like that day. Although the recorded sound wasn't perfect, it worked well in the context of the article. It helped set the scene and gave me a taste of the vendor's personality without going on too long.
Whether it's a news site that's big or one that is small, audio can work for them all.
Bringing it to Life
I fished around on washingtonpost.com for a good 20 minutes before choosing a story to bring to life with sound. The first article I saw was the piece on "the D.C. Madam" suicide. Not quite what I had in mind, so I kept looking. In the Post's religion section, I found an interesting story about a man who turned his auto body shop into a temporary Hindu temple. This one was ripe for audio, what with the "chanting devotees" mentioned in the story, but it also seemed ripe for photos. Once I saw an image of the elaborate alter the owner created, I didn't want to suggest that the story could be fully covered in audio.
After checking the politics section and some slide shows on the recent opening of the Newseum, I finally settled on an education story, "Time's Up on Multiple-Choice Test for College."
The article is about the decisions high school seniors face when choosing between various universities' offers of admission. It features James Watkins, a D.C. senior with a May 1 deadline to pick just one from among the eight colleges at which he was accepted.
An audio version of the story could begin with a few seconds of natural sound of students walking to class as the bells chime at an area university. The reporter could then say something to the effect of, "For the thousands of students walking to class on college campuses across the country, May 1 is just an ordinary day. But for many high school seniors, it's the day they must decide which college they'll attend in the fall. And for some, the decision is especially difficult. James Watkins of the District has been weighing the merits of eight different colleges at which he was accepted."
That could lead into a sound byte from an interview with Watkins. The reporter should "step in" to guide the story along where necessary, but as a listener, I don't want to hear too much from the reporter.
I'm more interested in what Watkins says about how he finally settled on Bates College in rural Maine, and what his mother (who was featured in the print story) says about the high value she placed on education as Watkins was growing up. I also want to hear a quick clip or two from Watkins' school adviser, who could provide an overall picture of the decision making process his students experience.
A nice addition: sound bytes from interviews with current college students discussing whether they made the right decision about which school to attend. Conducting these "man on the campus" interviews outdoors would bring a sense of natural space to the piece.
The presence of a reporter in an audio story like this one is important to set the scene, guide the listener through the piece, and tie it together at the end. But the strength of the audio story lies in the reporter's ability to capture (and edit!) articulate, to-the-point interview clips and interesting natural sound.
After checking the politics section and some slide shows on the recent opening of the Newseum, I finally settled on an education story, "Time's Up on Multiple-Choice Test for College."
The article is about the decisions high school seniors face when choosing between various universities' offers of admission. It features James Watkins, a D.C. senior with a May 1 deadline to pick just one from among the eight colleges at which he was accepted.
An audio version of the story could begin with a few seconds of natural sound of students walking to class as the bells chime at an area university. The reporter could then say something to the effect of, "For the thousands of students walking to class on college campuses across the country, May 1 is just an ordinary day. But for many high school seniors, it's the day they must decide which college they'll attend in the fall. And for some, the decision is especially difficult. James Watkins of the District has been weighing the merits of eight different colleges at which he was accepted."
That could lead into a sound byte from an interview with Watkins. The reporter should "step in" to guide the story along where necessary, but as a listener, I don't want to hear too much from the reporter.
I'm more interested in what Watkins says about how he finally settled on Bates College in rural Maine, and what his mother (who was featured in the print story) says about the high value she placed on education as Watkins was growing up. I also want to hear a quick clip or two from Watkins' school adviser, who could provide an overall picture of the decision making process his students experience.
A nice addition: sound bytes from interviews with current college students discussing whether they made the right decision about which school to attend. Conducting these "man on the campus" interviews outdoors would bring a sense of natural space to the piece.
The presence of a reporter in an audio story like this one is important to set the scene, guide the listener through the piece, and tie it together at the end. But the strength of the audio story lies in the reporter's ability to capture (and edit!) articulate, to-the-point interview clips and interesting natural sound.
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