Week 4

Ismeralda Ramirez, 5, poses for a picture for her mother, after the kindergarden promotion ceremony at the Anne Darling Elementary School in San Jose on Wednesday, June 14, 2006. A coalition of colleges in Silicon Valley are participating in a pilot program to encourage students to start thinking about college early and create a "college going culture" at some of the region's poorest local schools. (LiPo Ching/San Jose Mercury News)
[a different set of pictures were used for the paper]

FIELD NOTES

This week, I trained on the editing desk for three days with Akili Ramsess, the Deputy Director of Photography/Print, and Elly Oxman, the new editor. I also shot for two days. On Sunday (6/18/06), I worked solo as an editor from 2-10pm, for Monday’s paper. Multimedia issues were postponed as I was trying to reach the level where I could fulfill the duties of a picture editor.

Some information that I gleaned from various conversations:

1) There have been multimedia efforts on daily assignments that were abandoned because they didn’t work. There were two instances in which video was shot but not used. So far, only 4 photographers have completed video pieces: Gary Reyes, Dai Sugano, Karen Borchers and Richard Hernandez.

2) Richard once compared the amount of time it took to complete an assignment with a still camera versus the time it took to complete a comparable with a video camera, from which stills were pulled from the footage. Richard stated that it took an equal amount of time to complete the assignments, having shot about 12 minutes worth of video footage.

3) One photographer seemed to indicate that photographers are sometimes producing multimedia just to show that they can (I’m assuming among other reasons). There’s a bit of competitive spirit. If a photographer only has one assignment and it’s early enough in their shift, they may attempt to produce a multimedia piece. I’m not sure the subject really merited an audio slideshow. But it is utilizing a photographer on his down time.

4) Since mercurynewsphoto.com is blog based, each multimedia piece can also act like a forum. For example the Madonna slideshow inspired a lot of comments.

I was credited with my first slideshow as editor on Gary Reyes’ MISSION ACCOMPLISHED slideshow on Stanford University’s Graduation. In this case, I viewed Gary’s take and helped choose the final pictures. But Gary completed the audio edit and ordered the pictures in the slideshow himself. I was able to suggest a simple switch in image order, but didn’t have much influence in really shaping the piece. Elly, who’s credited as the editor of three slideshows this week has mentioned that she’s had the a similar experience with some of the slideshows (she had a bit more input with GAME FACES). Again, I think this is an issue of not having enough editing staff, rather than the preferred method of operation. It seems that the photographers have much more downtime to experiment with multimedia than the editors have. I think the experimentation works fine at this phase, but it will be interesting to see if the process and product will evolve.


Mercurynewsphoto.com slideshows from June 10, 2006 – June 18, 2006:

Two of the slideshows had no audio. Most of the photographers collected ambient audio and interviews and combined them with the pictures to get a sense of the event and of some of the people who attended. Sometimes the slideshow had a linear timeline, and other times it was more a collage of people -- though even the collages strived to create a beginning and end.

Lubens' was the only photographer who used a voiceover (TAKING THE PLUNGE and COACH). Since her COACH story was one of the more involved stories, it helped to have the narrator bridge gaps that couldn't be clearly told through pictures. The one issue to consider is that it might have felt smoother and possibly more satisfying if the narrator had been introduced.

COACH: http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/2006/06/17/coach/
PLUNGE: http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/2006/06/10/taking-the-plunge/

The slideshow that works best for me is WICKETS AND OVERS, about a local Cricket league.
WICKETS: http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/2006/06/16/wickets-and-overs/
There's a simple but effective angle to the story (it's an introduction to Cricket rather than "here are some people who play cricket") and the structure that Meyer uses works well. I was really engaged by introduction where the team members are trying to figure out a name for their Cricket team. Meyer is also the only photographer to use a more obvious portrait to identify the speaker, who also uses a conventional audio ID. The speaker then goes on to describe the game -- the photos are an effective illustration of the audio. The last third brings in ambient audio of the game. The classic Hollywood three act structure. It's less impressionistic, but it's solid and engaging.

Though the single portrait and Audio ID may be a standard convention I think it may be necessary for most of the slideshows that are being created now at the Mercury News. I do think there's room for experimenting as in Hernandez's "Seasons" videos, but I would argue that the majority of the slideshows need a bit sharper structure.

LISTING:

Mission Accomplished
Stanford University graduates celebrate at their commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 18, 2006.
By Gary Reyes/LiPo Ching

Coach
Dave Kocina been coaching Little League for 28 years.
By Pauline Lubens /Elly Oxman

Vertical Challenge Helicopter Air Show
At San Carlos Airport in San Carlos Saturday June 17, 2006.
By Patrick Tehan

Wickets and overs
The first junior national cricket tournament to be played in the United States debuts June 22 in Silicon Valley.
By Nhat Meyer/Elly Oxman

Game faces
The Mercury News recognizes 12 high school athletes who delivered the spring’s most compelling performances.
By Staff/Elly Oxman

Shining Bright
A glimpse at the spirit of Mathson Middle School, a San Jose school making remarkable strides.
By Gary Reyes

East Palo Alto High School Graduation
Civil Rights pioneer speaks to graduating seniors Monday, June 12, 2006.
By Jim Gensheimer/Akili Ramsess

Live 105’s 13th annual BFD concert
23 bands in 12 hours at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on Saturday, June 10, 2006.
By Jim Gensheimer

Latino Sports bar home to World Cup fans
Fans gathered at Futbol, Antojitos y Mas watched Mexico beat Iran 3-1.
By Gary Reyes

Gay Pride Festival
Voices at the San Jose Gay Pride Festival on Saturday June 10, 2006.
 By Dai Sugano

Taking The Plunge
Disabled children and adults had a chance to try scuba diving and snorkeling at “Scuba Discovery” at Los Gatos Aquatic Center on Saturday June 10, 2006.
By Pauline Lubens /Richard Hernandez