Final Announcements

The Finish Line. AP Photo

There will be no class on Tuesday, Dec. 8. Instead of looking at presentations of the final projects during our last class, I am asking that you leave feedback on at least three of your classmates’ final-project posts. You can leave this feedback as either a comment on the class blog or the MassLive blog of your classmate or you can leave it via Twitter, using the #wftw hashtag.

Some students have mentioned they are having trouble uploading videos. I suggest you either upload your video to YouTube and embed it on your blog post or you can try going to this page.

Remember, final projects are due by 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8. Good luck. I look forward to checking out your final projects.

Thanks again for making this a fun and educational semester.

Video Blogs

Here are some good examples of video logs that you should check out…

Wine Library TV

Rocketboom

Mom’s Brag Vlog

Project 2 Meta-Assignment and Deadlines

Over the next two weeks, I am asking you to make 10 Twitter updates about the progress you are making on your final project. This is an effort to have you talk about your process and to interact and communicate with your classmates as they undertake similar projects.

We will use the hashtag #wftw on these tweets so we can all check out that feed for one-stop shopping. Feel free to use retweets, @tweets and links to round out your 10 tweets. When you are done with your 10 Tweets, please cut-and-paste them all as one post on your class blog as well as your own 100-word recap/analysis of how the tweeting process affected — or did not affect — your final project .

Deadline reminder:

Monday – Nov. 30. E-mail me your final project outline.

Tuesday – Dec. 8. Project 2 is due. So are your 10 tweets and your 10-tweet blog post on your class blog.

Last Night’s Class

Photo by Holly Galvin

I thought last night’s pre-holiday class went very well. We had a couple of good discussions about the various strategies people use to incorporate photos and text in their blog posts to tell stories.

We also started to talk a little bit about using video in a similar capacity. In class last night, we looked at a few such videos.

We looked at a longer video feature about a marine who took his own life after returning from active duty.

We looked at an artsy feature video, looking at this year’s nominees for the Toy Hall of Fame.

And we looked at how the Times-Picayune Saints beat writer did his post-game video blog wrap-up.

Next week, we will talk even more about video and will have a special guest in class to give us some concrete tips on telling stories on blogs, integrating text, photos and videos. And stay tuned: I will also post some more video examples on this blog, leading up to next week’s class.

Photo Blog Assignment

Due before next class is the photo-blog assignment.

For the UVoices blog, I want you to write a blog post that blends text (you choose how many words) with between three to six large original photos. The photos should be displayed large and centered either at the top of the blog post or at the bottom of it with accompanying captions that help tell the story.

Check out the Bay Road Photo blog for formatting ideas.

Remember, the photos will be 432 pixels wide. You can have the originals as wide as 480 pixels. To see the photo size, right-click on a PC and scroll down to “Properties.”

Kind of Blue

Here is the Wired.com “blue” photo contest we looked at briefly in class tonight.

And here were the Top 10 submissions chosen by the editors of the Web site. and the Top 10 chosen by the readers.

What do you think?

Project No. 2

Project No. 2 is worth a potential 10 points, or one-tenth your final grade for this class.

You are being asked to write an original 500- to 600-word blog post with an original photo and an original video embedded for the MassLive blog. Both the photo and the video should complement the text on the blog. The video should be at least one minute long. If you write a first-person blog entry, it should be more in the nature of an experiential, first-person essay than a pure editorial- or column-style opinion piece. If you write a third-person story, make sure you talk to and quote from two different sources in the piece.

There are two deadlines for this project:

1. E-mail me a 75-word outline of the piece that tells me generally what the story will be about, who the sources will be, what type of original photo you envision using to illustrate the piece and how you plan to execute the accompanying video. Due: Monday, Nov. 30.

2. Final piece is due Tuesday, Dec. 8 by the start of class. (We will present these stories and play the videos in class.)

Note: Points will be deducted for missing either deadline.

Links for Class

Here are some links for tonight’s class…

Part One: The Big Picture.

Part Two: Using photos to tell the story…

Wired’s Mario Museum

Chicago Tribune’s kitschy-kitschy cool archive shots.

Part Three: Five blogs with photos…
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Magda Indigo

Bay Road Photo

Detroit Funk

Pretty Paper Blog

The I’s Have It

I was impressed with the caliber of writing students did during class last week on the first-person assignment. Though some admitted their struggle with the open-ended assignment or with the format in general, it was good to see everyone work through those struggles and produce some engaging content. And there were others who appreciated the chance to dive into the open I-waters. Regardless, it was fun to read the writer-centered posts.

I-Pieces for Us To Read and Discuss

I want to show you different versions of first-person pieces.

The first is a story of inaction by a person trying to embrace his inner Hunter S. Thompson.

The second speaks of the importance of having well-chosen foes in your life. It is by Chuck Klosterman, the fellow in the photo above. If you aren’t familiar with Klosterman’s hilarious and well written pieces, you should check out any of his collections of essays. His most recent is called Eating the Dinosaur.