NPPA's 2011 Multimedia Immersion Workshop

Only 40 spots are available for NPPA's 2011 Multimedia Immersion Workshop, May 17-22, 2011, at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

The workshop is for visual journalists who are looking to expand and grow their multimedia skills using the latest technology. We will focus on mixing photographs, audio, and video content and editing them into multimedia presentations.

Previous students include Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalists, top title winners from the Best Of Photojournalism contest, White House photographers, academics, editors, working professionals and freelancers, and graduate and undergraduate students, all looking to supercharge their careers.

Students will be provided with computers and software, but are encouraged to bring their own audio and video gear that they will be using back home.

NPPA executive director Mindy Hutchison says students will learn:

•How to effectively plan and develop a multimedia story, saving time on workflow and increasing the quality of the piece;

•Professional audio recording techniques from audio documentary experts;

•Hands-on explanations and experiences on how to use audio, video, and photography equipment, along with gear recommendations;

•Training on how to shoot visuals for multimedia storytelling, including techniques for documentaries and working as a one-man-band or mobile journalist;

•Hands-on video production editing training, and experience in Final Cut Pro;

•How to integrate music into multimedia work, and the ethics and legal issues that come with music;

•How to navigate modern freelance business issues encountered while working in multimedia;

•Inspiring information on how the most cutting edge multimedia projects were created from the industry leaders who worked on them.

Every student at the workshop will produce their own finished professional project, from capturing all the content to editing and compressing the final files.

Workshop faculty includes:

•Brian Kaufman - Detroit Free Press
•Will Yurman - Penn State University
•Evelio Contreras - The Washington Post
•Evan Vucci - Associated Press
•Steve Elfers - USA Today
•Joe Weiss - SoundSlides
•Wes Pope - formerly of The Rocky Mountain News
•Sung Park - Syracuse University
•Bruce Strong - Syracuse University
•Will Sullivan - St. Louis Post Dispatch
•Seth Gitner - Syracuse University

Cost is $1,095 for NPPA members, $1,205 for non-members. For more info, and to register, go here.

Finding the Frame: New Watering Hole for Visual Journalists

Clipped from: findingtheframe.com by clp.ly

 

Here's a new opportunity for videojournalists to critique each other's work. Spokesman-Review multimedia guru Colin Mulvany has launched a Website that enables his colleagues throughout the industry to get feedback on their projects from "expert visual storytellers."

It's called Finding the Frame, and Mulvany envisions it will become "a gathering spot where multimedia journalists can receive feedback on their videos, audio slideshows and multimedia projects from industry professionals and fellow visual journalists."

The plan is to have onboard as many “expert” volunteers as possible that have solid foundations in video storytelling, audio slide shows or Flash projects. This pool of reviewers will peruse the submitted links of multimedia in the “Story Pool”. If they decide to comment on a story, it will then become public on the Finding the Frame home page where anyone else is free to give added feedback.

So why do this?

While most publications have driven head first into the online world, multimedia storytelling is still in its infancy at many newspapers. Unfortunately, not all people tasked with producing multimedia received adequate training or had the financial ability to attend a multimedia storytelling workshop. Many multimedia producers are self-taught, having picked up bit and pieces of knowledge along the way. Many photojournalists are struggling with how to tell an effective video or audio slideshow story that is different from the traditional still picture story.

Our hope is that Finding the Frame will begin to address the need for feedback and in turn, help multimedia producers improve their storytelling. Just read some of the comments by reviewers so far--you’ll be impressed. The professionals that have signed on as reviewers are the some of the top in the industry. If they critique your story, please thank them for giving up some of their precious time to help out a fellow visual journalist.

What we need is for enough producers, multimedia editors and photojournalists who have a solid experience with multimedia storytelling to step forward and share some of their knowledge with those that are looking for constructive, honest feedback.

So far about a dozen videos have been uploaded for review, and topnotch practitioners are volunteering their services, including many whose own work has been showcased on KobreGuide.com. Among the accomplished panelists: Chuck Fadely (Miami Herald), Peter Huoppi (TheDay.com), Eric Seals (Detroit Free Press), Will Yurman (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle), and KobreGuide's very own senior editor, Kathy Strauss.

If you want to improve by learning from the best, or feel qualified to help others learn from your insights and experiences, Finding the Frame should be your next stop. Says Mulvany: "We hope over time that this will become the place where great conversations about multimedia storytelling will take place."

Toy Hall of Fame Inducts 3 Classics

Last week on KobreGuide we showcased an appropriately whimsical video ode to the dozen nominees for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, NY.

They ranged from the generic (paper airplane, playing cards, balls, sidewalk chalk, the toy tea set) to the commercial (Big Wheel, Cabbage Patch Kids, Game of Life, Hot Wheels, Nintendo Game Boy, Rubik's Cube, and Transformers).

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle videojournalist Will Yurman crafted a delightful video, "Nominees," that incorporated all 12 of them.

For those of you in suspense, the three winning inductees have been announced. Toy drumroll please... for the Ball, Big Wheel, and Game Boy.

Check out the "Nominees" video today before it disappears from our homepage!

(NOTE: When videos do disappear from the KobreGuide homepage after a week, guess where they go? To the KobreGuide Hall of Fame!)

By the way, you can read KobreGuide's excellent interview with Will Yurman here.

How Can Still Photogs Expand Their Multimedia Skills?

Will Yurman is a newspaper staff photographer who, like many of his confreres, has had to add an abundance of multimedia skill sets to his repertoire -- audio gathering and editing, slideshow production, video shooting and editing, even constructing interactive 360-degree panoramic images.

Online journalism professor Mindy McAdams conducted an insightful interview with him for her excellent blog. The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle visual journalist expounded on the differences between shooting stills and video, and emphasized the importance of audio in multimedia stories. Read it here.

McAdams previously talked to photo editors and multimedia producers at four newspapers to find out what skill sets are in short supply in today's newsrooms. "Video editing, storytelling and audio skills led the list." Read it here.

On KobreGuide, be sure to see Yurman's work and read our interview with him.