MM #3: Let's Look At Some Vids And Blog Posts!

Here are some examples of your work. The comments are not being made to pick on anyone, and no grades are being shared beyond me and the person whose work it is. 

But I am sharing comments to help us all get a sense of what we did well, and what we can do better, and how to do that.

So please take a look at EACH piece of work (in order received) via the hyperlinks below, and see what ideas you can get by reviewing EVERYONE'S work to make your next multimedia assignment go as well as possible.

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Ian K.: eating on-campus vs. off video and blog posts. Good variety of B-roll, but it didn't always match what was being spoken about at that moment. The posts nicely complement each other.

Catherine B.: choosing your passion video and blog posts.

Katie K.: art in education video and blog posts. The posts are wisely split between what experts say and what people actually doing in think.

Dakota H.: music influence video and blog posts.

Rachel Y.: mopeds vs. bikes video and blog posts. I like how the video is broken down by topic rather than source. Likewise with the posts; with one offering the bike viewpoint and the other the moped side of things.

Nick F.: social media use video and blog posts. The B-roll was a bit repetitive. Mixing angles and distances can help us create a variety of shots from the same subject. Posts complement each other by getting the expert take and then looking at what really happens in the real world.

Shannon L.: student stress video and blog posts. Strong B-roll mix.

Jabari S.: students saving cash video and blog posts. We could have used more B-roll toward the end.

Audrey P.: eating healthy video and blog posts. Attribution captions should come when we first see and hear the speaker, not before. And B-roll should go over A-roll, not just after it.

Jack K.: living on-campus video and blog posts.

Jared C.: student stress video and blog posts. The second half of each interview needed B-roll specific to what was being talked about at that time. The blog posts go together very well.

JRN 200: Your Homework For Wednesday 11/8

More multimedia work! Here we go:

*** For your second multimedia assignment, we will use video and blog formats like those in our first assignments, but instead of having sorta irrelevant topics, you will take all of or an aspect of one of your first two out-of-class stories, and do a video/online preview/online recap for it.

That would include:

... a 1-2 minute video, uploaded to YouTube, with B-roll and at least two source interviews on-tape;

... a 100-200-word look at one side of the issue, posted to blogger.com and done in a journalistic style, taking a look at one aspect of the issue, with at least two relevant working hyperlinks embedded in the text;

... and a 100-200-word look at the other side of the issue posted to blogger.com and done in a journalistic style, taking a look at an aspect of the issue that's complementary (and not copying) the aspect from the first post, with at least two relevant working hyperlinks embedded in the text;

For this exercise, you may re-interview sources from your previous stories or interview new sources. You may also use what you gathered and your notes from your original stories in putting together your new media news products.

Also, when I say you can do the entire comprehensive story or just an aspect of it, this is what I mean: let's say you did a story on the pros and cons of living off-campus vs. on-campus. The video may just look at one aspect, such as opinions on the issue. 

The first online story might look at the experiences of on-campus residents; with the second looking at off-campus viewpoints. Or maybe one post looks at the pros of being on-campus, with the next looking at the cons. Or the first talks to the people who run off- and on-campus housing, and the second talks to the students who live on- and off-campus.

None of the mediums necessarily have to look at the issue as broadly as you did in a traditional text story (though you may do so if you so choose).

*** Your deadline for the second multimedia assignment will be 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 16 via email to omars@msu.edu. Please put ALL your links to your work into a single email, with the subject line of MM2. 

*** Also, on Friday, Nov. 10 we will NOT have class! Please use the time to work on your upcoming multimedia work. Class will resume Wednsdat, Nov. 15.

If you need any assistance, contact me ASAP. And good luck, everybody!

Blog/Tweets #1: Let's Look At Some Posts And Tweets!

The simplest way I had to explain this assignment was in terms of something many of us are already familiar with: sports coverage. In the same way we do a game preview, live game tweets and then a game recap, we were to do an event preview, live tweets following the event as it happened and then a recap of the event for this assignment.

Some took the sports analogy and did literally that, and I think that's a good place for us to start. Here is one person's preview post, and then their tweet stream and finally their recap. See how the preview sets things up for the tweet stream, and then the recap nicely gets to end result and ultimate outcome? This is how we want multimedia products to complement and not copy each other.

Now, let's look at some examples using this format with non-sports topics including ...

* A birthday party preview and tweets and recap.

* Returning bottles preview and tweets and recap.

* Cooking dinner preview and tweets and recap.

Blog/Tweets #1: What It Might Look Like

For our opening assignment in using social media and writing about breaking news, what I will ask you to do is to pick out anything you observe as part of your daily routine for which to write an online breaking news preview story, an online breaking news follow-up story, and a live tweet stream as the event is unfolding.

When I say I want you to do anything in your daily routine, I do mean anything. Cover your watching  your favorite TV show. Or your roommate making breakfast. Or a game on TV you're watching. Really, anything.

(I want these to be observations, not something you're participating in. For example, you can cover your roommate making breakfast, but not a first-person account of you making breakfast yourself. Just like with a news story, don't use first-person references.) 

The reason for that is that I simply want you to get used to the technical process, without having to do any real and time-consuming reporting. We will incorporate reporting in latter versions of this assignment.


The parameters  of the assignment include:

-- Each breaking news entry being about the SAME topic, being covered as a preview and then a recap of what happened
-- Each breaking news story staying over the 100-word minimum 
-- The breaking news stories being written in a journalistic style, as opposed to a first-person blog-like style
-- Each breaking news item containing two working hyperlinks, inserted onto text
-- A minimum of 12 tweets on the same subject as the breaking news topic 
-- Each tweet having a consistent unique hash tag, to allow the tweets to be chained together


Now, to give you an idea of what the final product might look like, let's look at breaking news/tweet combos from the first such assignment (cut-and-pasted here; though for this assignment I want you to do it on Twitter and blogspot.com and then send me the links) from a past JRN 200 class, and let's talk about what worked and what can be done better.

And we're off: 

26. Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    Girls begin to leave the kitchen and head to their 12:40 classes. Ryan will be serving lunch until 1:00pm. #bestcampuscook

    
    
27.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    The bus boys are beginning to clean the dishes of the girls who have already finished their meals. #bestcampuscook
28.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    More girls just arrived as Ryan puts out another round of chicken gyros. #bestcampuscook

     Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5
29. Liz Redmond: "This is my favorite meal that Ryan makes!" #bestcampuscook
30.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    Chef Ryan made glutton-free chicken nuggets for a couple girls who can't eat the meal today. #bestcampuscook

     Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5
31. The volume in the kitchen is louder than ever due to all the conversations by the girls. What is everyone talking about? #bestcampuscook
32. 
    

    Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    The girls just discovered the Italian wedding soup. 4 bowls were just poured. #bestcampuscook

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33.    

    Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    The smell of freshly cut tomatoes and onions are filling the kitchen. #bestcampuscook

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34.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    Chef Ryan, a U of M fan, lost a bet to the girls & he has to wear a green and white tutu all week. # 

    
    

    
    

    
    

    bestcampuscook pic.twitter.com/Kq4xdmAwvc

    
    
35.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    Chef Ryan just put out a fruit bar. Pineapple, cantaloupe, mangos, and oranges all freshly cut for the Theta girls. #bestcampuscook
36.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    
      
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Chicken gyros, homemade by Chef Ryan, look the best I've ever seen them. #bestcampuscook pic.twitter.com/AJP1dgD5nz

    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
37.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    20 girls out of the 54 who live-in are attending lunch today. #bestcampuscook

    
    
38.   Andrea Urban ‏@JRN200_AndreaU Nov 5

    It's almost lunch time at Kappa Alpha Theta with Chef Ryan! Chicken gyros are on the menu today. #bestcampuscook

Now, here are the blog posts previewing and recapping the event:

Lunch at Theta

Tuesday, November 5

Post

When it nears time for class, the ladies of Kappa Alpha Theta give their dishes to the bus boys who help clean up while Chef Ryan begins to prepare dinner. The bus boys are men from fraternities on campus who are expected to come by the sorority house at the end of each meal. Chef Ryan has only been with Theta for two years now and they've never been happier about hiring him from Campus Cooks. The girls always leave with their stomachs full and looking forward to dinner. It is rare when the girls have something bad to say about Chef Ryan's masterpieces. Today is was chicken gyros, wonder what it will be tomorrow?

Preview

Everyday at 11:30am, Kappa Alpha Theta's Chef Ryan has a full meal made and ready for the girls to eat. Each day it's a new meal, plus he will special make certain dishes for girls with allergies. Chef Ryan is a part of Campus Cooks here at Michigan State. Each Sorority and Fraternity have a Campus Cook Chef to cook for them 5 out of the 7 days a week. During lunch you can expect to see plenty of girls throughout all grades who live in the sorority come downstairs to the kitchen for a quick lunch before class. 

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Here's another example:

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2.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

   Erickson finished the race with a great time, got first, and just won the game despite her interruption! �� #NikkiGameCubePro
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   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

   Erickson is on the edge of her seat on the futon, determined to take first place and win it all. #NikkiGameCubePro
4.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

   Erickson moved on from the city ride to test her skills in the final race against her computer opponents. #NikkiGameCubePro
5.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

   Baker apologized and just left the room. Erickson has returned to concentrating on her goal of winning. #NikkiGameCubePro
6.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

   Erickson is beyond frustrated that her chances of winning are in jeopardy now.  

   #NikkiGameCubePro pic.twitter.com/WJRRopg039

   
   
   

   
7.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

   Erickson yells at her friend, Emily Baker, for her disturbance. #NikkiGameCubePro
8.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

   Erickson's friend from down the hall entered her room and has severely interrupted her game. #NikkiGameCubePro

    Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5
9. Erickson just collected a ticking time bomb and had Kirby shoot it at a hopeless victim. #NikkiGameCubePro
10.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

    The game is getting intense. Erickson is extremely focused. #NikkiGameCubePro p

      

    ic.twitter.com/Nw0aayHiPp

    
    

    

    
    

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11.    

    Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

    Erickson is off to a good start, as usual, busting open boxes and collecting dozens of badges. #NikkiGameCubePro

     Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5
12. Erickson turned on her favorite game, Kirby Air Ride, and is beginning her quest through the city as Kirby. #NikkiGameCubePro
13.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

    Erickson kicked off her shoes, grabbed her GameCube remote and a blanket, and is now retrieving to the futon. #NikkiGameCubePro
14.   Sophie Smith ‏@sophiejrn200 Nov 5

    Nikki Erickson just returned to her dorm room for the first time since early this morning. She's eager to relax. #NikkiGameCubePro

Now, the blog posts:

Blog New Media #1 - Review 

Michigan State student Nikki Erickson quickly paired up with her GameCube controller when she came home from her class-filled day on Tuesday.

Erickson was going through her normal routine of dominating her favorite game, Kirby Air Ride, in an attempt to win it all as she had done many times in the past.

Just after busting open a crate with a bunch of badges inside to collect in the game, Erickson was interrupted when her friend down the hall, Emily Baker, entered her room unannounced.

Erickson's concentration had been blown and as a result, blew up at Baker. Baker left the room promptly after.

"I really didn't know she was so in the zone," Baker said. "I wouldn't have interrupted her if I knew."

Just when Erickson thought she had lost her chances, it was time for her final race that determined her fate.

After zooming past her computerized opponents as fast as lightning, receiving 3 speed boosts on the way, Erickson took first place and won the game.

Blog New Media #1 - Preview 

A student at Michigan State University plans to come home from a long day of classes on Tuesday and play her GameCube. Nikki Erickson has always enjoyed video games and playing Kirby Air Ride in her dorm room is something that helps her to unwind at the end of the day.

Erickson is extremely competitive and excels greatly at this game she plays so frequently. However, every time she sits down to begin to play, the excitement is just as great as before.

Erickson knows the game like the back of her hand, yet she strives to perform even better and accomplish more than she did in the game she played previous.

"I love playing my GameCube because it helps me forget my school work for a little while," said Erickson. "Instead of doing college algebra I get to zoom around on a Warpstar. Who wouldn't want to do that?"

Although that's an easily answered question, the one that's not is will Erickson successfully take on several races and mini games once again and win the game?