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Soundslides

CRITIQUE A NARRATED SLIDE SHOW
PROFESSIONAL SLIDE SHOWS
NOVICE SLIDE SHOWS
SOUNDSLIDES PROJECT
EXAMPLES
HOW TO USE SOUNDSLIDES
TROUBLESHOOTING
TUTORIAL BY TOM PRIDDY (PDF, 1.2 MB) provides a great overview of how a professional photojournalist works with Soundslides in his everyday job (used with Tom's permission).

EXAMPLES
What makes a good audio AND visual story? What doesn’t work work well?
   Length
   Audio
   Photos
   Storytelling

TEXT, MUSIC, MAPS, VOICES OF WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER
Ivory Wars: Last Stand is Zakouma (8:54)
Map of Annie (5:38)
MediaStorm

MUSIC & NAT SOUND
Wrestling (Daily Bulletin, Inland Valley, Calif.) (2:57)
Awesome editing. Great shots, especially the quick sequences that show movement and resemble video. Sound is really just atmosphere.

NARRATED BY WIDOW
Final Salute Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo.
This prize-winning package reveals what happens to the widows and parents back home after the knock at the door—the knock every military family dreads.

NARRATED BY DOOTY DIVA
Dooty Diva (roanoke.com)—Click on Multimedia (1:20).
Narration by pooper-scooper lady.

NARRATION BY A STUDENT
Destination College
Emma Forrest goes to Smith.

PROFESSIONAL NARRATOR
After the Riots (5:03)
A Soundslides about the housing projects in Paris by the British newspaper The Guardian. Exceptional storytelling and great use of sound.

TEAMWORK
Waiting for Hillary Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times (1:52)
Two photojournalists covered Hillary Clinton’s arrival at the local airport. One put a digital recorder on the lectern and recorded her talk. Back at the newsroom, they edited and adjusted the images. Someone else edited the audio. The photo editor then edited the images. The final Soundslides show was a collaborative effort, and it was published online before the writer had finished his story. Sometimes one voice and vision works well, but other times a team effort is stronger and faster.

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PROFESSIONAL SLIDE SHOWS
Which is better in terms of load time, annoying ads, photo selection (Is less sometimes more?), design, transitions, layout, etc.?


Will Kirkland Less than two hours from Quito, the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve shelters more than 330 species of birds.

NOVICE SLIDE SHOWS

  1. Read Creating Multimedia: A Novice Shows the Way.
  2. Look at In Search of Murrow’s London (8:28).
  3. Look at what Niki’s Ability, produced by another Soundslides novice (1:25).
  4. Compare and contrast what the beginners did with what the pros do. That’s what you’ll do in the next part of your assignment. In class be prepared to discuss what you think works well as a slide show. What doesn’t work work well? What makes a good story?

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CRITIQUE A NARRATED SLIDE SHOW
You can learn a lot by analyzing good work (and bad stuff too).

DETAILS

  • Your example must be journalism.
  • Do not use a whole news site (e.g., BBC News, The New York Times) as your example. Choose a single MediaStorm story or two narrated slide shows to critique. See the lists below.
  • The critique must be 500 to 750 words long.
  • The critique must be typed and double-spaced.
  • IMPORTANT! Include one paragraph on how you can apply what you learned to your work in this class.
  • Print out your critique before class.
  • To read a first-rate critique on Saving Block Island, you can download the Word document. The Providence (R.I.) Journal describes how John R. “Rob” Lewis led the conservation effort to save this beautiful place. (This is used with the author’s permission.)

NARRATED SLIDE SHOWS

First choice: Pick a single story from MediaStorm (not the whole site). As we saw in class when we looked at Ivory Wars (do NOT critique this one), Brian Storm is integrating words, music, audio, video, maps and stills into a mini-documentary of sorts that’s longer than the usual narrated slide show.

Second choice: If you don’t see anything you like in MediaStorm, select TWO narrated slide shows from the list below. Compare and contrast them. These aren’t the best or the worst, but you’ll observe different ways of tackling a story.

  • A Day of Fishing With Betty (in Spanish)
    A finalist in the Society for News Design SND.ies contest.
  • Cockfighting in Puerto Rico
    Great photos, wonderful audio that puts you at the scene.
  • Bittersweet Passage The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
    A sixth grade promotion ceremony marks a transition and a challenge.
  • A Sister’s Gift Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo.
    An endurance athlete puts her life on hold to donate a kidney to her brother.
  • A Long Journey The Roanoke (Va.) Times
    An injured Iraq vet recuperates at his mother’s home in Roanoke.

    Will Kirkland Since Bellavista is on the equator, flowers bloom year-round.
  • Can You Step? Mark Adams
    Sights, sounds and words reveal what stepping is and what it means to the dancers.
  • 21 days to Baghdad (award winner from Time.com) Music, narrative, stunning imagery and excellent timing—combined with a well-designed Flash page—create an intense experience.
  • Coryn/Apple Festival Queen (5:12) (Michael Rubenstein, a freelancer based in Portland, Oregon)
  • Where We Live: Gilroy and Melrose Hill San Jose Mercury News
    Each of the four chapters opens in the same window. If you do this package, you do NOT need to compare it with another story.
  • Vietnam 25 Years After the War New York Times
    A photographer and a radio journalist teamed up to produce this piece. Note the excellent use of natural sound and audio throughout. Do you like the unusual “scrubber” interface? If you do this package, you do NOT need to compare it with another story.
  • Storm Chasers (The Sydney Morning Herald)
    Stunning photos of thunderheads, lightning and tornadoes highlight this four-part package: two slide shows with audio, one section about the photographer and one section with related links. Three people pooled their skills to build this site: a photographer/videographer, journalist/producer and a designer/Flash producer. If you do this package, you do NOT need to compare it with another story.
  • Eyes on the War (award winner from WashingtonPost.com)
    Not only are the photos wonderful, but the spontaneous audio of the photojournalists talking about what was happening is personal and emotional.
  • In Their Eyes: Stories of Hurricane Katrina (St. Petersburg Times)
    Photojournalists describe their work. If you do this package, compare the work of four photographers. You do NOT need to compare it with another story.
  • Horror in Uganda (L.A. Times)
    Use caution: Many photographs in are very disturbing. Here is photojournalism at its most serious, showing us what should not be, but is. The handling of the subtitles in the intro is especially graceful. Really clean functionality in this four-part package. The audio is exceptional. If you do this package, you do NOT need to compare it with another story.
  • House Afire (New York Times)
    If you do this package, you do NOT need to compare it with another story.
    The story of a Latino storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem. Three parts in a purpose-built audio slide show. Excellent audio, beautiful photos. Embedded video works wonderfully to tell the story in each one of the three segments. Vea esta presentación interactiva bilingüe en la Web. The outstanding thing about this package is the reporting. Time was spent and care was taken to tell a story about why people love this church and what it brings to their lives.
OTHER SOURCES OF GOOD JOURNALISM EXAMPLES (You may choose something from here instead of the list above.)

GRADING (25 points)


Will Kirkland In midmorning sunshine bathes the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve before the rain and mist set in.
  • 15 points: quality of critical thinking and analysis
  • 10 points: quality of writing, including grammar, punctuation, spelling and AP style

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SOUNDSLIDES PROJECT
Shoot photos, write captions, record interviews and/or narration and prepare a professional Soundslides presentation.

PHOTO REQUIREMENTS

  • Capture the moment. Never ask anyone to move or pose. Never rearrange objects.
  • Shoot for this story only. Do not use photos you took for fun or for another project.
  • Select your best 15 to 20 photos. No more. No less.
  • Shorten long filenames. Otherwise, Soundslides might choke.
  • Edit tightly. Avoid redundancy.
  • Save photos as JPGs with a resolution of 72 ppi.
  • Make sure they’re no wider than 800 pixels or higher than 530 pixels.
  • If necessary, crop and adjust the photos. You may use levels and curves.
  • You may NOT erase anything from the photo.
  • You may NOT add anything to the photo.
  • Do NOT use Photoshop filters.

DELIVERABLES

  • Your edited MP3 audio file must be at least 90 seconds (1 minute 30 seconds) but no longer than 2 minutes. Talk to me if you want to produce a longer slide show. If you have 2 minutes 30 seconds of audio, you’d better have 30 great photos.
  • About 5 to 6 seconds per photo usually works well unless you’re going for a special effect. Nothing is more boring than redundancy!
  • You must use 15 to 20 photos. IMPORTANT! If Soundslides is choking on your photos, you might need to resize them at 72 ppi. If the photos are too big, things might not work correctly.
  • If necessary, include a meaningful, well-written caption with a verb. Identify all recognizable animals and people (first and last name). Make sure the text is INTERESTING to read. Here’s an example: A female sea lion basks in the sun while her pup nurses. Photo by Carol B. Schwalbe
  • If you have a lot of pictures of the same thing, use your judgment. If it’s clear from the context or narration what’s in each photo, you do NOT need an ID on each photo. If you have a series of different bird species, then put ID on each photo.
  • Make sure all the text is accurate and free of errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and AP style. Be especially careful with all proper nouns, such as people, places, titles and animals.
  • Make sure all photos have a credit for the photographer. Here’s an example: Photo by Cecil Schwalbe
  • If all the pictures were taken by the same person, you only need to include the photographer’s name in the Soundslides credits at the end of your show.
           Photography by Bill Shaw
           Audio and production by Adam Stern
    Otherwise, put a credit on each photo: Photo by Cecil Schwalbe
  • Make an introductory title slide (JPG) in Photoshop. IMPORTANT! Be sure to save the original PSD file of your title slide in case you need to make revisions.
  • Or try a title like the one in Gym Dreams (2:05). Add adjustment layers to your photo and adjust the levels. Put the title on one of them. Export the layers separately.
  • Include a cinematic effect. See Gym Dreams (2:05). Here’s what the photographer wrote in his blog: “As I was putting the finishing touches on the ‘fight’ sequence at the end of Gym Dreams, I remembered an interview on NPR with Thelma Schoonmaker who was Martin Scorsese’s favorite editor and won an Oscar for her editing work on Raging Bull. At one point in the interview she talks about how she put a frame or a short sequence of frames in upside down in their fight sequence. Her answer to the question ‘Why’ was simply that it worked. When I was working on my own sequence, I found that occasionally things worked in order, but more often than not, mixing up the images independent of how they were captured ‘worked better.’ In general, this is something I see in many people’s early narratives in their audio slide shows. They arrange things in order they took them, the flow of a day, to match the audio. What I don’t see, more often than not, is that they don’t order the images together in a way that flows together visually.”

PHOTOS

  1. Edit, crop (if necessary), adjust and save the photos as JPGs. If you’re not familiar with cropping, be sure to read this page. IMPORTANT! Make sure your photos are JPGS compressed to 72 ppi. If you have to compress a lot of images, use batch processing.
  2. IMPORTANT! Do NOT arrange the photos in the order in which they were taken or the flow of a day in order to match the audio. Instead, arrange the images in a way that flows visually. Tell a story!
  3. If necessary, write an INTERESTING caption for each photo or put an ID on each photo. Make sure all the text is accurate and free of errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and AP style. Be especially careful with all proper nouns, such as people, places, titles and animals.
  4. Make sure all photos have a credit for the photographer. If you shot all the photos, put your name in the Soundslides credits.
  5. All text and captions will be edited and fact-checked. If you used outside sources, turn in a list of your sources, including complete URLs AND the name of every Web source. For every printed resource, supply the article title, publication title, date and page number(s).
  6. We’ll work on a title slide in class. IMPORTANT! Save the original .PSD file so you can go back later and make changes.

AUDIO

  1. Record the narration and edit the audio file. IMPORTANT! Save the original audio files in case you need to go back later and make changes.
  2. Make sure you have enough GOOD shots to match the audio. Your photos need to tell a story. You need a strong opening or establishing shot, at least one detail and a strong closing shot.
  3. Under TEMPLATE in Soundslides, choose plain_white.
  4. Test and troubleshoot the Soundslides show.
  5. Keep ALL the files generated by the Soundslides program in one folder in case you need to revise your slide show.

thumbs
soundslider.swf
soundslide.txt
small.html
raw
publish_to_web
list.txt
index.html
audio_lo.mp3
audio_hi.mp3
600_450
400_300
custom
200_200
data.txt


Will Kirkland Nicknamed “air plants,” epiphytic bromeliads grow on trees and other plants. They draw nutrition and moisture from the atmosphere.

GRADING (100 points)

  • 45 points: audio (including quality, storytelling, tone appropriate to subject, accuracy, completeness, use of multiple tracks for narration, music, nat sounds, etc.)
  • 45 points: photos (including sharpness, cropping and other adjustments, selection, sequencing, completeness, visual storytelling and diversity of shots and scenes)
  • 10 points: title slide, credits, captions and any other text, accuracy

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HOW TO USE SOUNDSLIDES (It’s easy!)

PREPARE PHOTOS
1. Make sure all your photos are .jpgs AND in one folder.
    You can number or alphabetize them in the order you want them to appear
2. Make sure all your vertical photos are vertical; if not, fix them in Photoshop first.
    Open image in Photoshop
    Image > Rotate Canvas > 90º CW or CCW
    File > Save

OPEN SOUNDSLIDES (a gray-brown icon that looks like an old-fashioned slide projector)
1. NEW > Create a project
2. Name your project.
3. Save it. Pay attention to where you’re saving it and what you called it.

IMPORTANT
1. Click the SAVE button in Soundslides often!

2. After you’ve tested your project, EXPORT it.

3. SAVE your project in your STUDENT folder. Do NOT leave it on the desktop.

IMPORT SOUND AND PHOTOS
1. Click SND, then select the sound or music file you want to import.
2. Click JPG, then select the folder of photos.

IMAGES
1. Rearrange your photos in the thumbnails in the upper right
2. Drag the light gray handle between slides to change the timing in the timeline
3. To add an image, click Add Image.

CAPTIONS
1. Double-click the image and type the info in the new window
2. Click Save & Advance.

METADATA
1. Add the story title and credits.

TEMPLATE
1. Pick your color (Display) and fonts (Fonts).
2. Click Show captions by default.

TEST your slide show!

EXPORT it when you’re finished.

TO CHANGE OR EDIT your project later, all the files in the project folder must be intact and have the same name they had when you first worked on the project.

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© 2008 Carol B. Schwalbe