Hyperlocal: Everyblock

Everyblock.com was bought by MSNBC in August. The five employees who worked to start the hyperlocal site with the Knight Foundation funding now work for one of the biggest media in the country.

The site is a neighborhood news site that aggregates items from blogs, Craigslist, Yelp, and Flickr. The idea is to bring everything together by geography for people who are interested in a particular area.

The Web site currently covers 15 cities aournd the country, from New York to Dallas (beta). The home page and the green color scheme remind me of Patch.com, another hyperlocal site that focuses in New York area.

Once you click on a city, it brings you to the local home page where you can type in a specific address and look for restaurants, bars, events nearby.

Choose from a list of subjects, then the site brings you further into that topic. For example, under the restaurant tab, it then breaks further down into different boroughs of New York City, until it gets down to the level of the block that is chosen.

Maybe hyperlocal sites are getting some momentum. Because Everyblock is not the only lucky duck, this June, AOL bought Patch.com with $7 million.

Video Editing: How to find free photos online

A few good sources for anyone who is looking for photos online for your multimedia projects:

• Flickr
• www.vintagepixels.com good for old pictures like WWII photos etc
  
• www.adigitaldreamer.com/gallery/
• www.masternewmedia.org
• Stock Xchng
• Library of Congress (it has a Flickr page which makes things easier)

Make sure when using these shared photos, credit the sources and caption your photos if appropriate.

NewzCrawler Comes Handy For News Junkies

NewzCrawler is a new software that looks very much like an Outlook email system. But it receives RSS feeds. So instead of receiving emails, you receive new blog items that you have signed up to.

Some say NewzCrawler is the most powerful RSS feeds organizer in the market. It has three main sections, similar to Outlook, there is a section for folders on the left, the list of new items on the top right, and the full text on the bottom right.

Introduced in September 2008, the software designer NewzCrawler.com seems to be a creative bunch in reorganizing news online.

It's not free. To be able to download it, there is an annual expense of $24.95. Not a terrible price given that it does offer extra features that the free Google RSS feeds reader doesn't.

NewzCrawler allows a user to organize news and blog items in customized folders. It also has a search engine that helps readers to locate a particular item quickly.

A CNET review said: “Of all the commercial RSS newsreaders we've reviewed, none beats NewzCrawler for its breadth of features, ease of use, and intuitive interface.”

To learn more about the software, please go to its Web site.

Podcast Introduction: I am Listening

An audio piece provides an active process that forces the listeners to create images in the heads, like making a mental movie. Different than the visual experience which causes neurological exhaustion, audio listeners are stimulated because of the active participation --- Dean Olsher, radio producer for the former The Next Big Thing

There are some bullet points from Olsher's speech today:

On the audio subject: What they say is secondary to how they say it. It was to express the subject's emotions that no one else is able to capture. Information, in that sense, has no place in this situation. That is the mistake that many podcasts are making in real life.

On Structure: Always think of a podcast story in terms of arc: the beginning, the development and the ending of a story. Therefore, you have an event instead of just having information.

On How-to: Get upfront and personal. Feel comfortable to invade the subject's personal space. Stop making hmmm sound to your subject as the subject is speaking, instead, getting used to the dorky nodding and smiling.

On Choosing the Subject: Audition your subject beforehand without letting them know it. Decide brutally who will be in your piece. In business podcasting where you deal with money and number, it is a little harder to make the podcast more compelling. Making narrative might be an option.

And finally, make it engaging, make it engaging, make it engaging.

Video Technique: the Basic Five Shots

For anyone who just starts to shoot videos, follow the basic Five-shots sequence.

1. The Hand Close-Up:

Why: It tells the audience what the subject does.
How: Camera should be held right next to the hands. Hands take up most of the screen.
Difficulty: difficult to make sure that the hands fill the screen and the shots are close enough.
Pitfalls: Many hand shots are not close enough therefore do not turn out to be as engaging.


2. The Face Close-Up:
Why: It tells the audience who the subject is.
How: Camera should be held right in front of the face. The face should take up the whole screen.
Difficulty: This might be the most difficult shot in the five shots because the camera is right in the subject's face and might be uncomfortable for the subject.
Tips: Take the shots later in the interview after the subject is more relaxed and is used to someone holding a camera around him/her.

3. The Medium Shot:
Why: It gives the audience a sense of surroundings of the subject.
How: Shoot from head to torso.
Difficulty: Easy. These are one of the most common shots in raw material.
Tips: When framing such shots, make sure your subject is 1/3 to the left or right of the screen. Don't put the subject in the center of the screen for aesthetic reasons. If the subject is on the left 1/3, make sure that he/she looks to the right so that there is little dead space on the screen.

4. The Wide Shot:
Why: It gives the audience a larger sense of surroundings.
How: Shoot from head to toe.
Difficulty: Easy. Another very common shots in raw material. Normally, there will be enough medium to wide shots material. Make sure you don't have too many of those and too few of the close-ups.
Tips: Same frame structure as the medium shots. In order to get a good wide shot, communicate with the subject and know where the subject is going to move from and move to so that you could anticipate and take the ideal shooting spot before it takes place.

5. The Over-the-shoulder Shot/The Point-of-view Shot:
Why: It shows the perspectives from the subject towards the surroundings as if the audience experience what the subject is experiencing.
How: Camera held up against the subject's shoulder from behind, showing part of the subject's head and shoulder.
Difficulty: Easy.

Extra: The creative or the experimental shot:
Why: Add variety to raw material. Add personal style to the video.
How: free style
Difficulty: Varies depending on how creative the videographer is.
Maybe something like...

Video Editing: How to find free music online

There are a few resources and tips on getting the music you want for your video in compliance with fair use.

A very resourceful Web site is www.archive.org. This is an open source site that is created to share human knowledge universally, for free! There are deluge of texts, moving images, and music uploaded by everyone around the world. Think of Wikipedia. This is a wikipedia in content sharing. You can find a lot of music in this link on the Web site.

And, Wikipedia never fails. Find all the free photos here.

For beginner video producers, these two Web sites should serve you well for the time being.

And then, I got a tip from the editor of CareerTV.com that another way to get your favorite music onto the video is simply play it loud and record it into Final Cut. But he did also say that such behavior is not strongly encouraged. :)

My Gadgets

To start a video project, I invested in these items:

* Camera --- Canon FS200

Cost: $329.99
Where to buy: Best Buy (622 Broadway, New York)
Phone: 212-673-4067
Check out more details of the camera here
My comment: I recommend this model. It's very light. The image is pretty steady and it is easy to upload footage to laptop.


* External Hard-drive --- Seagate 250GB FreeAgent Go

Cost: $79.99
Where to buy: Best Buy (622 Broadway, New York)
Check out more details here
My comment: Unless you have decided to take up video projects for a long period of time, you don't need a 250GB if it is just for one semester. Each 3-minute video (including raw material of about 45 minutes) counts about 3-4GB.


* Editing Software --- Final Cut Express (Academic version)

Cost: $69 with student discount
Where to buy: NYU Computer Store (242 Greene Street, New York)
(212) 998-4672
Check out details here
My comment: Final Cut Pro costs $999.99, Final Cut Express costs $299.99. This Express Academic version is really a bargain. It works very well. I strongly recommend students to take advantage of the discount.

* Case for the hard drive

Cost: $11.95
Where to buy: www.amazon.com
Check out the list of cases on Amazon here
My comment: I personally like this design the best, but I eventually bought this, because it has more pockets for the cord and a USB memory card.
Don't buy it in a store. It is cheaper to buy online.

Video 1: The Insider Tour

The Wall Street Insider Tour was started earlier this year by a former Deutsche Bank derivative trader Andrew after he lost his job in the financial crisis.

This is a 3-minute profile of the tour, with Tom Comerford, tour guide and a staff of Goldman Sachs. This is the first video I ever produced:

An Interview with Mara Schiavocampo

Mara Schiavocampo is a host for NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams. A pioneer of new media journalism, Schiavocampo reports, produces, shoots and edits video pieces, blogs and shoots still photos.

Schiavocampo was recently named to “Television Week's” list of the "next generation of television news stars" and is the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2007 Emerging Journalist of the Year, the first broadcast journalist ever to win this prestigious award.

Here is an interview with Schiavocampo on her opinion about multimedia journalism.

Q1: Everyone is talking about digital journalism and each journalist should be able to not only report, write, but also blog, twitter, take photos, shoot videos. What do you think are the pros and cons of such trend? Is this the future of journalism?

Mara Schiavocampo (MS): This is part of the future of journalism. I think that as we move
forward we'll have people working in traditional ways, new ways, and
everything in between. There will be full crews with a correspondent,
cameraperson, audio person and field producer, and there will be
solitary digital journalists. You'll have producers shooting and
shooters producing. Nothing's going away, we're just adding more.

Pros: greater control over your work and the ability to cover stories that
otherwise would be ignored. Cons: Perils of multi-tasking...do too much
and everything suffers.

Q2: How do you decide what medium to use for a particular story? How do
you try to make a story stand out and not be buried? What are the
limitations for each medium?

MS: It's just a matter of choosing the best tool for the job. If something's
really visual, video or pictures work best. If you want to get something
out quickly from the field with limited resources, file a short blog.
Spot a cute element that doesn't warrant a full story? Make it a video
blog. There are so many options that you can really choose the best
medium for the story.

Q3: What medium is the most challenging and the least challenging?

MS: Of course it depends on the individual story but generally speaking
video pieces are the most time consuming. Generally speaking shooting
takes much longer than say an interview for print, then there's logging,
then scripting, then editing. There are just more steps than you'll find
with other mediums.

Q4: What is your benchmark for each medium? Are there any role models
that you look up to in each medium?

MS: In terms of video journalists I admire Travis Fox of the Washington
Post. There are also so many talented people here at NBC like Nightly
News Associate Producer Victor Limjoco or Producer Anthony Galloway.

Q5: How have you adapted your style in terms of delivering the news in
utilizing different media?

MS: Solo digital journalism pieces tend to be a little looser and more raw,
less like a traditional piece. Video blogs are even more light and
relaxed in terms of production value. Blogs can be anything you want,
from casual to much more serious.

Q6: What is the most gratifying medium that you have worked with so far?

MS: I love shooting stills but unfortunately that's probably my weakest
skill. I'm a work in progress. Overall I'd say video. I love all the
layers in the storytelling - the story, the visuals, the sounds.

Q7: Who are your biggest competitors in each medium and how would you
compete with them?

MS: The thing with the web is that everyone's a potential competitor. Most
news websites offer everything, from text to video. So the NYT website
is as much competition as ABC. In terms of competition we just make the
best effort to serve the audience in an authentic way.

Q8: New media industry is still trying to find the silver bullet to make
money, what is your expectation of the new business model?

MS: I'm asked this question all the time. If I knew the answer I'd be rich!

Q9: How does audience of each age group respond to new media? Is this
something that only caters for young audience?

MS: Generally speaking younger people are earlier adopters and more willing
to try new things. Studies have shown that they also get a lot of their
news online, so based on that, I'm guessing our web audience is younger.
But these days, watching a clip online or reading a text piece is
becoming so common. Even my mom does it! So I feel like we're moving to
the point where some use of technology can be found in every group.

Q10: What are your advice for journalism students to prepare
themselves to become competitive in today's media?

MS: Be really active media consumers. See what's out there and how people are
watching and reading it. Become part of the audience that you're trying
to serve. Know at least the basics of different mediums like shooting
video, editing, writing text, etc. Also, I always advise people to set
up their own website and just start creating content. Even if no one
sees it, it shows potential employers that you're engaged and proactive.
Plus it's a great place to practice and make mistakes.

Intro: Video project of Life in Recession

In the next three months, I will keep a journal of my life as I carry on with the multimedia project for my NYU master program in journalism --- "Life in Recession."

The video project will feature three groups of people whose lives have changed since the collapse of Lehman Brothers a year ago.

From a former investment banker who is forced to take on a brand new endeavor, struggling writers who find new ways to market themselves and middle-age women who bravely step out their comfort zone to make a living.

How are these people surviving the recession? What are they doing now? What have they done to get here?

This is a one-person team that will spend the next three months reporting, producing, shooting and editing the videos. As my first video project, the journal will share with you every step I make as the project moves along. It is a daily dairy of the growing pain and gain as a traditional journalist develops digital journalism skills.