The artist's favorite.

Critique of classmate projects

Nikki

- text slides were too fast. I read very slowly. Therefore, I missed some of the info.

-very candid, very intimate. The camera angles and shots portrayed a level of intimacy that made the story more heartfelt and poignant.

DJ

- volume was really low; bump that up, son!

- great interview backdrop, at the stacks at WUNH. Great way to incorporate physical items of music into your piece.

-too much video of rather poor quality. Good photos can do the job just as well.

Brit

- What the hell can I say? What can any of us say?

Like I said in class, you might as well have gotten naked on screen, with the level of intimacy you gave us with your piece.

- Just because we don't say anything bad or give you any critiques doesn't mean we weren't moved by it.

A job well done my dear.

Keeley

-Nice auxiliary shots of NMKT and hockey team and arena. Like Cam said of his presentation, don't afraid to outsource photos. Smart move.

- Audio drove the story so much so that too many cookie photos didn't bother me.

- Excellent job at getting thoughtful answers out of your subjects, instead of canned or timid responses that fail to due describe the situation. For example, Micaela's comment, "Athletes at UNH are very fortunate so it's important for me to give back" (paraphrased).

Amie

- You have a GREAT voice! I could listen to you all day. Your narration was pleasant to listen to and gave a newsie feel to your piece.

- Up beat music didn't bother me, as it did some of our classmates. Your story was about success during a tough time, so why wouldn't you have up beat music?

- Great shots of people working. I liked seeing them in action.

Val

- Texts slides WAAAAY too short. You talk a mile a minute, but I can't read that fast.

- Great old photos. Those were exactly the shots you needed to compliment the audio about the history and construction of the dam.

- Too many "Bro" photos. Get some shots of them riding to past the dam, like he mentions, not just shots of them pretending to have an animated discussion.

-Snyc up the "Bro" photos with the audio about the low water level.

-Great wildlife photos.

Mine...

Well, it turned out pretty sweetly.

Sandy said something great.

My treatment and presentation gave him a new respect for tattoo artists. He said, that because of a possible generational gap, that he thinks of tattoo artists as a lower caste of artist, but to hear them speak so articulately about their pieces changed this opinion, that it elevated his opinion of them.

That was great to hear.

"The artist's favorite" is done!

"The artist's favorite" is exported.
DONE.

I watched it and caught a couple of little things, but overall it's solid.
Tight editing; when people say something, like a specific element in their tattoo, that image is there.

I desaturated the images then brought back to life with the 'history brush tool' to emphasize the tattoo being discussed.
I think I missed a couple of pixels here and there, so there are a couple of little gray spots on the tattoos.

I didn't show any of their faces because... well, I'm not sure.
The tattoo is the thing in question, not the artist.
But the tattoo is on the person, so why shouldn't you show their faces?
The tattoo is a permanent choice to their physicality, but on the other hand choosing NOT to alter your physicality can be permanent as well.

There very well could have been ways to show their faces, in order to round out the character sketch, but I don't think it was necessary.

I think that the audio and the photos paint a full enough picture of the five tattoo artists that faces would neither add nor subtract from the overall presentation.

Finally, I would like to thank Jason and Tony from Hobo's Tattoo, and Stina, James, and Erik from Tattoo Junkies, for their gracious cooperation with this project.

Last day to edit

Things are going well.

I am becoming more and more comfortable with iMovie.

I am making that shit tight. Real tight.

two and a half days til deadline

I have all the photos and audio I need.

I am putting it all into iMovie now.

RIGHT NOW!

Between...

...these...

...keystrokes.

It's looking good.

But I think I might have to cut down my audio even more.

I have enough photos, but I think I need to go back to the audio, for a fourth time, and cut it some more.

progressssss

oh sweet lord....

sooooo much photo editing.....

My eyes feel like they're going to pop out of my head.

I have 90% of the photos I need.

I have 100% of the audio I need.

I just have to fire it all into iMovie and arrange all the parts.

I had an epiphany at work on Friday, as to how to present this bad boy.

However, I can barely explain it to my dear subjects -- should have story boarded it -- so I am not going to try to explain it on here.

Maybe a glancing blow...

I had to think of a way to make it less monotonous; I couldn't have just -

Bam - super close up

Bam - audio interview

So, I figured that I needed some sort of interlude and way of introducing the artist.

I got some audio of a tattoo machine. I will make some text slides with the artist's name. These two things will serve as a means to interlude and introduce each segment.

You'll see.

I think it will work out nicely.

Today's progress report

I talked with three lovely people at Tattoo Junkies last night.

Erik, James (not Jason, as I incorrectly called him a couple of times -- Oops) and Christina.

As I edit the audio, I have to kick myself for talking over/with people during interviews!

I do it all the time! GAAHHH!

I don't want to hear my voice! I want to hear YOUR voice!

Then when I edit the audio I have to leave me voice in there because the end of my question and the start of their answer overlap.

Oh well...

Thoughts about editing audio:

Plush, soft, acoustically damped rooms (like Erik's interview) are good, but man, oh man, when you look at the file on screen it is so FUZZY! All the dead spots, where no one says anything, look scribbly and lumpy.

But, when you record in a hard-surfaced room (like Stina's room), Wow! The audio profile is super sharp. The dead spots are flat; dead flat. It's great because when you cut out the "umms" and "uhhs" and "you knows", you don't get those -what I think of as annoying- ticks and clicks when profiles don't quite match up.

My thoughts about the interview thought;

Erik has a great voice! He has spectacular tone, inflection and enthusiasm! Oh man! You can just feel him through the audio!

Stina is a "So" started, which works out great for editing.

I love it when people start with "so". For some reason, it's just easier to pick up after a "so" -rather than an "umm" or "well". Umms and uhhhs and wells can run into the first word of the sentence, making it hard to eliminate them.

Let us give thanks for progress reports

I have appointments to interview and photograph Jason Scott and Christina Sardinha this week.

Christina on Tuesday

Jason on Wednesday

Consider yourself updated.

New plan of attack -- Tattoo artists talking about their favorite piece

Sandy, I just talked with you about what I will do.

To let everyone out in internet land know, I'll explain.

From the Mouth of the Master -- I would like to get local tattoo-shop owners to describe their favorite tattoo. I might have to expand this to local tattoo artists because there is a lady that works around here and I think it would be good to get a lady's voice in there.

This will be in their words, no additional narration. Just pictures and their voices.

I'll ask them about the standard questions; what is it, describe it, why do you like it, who did it, etc.

I am NOT going to comment on tattoos in general for a couple of reasons.

I don't need to comment on the tattoo culture. It's been done, and done, and done some more.

Those wretched shows like Miami Ink made everyone think that tattoos HAVE to have meaning -- some do have meaning, some don't. But this is not a rant about popular misconceptions about tattoo culture.

I just want to get the artist's viewpoint about their favorite piece.

Simple, no beating around the bush. I don't want to do some sort of in-depth investigative thing. I just want to do something that looks cool, that's sounds cool.

Something creative.

I will contact the following shops:

Hobo's (already set something up with Jason)

Tattoo Junkies, specifically Stina

Ironworks, the owners Jason and Jeremiah

Trevor Marshall at Oceanic Tattoo

If any of you artists google yourself and come across this post, don't be afraid. I won't bite. I am cool. I just want to chat with you for, maybe 30 or 40 minutes and take a few pics of your favorite tattoo.

Chuck it all in the river!

I am ready to chuck my project in the river.

Are you ready for the "Bad Attitude Comment of the Day" ?

I don't care about milk. Or milk production. Or organic milk. Or the process of making organic milk.

There doesn't seem to be much of a story surrounding the UNH organic dairy.

I can force a story out of it. Like a good college student, I could make something of nothing.

I was thinking about using the farm as the hub and then describing the research that goes on there.

blah blah blah.

So like a pro-choicer, I am relying on Plan B.

I am going to do a thing about tattoos.

And a thing about my dad.

Tattoos:

I am going to ask some local artists to describe their favorite 2"x 2" section of their favorite tattoos.

Nothing fancy; I am not commenting on the state of the scene, or the social relevance, or the personal statement. NO.

Just, in their own words, what's your favorite? Who did it? Why do you like it?

That's it. Color photos and audio.

My dad:

I helped Britteny work on her piece last night, and I was deeply moved.

I was about to say, "Let's do me now." But her camera died at the one hour mark.

I have never talked very openly about my father's death and I think this would be as good a chance as any to do something about him, my relationship with him, and how I carry him with me.

Details to come on this one.

status report 11-16

I interviewed the super intendant of the Burley-Demeritt farm this morning.

I now have a better idea of what I am going to do for my project.

The farm will be the central character; stories and research of the work going on around the farm will bring it to life.

The farm is the hub of a lot of research. A bunch of people in the Life Sciences and Agriculture department have research going on out there. I think there will be enough info and content to fill the requirement. I am a little shaky about the "so what" question.

I don't want to just make it a "rah rah rah, look at how cool UNH is" profile piece.

On the other side, this kind of progress and research is the foundation of a land-grant university.

But still, there's the "so what" that is bugging me.

I am really bad at seeing the "so what", but I might just be getting edgy because this project counts for the bulk of our grade.

IMMEDIATE Status update

Carmelle at Stonyfield quickly replied.

Possible new-ish angle;

Organic Dairies Watch the Good Times Turn Bad

But, I don't need to tell a story that has already been told....

Hmm...

I'll keep hunting. Don't worry Sandy.

Status Report

As per Lord Sandy's instructions, here is my daily project update.

Emailed Stonyfield Communications manager 10 minutes ago.

Emailed UNH fellow about UNH Organic Dairy 12 minutes ago.

So far, no replies.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On an amusing note, a friend of mine that works at Stonyfield sent me a message saying that she read my blog.

I asked, how did you find it?

She said that a blog aggregator found my blog from my previous post because it mentioned Stonyfield Farms, and that that report (which presumably contained a lot of internet sources that mention their company's name) was distributed around the office.

Weird.....

Who knew this internet-thing could do that?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So when I know more, you'll know more.

Assignment for October 28

The feedback I received in our last class was fine. I had a fairly complete idea of what I wanted to do.

Then, my subject never returned my message.

So, I am unable to do that project.

I'll briefly describe what the D.O.A. project was, so that you can see how excellent it would have been.

A young lady cyclist, who rides for UVM, was hit by a car a while ago and things were very grim. She had extensive surgery to rebuild her, primarily her face.

Now, she is back racing - mountain bikes for now, but word around the campfire is that she is a bit scared of road biking.

How would that have been for a story!?

But, like I said, she never got back to me, and I can't really blame her, seeing that it was a massive trauma.

So, onward and upward...

Britteny was talking about her idea, which was something revolving around the UNH horse barn. She seemed pretty unsure if there was a story there, and I suggested that she might focus on the cow barn and milk production.

She said she was all set with that idea. I hope she is still all set with that because now I need a story.

I will look at UNH's involvement with milk production, local milk production, Stonyfield Farm's local organic milk production facility, world wide milk price drop, and hopefully some other aspects that give a brighter side to the story.

That is my idea.

I hope you like it.

On a related note, I will soon post my audio slide show to this blog. I am rather confused on the procedure because Soundslides is a fickle and frustrating program.

Providence cyclocross race

I went to Providence, RI, this Sunday with some lovely friends to watch the 'cross race.

Also at Roger Williams Park was Interbike East, which is a massively scaled down version of the real Interbike expo in Las Vegas.

However, there were tons of booths and tech and bikes and lots of other "and"s.

Some cool things to note, I got my homework for Multimedia class wrapped up while I was there by interviewing and taking photos of Mike Steidley, the eight-time U.S. National Trials Bike Champion.

I will be posted my audio slideshow here sometime on Wednesday, so please stay tuned.

And... I me t Chris King! THE Chris King.

If you don't know who that is... well, you should know who that is, my friend.

He is a legend.

And, he lauded me with the term "grasshopper" when I dazzled him with an insightful and accurate comment about manufacturing! SWEET!

But after our 20 to 30 minute chat, I realized that I should have interviewed him!

I like bikes and I like reporting. Why the heck didn't I interview him for my audio slideshow too! D'OH!

Oh well.

Mike Steidley was very gracious and gave a good interview.

Most importantly, he was very patient.

I forgot to hit "RECORD" when we started chatting.

Hmmm.... that would be a good start, eh, Phil? Recording the interview?

Oops.

Examination of excellent internet multimedia

One in 8 million...Urban Taxidermist.

Blimey, this is fantastic!

Technical Stuff...

Outta this world pictures!

The bunny peeking up over the lip of the house plant, the parting shot of her on the roof with the skunk next to her, these kind of shots make this memorable. Is the cat alive? What's alive and what's dead in the photos? WEIRD!!

The pictures are unbelievable. The angles are great. There is one shot of a Puma skin on the wall and some sort of canine looking down from a book case. This angle is fantastic because it forces you to orient yourself quickly to the shot or be confused, both of which are acceptable, I think.

There is a shot of a cat sniffing or rubbing against an antler. This is wonderful because you don't know whether she's that good, that she can pose a dead cat so well, or that she has a cat that wonders about her studio.

Bottom line: The pictures keep you guessing, haunt you, draw you in, and force you to watch it over and over.

Audio:

Excellent editing. Can barely tell editing gaps.

Her thoughtfulness shows in her voice. You can her passion, excitement in her voice. She laughs, she's thoughtful, you can hear her thinking as she is talking. The audio works, all over for me, all of it. I can't pick out one bad part in the audio.

Bottom line; she loves what she does, and it shows in every syllable she speaks.

Emotional Stuff...

My emotional reaction to this is curiosity and fascination.

I did a profile about a local fellow that cremates pets for a living and Steve took the greatest care of the pets he cremated. I can see the same care in her work.

Melissa Dixon's mention of not preserving pets reminded me of Steve.

Steve likes to keep his work private and isolated from the pet owners because he said that if he let owners come watch him work, and cry all over the place, then he'd never be able to do his job -- every pet would become a ceremony, an emotional experience.

Melissa's policy of not giving people an unreal expectation is similar to Steve's policy.

I think the journalism of this piece lies between the loving animals and having animals as your business.

In both Melissa and Steve's cases -- I can safely assert this for Steve and can assume it for Melissa -- they are animal lovers, but have created a business around animals. This ground seems to be rather dangerous because of the emotional investment that comes with pets, who are indeed family members.

The interesting thing is the personal policy that the people have to create in order to keep their feet in both arenas -- keep the business running and being able to go home to hug and kiss their cat, dog, rabbit, etc. at the end of the day.

Bottom Line; people that deal with death everyday will always fascinate readers or viewers.

Portraits ... from the unskilled print journalist

Keeley, Brittany and I took "senior portraits" before John Fields' lecture, which can be found below.

Then we took some more after class after some coaching, which are the second set below this.

Photojournalism attempt...

I was woefully unprepared for this weeks assignment.

I try not to make excuses when I blow something, be it assignments or tasks.

Over the weekend I went to a Dog Fair in Dover and forgot my camera. There were tons of dogs - some well behaved, some excited, some crippled - which would have made for some great shots.

On the same day, again without my camera, I went to Garrison Hill Park. I climbed the look-out tower there, which is covered with all sorts of filthy graffiti, and could have gotten some great pictures of a young family that was up there with there daughter. It would have been great if I got "MY CRABS HAVE AIDS" (like I said, filthy graffiti) in the background and the little girl in the foreground.

So if you look in the upper right corner you will see the photos I was able to get for this assignment. They are quite bad and the quality of the photos seems to have been degraded.

Coming soon to this blog near you

That title sounded a little weird...

Nevertheless, very soon I will be posting an interview with Deanna Wood, the head of the UNH Reference Librarians and the Head of the Faculty Union here at UNH.

Deanna was a dear to talk with -- she was open, very articulate and quite funny. She had some really amusing thoughts and observations about her life and work.

However, the focus of this assignment was not just to do an interview with someone that "keeps the university running" but to learn how to manipulate the audio files in Audacity.

Following are a few of my thoughts about using the program:

-- It is amazing how much control you have over your audio. I can remove every "umm", "uhh", "hmm" and lip smack. It is really neat. In the assignment description it was stated that we should not have our voices included in the interview. So, at one point, Deanna said something then I said "OK" then she started talking again. I was able to zoom into the three-tenths-of-a-second "OK" and delete it! That is SO COOL!

-- Interviewing on tape is not as easy as it sounds. [Please not delicious pun.] I have a tendency to talk people through a question. For example, I engage the person with my question and as I am asking it, he or she begin to answer it. This make editing and removing my voice difficult, if not impossible. I know now that I should start an interview with some introductory info. For instance, ask the person to pause between my question and their answer. And, to restate the question so that the answer will be framed and have some context.

-- While Deanna was a great interviewee, I don't think I steered the interview enough in the direction of how she specifically keeps her small segment of the university running. Now just to note, she did say that she doesn't think that SHE keeps the university running, but I think that if I had been a bit more limiting in my questions that I would have gotten more focused answers. I say this because I think that we got deeper into job-specific territory rather than university-role-specific territory.

I think those are all the thoughts I can compile about the interviewing and editing process.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to post audio to my blog...

Phil's Multimedia Workshop is flapping hard to get off the ground!

Good Morning my fine Internet friends.

This blog will showcase the work I will do in my Multimedia Journalism class at the University of New Hampshire.

I have some short- and long-term goals for his blog.

First, it's required. That's self explanatory. How else would you show off multimedia stuff if it just lives on a USB drive. I want to get a good grade in the class so this is mandatory. That's a very short-term goal.

Secondly, I want to create a body of my journalism work on the Internet as an informal resume. So, that means that I will probably edit and post some older stories -- mostly profiles because they don't really go out of date -- to fill in the cracks and give you all a taste of my voice and interests.

Thirdly, I hope that I will be able to look back on this (and keep it up to date if I can ever find my cursed lost camera) and say that I had a hand, however small, in creating good quality, online journalism that can be used as model for students and industry leader that come after me.

To get up on a soap box for just a minute, I think that all news consumers should understand the difference between "Citizen Journalism" and real journalism.

Real journalism comes from training and guidance - both classroom and workplace experience. Blogging is fun and entertaining. I have a personal blog and I like writing goofy things.

When people confuse gossip and uniformed commentary with real journalism, we all lose.

Therefore, I hope to create that distinction through my actions in this class -- stories posted, video and audio recorded.

I hope you enjoy my work.

I'll do my best to keep you entertained and informed.