Season Finale: A Time To Reflect

Ah, Christmas time. A time to reflect on the blessings we have received this past year. And while there have been many things that haven’t gone my way, I do have things to be grateful for. One of them being this class. Really, this class has been pretty rad, all things considered. I’ve learned a lot these past few weeks. To show my appreciation, I will be doing this blog in true internet journalism manner: by answering questions via a numbered list!

ASTEC: The Interview

 

Finally, the project is done. The ASTEC interview is finished!

For this assignment, I was tasked with finding something interesting, interview some folks about it, and record all of it, while sticking on some photos to add a bit of visual flavor. I chose report on ASTEC (Associated Student Technical Services) and their recent drive to showcase more local bands on campus.

Going it alone on a project of this magnitude made me realize the pros of having a partner to help out. I mean, getting to do stuff on my own was great; I could focus solely on my grand vision, and make sure everything came together the way I had intended it to, but man! That was a lot of work. It really put into perspective how awesome of a partner Tracey was. I enjoyed working on my own, but next time I’ll have a much better Idea of what I’m getting myself into.

Most of the work came from unforeseen circumstances, which really is pretty unsurprising. My main photo op fell through (there was no concert that week) and my demo of SoundSlides seemed to be pretty faulty. Seriously, that thing could not have been working right. The audio would play in slow-motion, The test feature would not work, pictures would seem to move around magically without my knowing. Pretty horrid stuff. If I had known it would be so wretched, I would have given myself more time.

Editing did not take nearly as long this time as it has in the past, though. I realized that short interviews lead to short editing times, so I spent way, way less time editing the audio. I still felt pretty bad just hacking off good quotes from the final product, though.

In the end, I feel like the final product turned out well. Can’t complain really. I can’t tell if the audio syncs well with the audio until I post this, (and knowing my demo version, It probably won’t even do that) but I’m confident the result is a good one.

SoundSlides Critiques

Another project, another critique. By now we all know the drill: I look at other people’s projects and critique them, all while learning what I can do to improve my own work. This week, I’ll be looking at our class’s group SoundSlides and making note of both the successes and the aspects that could use a bit of work. On to the critiques!

Courtney Googe: The Interview

http://klandreville.com/lind_rosenlund

There it is: The product of 2 weeks of work, from inception through execution. The Courtney Googe interview.

Our SoundSlides project centered around 27 year old Courtney Googe, and her recent exhibition showcasing her prints. These prints, influenced by her trip to India, are of animals fused with human legs, hands, and other appendages. The result seems to come out of a Burton-esque south Asian fable, forcefully brought into this reality via kid-friendly taxidermy. Pretty interesting stuff, to be sure.

But the bigger reason for the interview was for my partner and I to get a feel for creating a multi-media story. Seeing as this is an online class, learning the ropes to making a good multi-media story is paramount to getting the full experience. Online, really, is where stories like the one above shine. They can keep the audience entertained, and through their entertainment, will be informed as well.

In the interests of maintaining an amiable relationship, Courtney and I decided to slice our responsibilities down the middle: I would handle the interviews, while she would handle the photos. But, as we should have guessed, it didn’t turn out quite as planned. I couldn’t make it for an interview, so she had to cover for me, while she didn’t manage to finish editing an interview, so I picked up the slack. It still evened out, we just had to reorganize. I couldn’t really ask for a partner, though. Courtney was almost always on the ball, and when she needed help, she didn’t hesitate to let me know.

The interviews themselves went very well, although the ambient noise is kind of a pain to deal with. It’s so damn intrusive! And when you’re editing? Fuggettabahtit. As I should have expected, the editing definitely took the longest to finish. Everything relies on the audio, so it has to be complete before the layout of the SoundSlides can be configured.  As for using the SoundSlides program itself, I had a very limited time in which to use it, although it did seem to be fairly intuitive. I could click on the thumbnails and move the order of the pictures to pick just which ones would go with a certain part of audio. I felt like the final product fit well together, so obviously the program can be cajoled into making a good product.

I was excited to see what Courtney decided to do with the audio. The splitting of the interviews into more palatable sizes, punctuated with sound bites provided by viewers at the exhibit, helped to keep the pace from dragging, certainly compared to two long blocks of interview.

The best part of this whole experience is that it left me with an excitement to start the next SoundSlides project. It’s going to be great to see what I can do, now that I’ll have complete control over my next project. I’ll just go ahead and say it; this project was a ton of fun.

Audio Editing Critique Extravaganza!

And so here we are again; another project, another critique. I really do look forward to these things, as they remind me that I don’t operate in a vacuum in this class. It reminds me that people do indeed exist in this class, and I am just another one of them. These critiques, for me, is just a lesson in perspective. I am not alone. I am not judged against anyone but my peers. And I get to see how my peers are doing in the same thing. I am not alone.

Enough lollygagging. On to the critiques!

Tracey Rosenlund: The Final Act

So here it is: the finished product.

I sat down last night at around 8 p.m. to edit the behemoth of an original interview down to two minutes. I filed down some dialogue, flipped some levers, and then it was 11:30. Somewhere in the fiddling, I had lost  three and a half hours. I didn’t realize that something so seemingly mundane as trimming an interview would be as engrossing as I had actually found it. It totally enveloped me.

Tracey Rosenlund: The Interview

Yes, I know. I realize that this interview is over five minutes. Like, way over five minutes. While I had fully intended to keep this interview within the allotted window that our teacher had given us (if you check the recording, you’ll see that I end the formal interview around the 5:30 mark). But, my subject, Tracey Rosenlund had a lot to say, and my line of questioning did not cover that at all. I made the conscious decision to keep the long interview, as opposed to interviewing her again. I liked the answers she gave me the first time; they were to the point, but still elaborated enough to keep the interview interesting.

Occupy Wall Street criminally underreported

This is Occupy Wall Street. Protesters descended onto Liberty Square in New York in an effort to bring attention to to those who feel under-represented by those in Wall Street. Over 2,000 men and women came to the sit-in, and continue to occupy the area after a week. Now, the New York Police Department have begun to arrest protesters en masse, with over sixty arrests today. Many claim that the officers are using unjust force to arrest peaceful protesters. Use of mace and tazers have been witnessed. But the worst part? None of this is in the news.

I See What You Did There

Frankly, I like critique time. It helps keep my ego in check, and Lord knows I could use some ego-checking from time to time. It helps keep me on track and on target; constructive criticism helps keep me focused. But giving it is just as important as receiving it. The other side of the coin gives me a frame of reference. I can see what needs to be done better,while at the same time mentally reminding myself that I could make the same improvements to my own. So looking at these other blogs gave me that opportunity to improve.

Leash Law Delayed

Jack, a Black Labrador, and his owner Mikole Bede might soon be affected by Laramie's impending leash law

The Laramie City Council postponed the second reading of its leash law last night, due to both public outcry and internal disagreement. Second reading of Ordinance 1832 will recommence in two weeks at the next scheduled council meeting.