Week 4: Apple Picking

This week I am doing another sound slides piece and this one is going to be on the apple picking farm called Beak and Skiff. It is located in Fayetteville. I think I can make a really interesting piece with this.

I am going to be looking to interview workers, founders, owners, and customers. I want the sounds of working in the store, picking the apples, laughter and talking, interaction, tours, the cart that brings people to the different orchards, and anything else I can think of when I am there.

I would also like to document all these things in photographs as well. I am really looking forward to going here and talking to people so hopefully this works out for the next soundslide.

Week 3: Soundslide Production

This week I produced a soundslide multimedia piece. The gorilla story feel through, I ended up not getting enough of a variety with it, so I changed my story to a place right next to campus called Funk ‘N Waffles. It’s pretty much the new hot spot of the University.

Funk ‘N Waffles was started by two graduates of Syracuse who won a business plan competition from the Whitman School of Management. Their business took over one that was leaving, La Tazza, and is a place to go enjoy waffles, coffee and music.

Many students and community members go here to relax, do work, and also see shows. Every Thursday (ending this week I think) there has been a Regaee band and on the weekends local bands usually play in the restaurant.

The piece is about the atmoshpere, making of, work, and look/feel of the restaurant. I think a lot of the pictures matched well with the sound, but there were too many. I need to take some out because they moved to fast to get a really good look and feel of the place. I think the sound however was good. I would like to add some parts in about the music that is played and have a customer talk and maybe a band member, but I think that would do well as another story like a part 2. I need to go back and tweak a few things but I think it came out alright technically- except for the too many pictures.

Week 3: Soundslides, Photos, and Sound

This week we have to generate stills to go along with the interview we recorded last week. Since I can’t take pictures of the schizophrenic patient my teacher used to work with, I am planning on taking Hoyt’s picture in his gorilla costume. He and his housemates are having a party this weekend, which happens to be a jungle party, so I was told the gorilla WILL be making an appearance.

I would like to get the gorilla in action, interacting with guests, collecting money, serving beverages, reactions to him, as well as him getting dressed and underssed. I am planning on following him through the night and documenting what he does. If he goes outside (which he normally does) and pops out at people, hopefully I can record that too. In his interview he also told me a man with a supersoaker chases him. I don’t know if the man will be showing up this weekend, but we will see!

As for sound, I would like to get reactions to the gorilla, maybe a few interviews of people who have seen him in the past, first timers, and ambient sounds at the party.

Week 2: Interesting Person Interview

This week I have to work on interviewing an interesting person. I chose two different people. The first is Dr. Kevin Master, my abnormal psychology professor. I decided to interview him because not only is his area of specialty interesting (abnormal psych), but he also tells funny stories from life in class. I figured by asking about something interesting, he would give me a nice sound piece because not only would he have a great story but would tell it in an interesting way as well. I asked him about his strangest encounter with a patient and he told me a story about his schizophrenic patient from when he was beginning his practice.

The sound came out nice, there was a fan in the background but he was clear. He talked for two minutes though, so I really had nothing to edit. because of this I decided to interview my friend Hoyt Bangs because he is on of the most interesting people I know.

Hoyt answered two interviews for me. The first was if he had ever been abroad and he told me about his craziest experience. Hoyt went to Australia for a semester and talked about one of his visits to a foreign country and interacting with the locals. I then asked him about what his favorite thing to do at Syracuse was and he responded that he likes to dress as a mock gorilla at parties and interact with guests. Both stories were very interesting and fun and the sound was good. I think I had a bit of mic noise but besides that it was clear.

Week 2: Flickr and WordPress

Flickr and WordPress are great ways of communicating ideas and displaying work for others to see. I am having a little trouble navigating them right now because I have never used them, but I’ll get the hang of it by the end of the semester.

I think Flickr is great because I can put my work up with tags and if people are looking for a picture specifically related to something, and my tag matches, they will find my pictures and I can sell them and get my name out there. Also I really like how you can make comments and suggestions on it. This will really help my photography and is a great way to receive feedback from people all over the world.

I have never really blogged before, mostly because of lack of time, but I think it’s a great way of expressing ideas and getting feedback on them as well. Having access to the web and being able to communicate with people from all over the place instantly is such a wonderful thing to be able to do in our society. Hopefully I’ll keep blogging even after this class and be able to express ideas and get help from others.

Week 1: Interviews and Sound Bites

I had fun this week with the interviews and the ambient sound bites. I think I could have done a much better job with the sound bites and been more creative with the room I chose, but the interviewing was a blast. I wish I had gotten to talk to more people. I asked “What was the best prank you were ever involved in, or had pulled on you, when you were young?” I received some really fun answers. Some people would hype up a story and then let me down once I was recording them (I guess they felt awkward) but they would make the story sound great before we started and then tell it dully when I recorded. Others though did a really great job and were reallyanimated when telling the story. I tried to make everyone feel comfortable and pick a fun question, but I guess it’s just a matter of howcomfortable some people feel with a mic in their face. Anyway, it was really fun and I heard a few interesting stories about what kind of pranks these guys were involved in. I do wish I had talked to some girls as well, but that can always be an add-on I guess.

Week 1: First Blog

As a photojournalism major I am extremely interested in photography and telling stories through it. Multimedia storytelling is a new way of creating a photo story, but adds audio and/or video to it. I find this tool very effective and want to learn how to use audio and video to make my photography stronger and more interesting. Also, because it is new I think being able to incorporate these things into my photography is a very important skill to have. I’m really excited to build my portfolio this semester with new (and hopefully awesome) images and multimedia pieces. Although I have worked with audio and created a few sound slides pieces, I am not that familiar with video and am excited to learn about the technology and create some new pieces!!