NABJ Media Institute - Val Hoeppner Materials

It was great having you all here in Nashville at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute for the NABJ Media Institute. I hope you are as excited about multimedia journalism as when you left the Diversity Institute.

I have put together some of the materials I used during my sessions with you and have added the Multimedia Equipment (2652) download to this post. In the Multimedia Toolbox you will find the Soundslides tutorial, Photoshop tutorial and the Final Cut Pro tutorial available for download.

Below are some of the materials we discussed during the Institute.

Audacity is a free sound editing program available at audacity.sourceforge.net. The program allows you to do multi-track audio editing. There is a helpful tutorial and manual you can download.
When exporting an mp3 from Audacity you need a small program called lamelib. When uploading audio files to the web or uploading audio to Soundslides you will need an mp3.

Soundslides is an audio slideshow program that allows the user to “concentrate on the story, rather than the application”, according to their website. The download is free and fully functional in demo mode. You will need a licensed copy of Soundslides to unlock the “Made With Soundslides Demo” tag on your projects. There are two versions, Soundslides and Soundslides Plus. I recommend Soundslides Plus because it offers audio slideshows, lower thirds, motion (pan and zoom), template control, IPTC captioning, full-screen playback and non-audio slideshows for $69.95. The Soundslides version costs $39.95 and allows audio slideshows, template control and IPTC captioning.

PowerPoint

The two PowerPoint presentations I used during our sessions are in the galleries below. Clicking your mouse on the presentation advances the slides. Refresh the page to start at the beginning of each presentation.

Multimedia Toolbox I

Multimedia Toolbox II

NAIA Pow Wow

The Native American Indian Association held an annual Fall Festival and Pow Wow Oct. 17-19 at Long Hunter State Park in Nashville, Tenn. The event raised funds for both the NAIA emergency fund and a Native American cultural center the group hopes to build in Nashville, Tenn.
Read more

20 Days, 20 Voters

“20 Days, 20 Voters” features a different voter video each day until the Nov. 4th election. The project is the work of the The Indianapolis Star’s multimedia/photography department. Multimedia photojournalists Robert Scheer, Matt Detrich and Danese Kenon are the producers.

“I said it’s election time and we need to do something with voters, and Bob Scheer said the same thing,” said Detrich. The Star photo staff is committed to equal representation from Obama supporters, McCain supporters and uncommitted voters. “It is supposed to be a slice of Hoosier voters, a sampling of the community,” said Kenon.

The project includes videos of a college student, a felon (Indiana is one of only 13 states that allows convicted felons to vote), a small-business owner, an unemployed cancer survivor, a firefighter, a retired school teacher and others. “It’s a great concept,” said Detrich.
It has been difficult to find people to talk about politics but “the project is something great for the community,” said Kenon. “It is giving the community a voice.”

Acquanetta: The Video Blogger!

As a visiting scholar at Belmont University and the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute, I tend to encounter things that make great multimedia. Especially on the campus of Tennessee State University, my institution of higher learning. About a month ago Val Hoeppner handed me a Flip cam to capture video for a semester long practicum I am taking with her. My first thought, “no way possible I can capture video on this thing”. My second thought once I finished my video was, “I can’t wait until the next opportunity to shoot video”. Since then, I carry my Flip cam everywhere I go. What I like best about this practicum is I can capture whatever I want and put my own “little” personality with it, thanks to Val!

About the videos in this post:

I am a member of Leadership Tennessee State University. We meet once a month on Saturday mornings for leadership classes and discuss how we will be affected by leadership positions once our matriculation is over at TSU. During these meetings, we are required to engage in topics about leadership and also “Laws of Leadership,” the book we have been discussing since September. So, I covered tomorrow’s leaders in the making with my Flip Video camera.

My second video, the annual African Street Festival, was held on the campus of TSU. This annual festival gets little recognition from the media in Nashville, so I decided to cover it. The street festival brings people from all over Nashville to get a sample of what Africa is all about. Many vendors from across the globe come to sell their African essentials and participants engage in African culture.

My third video, which happens to be my favorite, is the TSU tigers defeating the UT Martin Skyhawks in overtime. What a good game and a good crowd to cover in video. The Aristocrat of Bands, TSU’s marching band and their music, complimented my video. I was able to add more of my personality to this piece.

My most recent video is about a youth church. Because youth church is popular in the African American community, I knew this video would be great. It amazes me to see young people worship God in their own way. With so many youth in today’s society behind bars, I was elated to see some who are making the right decisions in there lives.

I hope everyone who views these videos will enjoy what they see. Remember, it’s not easy being a video journalist, but hey, somebody has got do it!

Final Cut Tutorial - PDF

Download Val Hoeppner’s Final Cut Tutorial, a step-by-step guide to producing a video project using Final Cut software. Click the link to download. DownLoadFinalCutPro_DOC (573)

Soundslides Tutorial - PDF

Download Val Hoeppner’s Soundslides tutorial, a step-by-step guide to producing a Soundslide project. Click the link to download. DownLoadSoundslides_DOC (468)

Photoshop - Prep Photos for Soundslides

Download Val Hoeppner’s tutorial on Adobe Photoshop and preparing images and title slides for Soundslide projects. Click the link to download. DownLoadPhotoshop_DOC (423)

The Hybrid Is Here!

Since video journalism became part of their jobs, photojournalists have been hoping for a professional-quality hybrid camera that would allow them to shoot still photographs and video at the same time, with the same camera. There are two such cameras on the market now: the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the Nikon D90. Both cameras shoot still images and video and both cameras record to digital flash cards rather than tape.

Canon is promoting the 5D MKII with a video, Reverie, shot by photojournalist Vincent Laforet. The Hi-Def video is amazing. The detail from the footage is crisp. But even better, the use of still photo lenses improves sharpness and depth of field. Still photos taken from the same video were shot in low light, between 1600 and 3200 ISO. They look fantastic.

The 5D MKII is a 21.1 megapixel camera and captures Hi-Def video at 1920×1080. The 5D MKII sells for about $2,600.
hybrid_promo.jpg

The Nikon D90 is much the same as the Canon 5D. It shoots video and still images. The D90 is a 12.3 megapixel camera and records Hi-Def video at 1280×720. One difference between the two is that the Canon records its audio in stereo and the Nikon D90 records audio in mono. That’s not a huge issue when video is intended for the web but the Nikon sound is a bit hollow. The main difference is price. The Nikon D90 sells (body only) for $999.

The cameras are a huge step forward in technology. Having both video and still technology in one camera means no more painful decisions to choose between a video camera and a still camera.

Viva Las Vegas Video

What happens in Vegas only stays in Vegas if it is not caught on video. Sarah Welliver, an American Indian Journalism Institute alum and Chips Quinn Scholar, attended the 2008 APME and APPM conferences in Las Vegas as a member of the student multimedia project administered by the Diversity Institute. During that project, she produced the video below about Brendan Paul, an Elvis impersonator and wedding chapel owner.
I like the impact moment that opens this video, setting the tone for the rest of the story. Starting a video story with a tight shot can be a very effective way to grab viewers. The tight shot opening also adds an element of suspense to the story, which keeps the audience watching.
Danese Kenon, a multimedia journalist at the Indianapolis Star, often uses the tight hook shot to begin her videos. It is all about impact, keeping your audience tuned in to a video that is enlightening, entertaining and visually interesting.Click here to see Kenon’s most powerful video.