I am playing with Flash this weekend, which is partially my reason for not updating more. Though I have no real excuse. There is plenty to comment on and say, and I will probably do so on a few items that caught my attention this week later on tonight.

For now, though, I’m teaching myself how to embed video in Flash and creating a silly series of videos from my collection of Stater clips.

As I have previously said, my Flash skills leave a lot to be desired. I’ve decided to beef up on them. So, little by little I’m going to try and learn how to do some basic things. I wanted to learn the video bit first just because it is something cool I can look at immediately and say, “Hey, I did that and I didn’t know how to an hour ago.” :) I’m finishing off encoding and adding the last of the three clips right now. If it doesn’t look too bad and none of them is too incriminating, I’ll probably post the project here later tonight.

And, if anyone has good tips for Flash tutorials, please pass them along.

I was really confused by the cheesemaker, which was the first one I clicked on. Though I did laugh, especially at the “smells like a proctologist’s finger at the end of the day” comment. (If you’re not curious what prompted that comment, you’re not normal.)

But this kid, Gio, is so cute. It’s like someone gave one of my nephews a video camera and just said, “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Or maybe it’s like 7-year-old stand-up comedy? With the jump cuts, that’s kind of what it feels like.

A tease for you to click:
“I get those like scary feelings. If I die in my sleep, I don’t even need to worry. I’ll either be in heaven or in hell, either one. I think I’m gonna be in heaven. Because I got this little feeling that I’m special. So, it’s been a good life, but it’s hard on a little guy like me. It’s actually gonna suck more when I actually grow up. I know that. Uh huh, I know that.”

Either way, these awesome portraits/interviews are a part of a new project by the Washington Post called onBeing. Reminds me vaguely of the NYTimes project I blogged about awhile ago, where they went around and found ordinary people doing off-beat things. Only, probably because Rob Curley sprinkled his magic on it, the WP project is so much cooler.

I cringed when I clicked on the graphic packaged with Jim Carney’s Frigid weather to grip region story on Ohio.com.

Now, as I’ve stated before, I love the Beacon Journal. It was the paper I grew up reading, and consequently, it’s the yardstick to which I hold all other papers. And perhaps that’s why I hold it to a higher standard, which in turn is why that graphic disappointed me.

I know they are trying. They have embraced video and SoundSlides. (The quinceanera ones in particular impressed me as an excellent example of what SoundSlides should be.) Their Akron’s War Dead project, while maybe not the least confusing design, succeeds in humanizing the statistics. And they even came, editors and reporters alike, to Kent State for some on-camera training last semester. They are moving forward.

But the graphic only serves as a reminder of how far there is to go.

It’s not that it was poorly designed. It wasn’t. The information was supplementary to the main story as it should be.

What bothered me was the clear and utter disregard for the medium in which it was presented. They literally exported the same graphic from the paper and pasted it up on the Web. How do I know? First, it isn’t integrated as a photo might be or as a graphic should. It came up on its own page, just a .gif with no context or links (requiring me to hit back if I wanted to return to the story/site). It had about five points in one single image; many of the points are text heavy and should have been presented in, well, text on the site. And the kicker, it still has refers to page E1 and B3.

I have been meaning to buy a new audio recorder. I’ve never been one to tape my interviews, mainly because I don’t have the time to go back through and transcribe. And I haven’t had much chance or reason to use audio for any projects I’ve done. But I want to.

I used to have the Griffin iTalk for my iPod 4G. Well, I still have it, but as I have a broken 4G and a shiny Video iPod that it doesn’t work on, it’s no good to me. Although it certainly wasn’t CD-quality sound, it was effective for the few projects I used it on. It was also pretty good quality compared to most of the audio recorders I could have afforded. And since, as I said, I didn’t use it often, I wasn’t going to lay down too much money. I think I got the iTalk on eBay for about $30. Granted it had a much higher starting cost (the $300 I paid for the iPod), but because I already owned the iPod, the $30 was cheaper than the $100+ I’d have to shell out for another piece of equipment I’d have to carry.

Considering I already carry my cell phone, digital camera and iPod everywhere, (and my MacBook at least half the time) adding another bit of equipment isn’t really appealing. That (and the fact that my only job was Stater editor which paid enough to barely cover my bills and between that and classes left no time for other work) was part of the reason I held off on buying a digital recorder for myself. We bought some for the Stater, an Olympus model I can’t remember which right now, and of course I had access to those. So I didn’t have a reason to need one.

Now, as I’m starting to earn a little money and thinking about things I want/need, the audio recorder is back on my list. But I still have the same stipulations: I don’t really want to add to the gear I already lug around or spend more than $100, and it has to record decent quality sound.

I’m coming back to the iPod recorder model. I’ve heard good things about the Belkin TuneTalk. I already own an iPod. I can add an extral mic to it, if I wish. I don’t have to worry about Mac compatibility. It only costs about $70, or on eBay about $40. My only hesitation is that it’s black, and I have a white iPod and MacBook. But I guess if you have to sacrifice something, aesthetics should be among the first to go.

I don’t have to tell anyone who knows me that I have a strong desire to go to Africa. I fully intend, sometime in the next decade or so, to make it there. It’s on my top 10 things to accomplish in life list. I see so much potential for change and so much need. There are so many people and children living in Africa, all over the continent, who could genuinely use my help. For whom, my help could be the difference between life and death.

I want to go there and help, in whatever way I, as an insignificant person wandering through a relatively privileged life, can do. Probably not as a reporter, though if my job in the media is what brings me there, so much the better. There are stories, millions of them, there that need to be told. I had entertained the Peace Corps, and still want to do that when I am at a more secure place in my career. (I actually applied and began the interview/paperwork process, but halted it to gain more practical experience in a job first.)

Given all of that, seeing the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Feeding Africa, which I came across randomly in a post here, was refreshing.

Ironically, in the multimedia presentation laid out by the SLPD, it was the written essays that were the most poignant for me. Why? They effectively painted pictures of the people, their customs and the different pace of life. I also really enjoyed the first set of audio slideshows and the minimalism of the design. Some stories are powerful enough to stand on their own without bells and whistles and all sorts of snazzy Web 2.0 embellishments. Knowing when to tell the difference is somewhat of an art form most news organizations haven’t learned to command just yet.

This story is one of those millions that needs to be told, and given the number of newspapers abandoning foreign bureaus in favor of letting the AP handle the bigger picture stories that don’t fall between New York and California, it’s nice to see that there are places not afraid to take the time, money and resources and throw them into telling these stories.**

**(This of course doesn’t mean anything against the hyperlocal stories most papers are focusing on. By all means, this is, should and will only become more so our bread and butter. I’m simply saying that there are also larger stories beyond our radar worth telling also.)

Today, someone asked me if I used to be in broadcast.

Now anyone who’s ever seen me could probably tell in an instant that I don’t have a broadcast look. Not to mention, I say like and um entirely too much. (It’s a habit I work on every day, and one I’ve come a long way with since freshman year thanks in large part to the daily lectures by a certain law professor. I’m also sensing it’s one of my new editor’s pet peeves, so I really need to drop it quick.)

It wasn’t my look or my speech that made the photographer I was with today ask me that. I think it was probably how I approached the story.

My paper isn’t necessarily cutting edge in terms of online journalism. I knew that coming in, and in fact that was part of the reason I came here. I could contribute and bring a lot to the table. (I will give them one thing, there is definitely a huge push for reader interaction, both online and in print. They do that very well. There are also a ton of breaking news and story updates throughout the day; well not a ton, but a respectable number. There is definitely the get the news up on the Web as soon as possible and then update vibe.)

The paper is only just beginning to do video and sound slides, and several of the staffers went to videography training recently. So it’s still in the early stages. I was glad today to see that when I was sent to cover a fire, without a second thought they sent a photographer and then another photographer to shoot video.

So, when I was out there interviewing people and he was shooting the fire fighters/B-roll, I would tip him off on who he should get comments from on video and why. From the fire chief to the business owner to the employee who first spotted the flames. I mean, you can only tell so much from words in print. The emotion doesn’t always come through, hence the appeal of video. (On the way back I even teased that if he was quick enough with his editing he could beat TV. We’re not quite there yet, but I say give it time. Plus, the story and photos beat TV by a long shot, so that counts.)

And it occured to me that while I am definitely still learning and even relatively routine things like covering a fire are still novel enough to hold my interest, I am not the only person learning new things. There’s a lot I can and intend to learn from my editors and other reporters and photographers, but there are also skills and a mindset I have that I can pass the other way. I can show them to think for Web in the way I do, not even as second nature so much as an expected part of the package. We can learn from each other.

I saw this video in today’s Al’s Morning Meeting. It is young black women talking about what it means to be black, stereotypes, perceptions, and more. Perhaps because African-American studies interests the sociologist in me or maybe because of my own work and history with these topics, the video really struck a chord.

I don’t know how the interviewer was able to get such candid responses, but there’s definitely a lot to be said for just letting people talk, as she did. I think this is a great example of when it’s appropriate to find that average person and give them a soapbox or microphone and let them tell you what’s on their mind. It isn’t so in your face as the average man on the street interview. It’s more subdued and there’s more of a point to it.

This post about videography basics pretty much sums up the entire videography class I had to take for my major. In one concise, digestable post. Although learning to use Final Cut Pro, shoot video, set up a tripod, use white balance and image stablization, log & capture, and all that fun stuff was definitely helpful, I sure did hate the three-hour long classes when I had to sit through them.

This post sums up what I actually remember (two years later) in what I’d estimate is fewer than 1,000 words. If you’re interested, the site for my videography class is here. The blog is more readable, so go read it.

For inspiration check out the finalists for this year’s Edgie awards. I love randomly wandering around newspaper Web sites for inspiration and to see the cutting edge things people are doing. I’ve seen most of these sites and some of the stories. But this list will provide me some more exciting places to look for awhile ahead.

I just came across this video on YouTube.

Apparently, CBS is inviting people to submit 15 second clips of anything they want to tell the world. Anything within reason. Way more details can be found here.

What will they do with them? They’re going to choose and post some on CBS.com and broadcast some on Superbowl Sunday.

I may put something together. Maybe not. Either way, this is an interesting way to get users interacting with you. It reminds me of the videos of people singing Christmas Carols that the Springfield News-Sun gathered.

It’s an interesting concept that can be used for other things… have an outpouring of support when local troops leave? or after a solider is killed/injured? Let the community either submit their own videos or have a station set up in the lobby or mall so people can come in and record a message for the solider/families. Other uses of course exist, but that’s the one on top of my head.