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Flash

EXAMPLES
FIRST STEPS
FLASH TUTORIALS
     INTERACTIVE MAP (Quicktime courtesy of the Lovely and Gracious Mrs. Dodge)      INTERACTIVE TIMELINE (Quicktime courtesy of the Lovely and Gracious Mrs. Dodge)
     INTERACTIVE TIMELINE (Flash courtesy of the Lovely and Gracious Mrs. Dodge)
STOVES FOR GUATEMALA
USING FLASH TO CREATE A NARRATED SLIDESHOW

STOVES FOR GUATEMALA

Stoves for Guatemala You do NOT need to be a Flash expert to produce something basic like this. Be prepared to discuss in class what would you add to this package to improve it.

Stoves for Guatemala (Houston Chronicle) is a simple three-part package about the Onil stove made by a nonprofit group in Addison, Texas. This stove has hugely improved the lives of many poor rural Guatemalans, who can acquire the stove for only $26.

The 3-D animation (“How It Works”) shows how the stove works, with just a little text. Pictures can be worth a thousand words!

The two-frame intro (“Overview”) is inviting, although the text is blurry because of anti-aliasing. Note the mask-in effect.

Pay special attention to the narration of the slide show at the heart of the package, which provides the who, what, where and why of this story. The natural sound works well, and the voiceover by reporter Jenalia Moreno is clean and to the point. It’s one of those rare examples where a reporter’s voiceover engages us (instead of boring us to death because it sounds like someone reading her own words).

All the content (including Moreno’s audio track) is also available in Spanish.

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EXAMPLES

  • Boston Homicides

  • New Stadium in Dallas

  • Touching Hearts (Herald Sun, N.C.) Photographer Joe Weiss took a still camera and an audio recorder to Nicaragua, where he documented American medical specialists trying to save desperately sick children. Weiss shot the pictures, recorded voices and natural sounds, and wrote the text. Oscar’s story, which is one chapter in “Touching Hearts,” portrays the death of a young boy in just 11 photos, 440 audio words and 200 text words. The still images are more powerful than quick-moving video.

  • Digital Trails
    Students at the Medill School of Journalism produced this documentary about the digital trails we leave behind every day with our cell phones, credit cards and more.

  • Gods of Chinatown
    This has some interface issues, but the drag-and-slide person is always wearing something fun. You get to do more than just click a button. Isabel Chang, the Flash artist, has done some nice multimedia work for P.O.V. in the past.


    • Will Kirkland Winter on the Equator: A flame tree sheds its leaves in Puerto Ayora.
  • CROP: Up Close - Donovan State Prison
    SignOnSanDiego.com published this Flash documentary, which features audio-narrated still images mixed with video clips plus text.

  • So Close to Home
    Eight journalism students at the University of Florida produced this award-winning Web site about homelessness people in Gainesville. The students had six weeks to research, report, write, edit, and produce a Flash presentation for the Web.

  • History of Seattle University
    Click on A History of Excellence. The boxes at the top identify the time period. When you click on those, you get an intro in a white box in the center section. Click on the thumbnails at the bottom to read the stories in this section.

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FIRST STEPS
Familiarize yourself with the following:

FLASH TUTORIALS

USING FLASH TO CREATE A NARRATED SLIDESHOW

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© 2008 Carol B. Schwalbe