My Final J198 Thoughts

Where do I begin? There's a lot for me to say about Multimedia Reporting and really, they're all good things. I came into this class blind--I had no idea what we would be doing. I took the class because I had just had Jeremy in Media & Society and I did pretty well, so I thought it couldn't hurt and I needed one more Journalism credit.

I think the emphasis on social media was one of the most important elements that I took away from Multimedia Reporting. We're moving into an age where communication is focused on efficiency. How fast can we move information around? With the evolution of networks such as twitter and facebook, the speed at which people can interact with one another is unprecedented. In Multimedia Reporting, we learned specifically how to utilize this medium (via Twitter and blogging) to publicize our work and it especially made us all realize how quickly our efforts can be seen by others. I was shocked when some of my tweets regarding my final project were retweeted and responded to by people I don't even know, yet they gave some pretty awesome insight!

By focusing on social media and spending a lot of our time in this realm, I think it's safe to assume that the class picked up on the notion that social media isn't just meant for "social" purposes. Businesses, organizations and companies are too jumping on this trend and using social media to market their brands. In today's society, it's not if a company uses social media, it's when, and the sooner the better.

In terms of the class, I really liked how Jeremy utilized these platforms along with us. Both inside and outside of the classroom, he kept the conversation going thus making it impossible for "J198" to ever leave our minds. Without him there, I don't think the whole idea of us conducting class in this area would have ever worked!!!

Moving along, I think being able to report in more ways than just on paper will be beneficial in the future. To know how to create news videos, podcasts and slideshows is something that isn't just useful in the professional world, but it's kind of cool to know how to create this things for personal reasons--making memories!!

As an overall evaluation of myself, I think this class really taught me that it's ok to make mistakes. There were plenty of assignments in this class that were far from perfect, but they all made for excellent learning experiences.

In the end, if I could take this class again, I WOULD!

J198 Course Material

Ok so to be completely honest, it's probably not fair for me to comment about the class readings--I kind of didn't really do them. I skimmed here and there and for what I saw, the textbooks looked really informative, but I don't hold me to that.

So...moving right along.....I loved the Kodak cameras. They were so easy to use and so easy to carry. My first investment as a real person may be to get one of them for myself. They're actually really practical and have amazing quality! I do have a complaint about Windows Movie Maker though. It's seems like it's a really really old product, and perhaps we could have been trained on MAC programs like iMovie or GarageBand (for podcasting).

I also really liked that before a lab or during class time, we received handouts giving us literally a step-by-step manual on how to do things. For people like me who have to ask a trillion and 1 questions before they begin a project, this method for teaching left no holes. The screen shots worked wonders as well!

So yeah, to sum up...don't ask me about the textbooks, no Windows Movie maker, yes to handouts!!!

Wrapping up an amazing semester in J198

While I don't think my blog posts have been the most descriptive things ever, I have to say that my experience in J198 might possibly have been the most rewarding in my whole career as a Lehigh University student. To be completely honest, I owe my new found career track to Jeremy Littau and thank him with my whole heart for pointing me in the direction that I will be heading for the near future in my life.

To back track, I'm using this post to go over what I liked and what I didn't so much love about this course. I suppose it's better to start with bad so as to end on a positive note. Ok so as a second semester senior, this class is a TON of work. Editing processes alone took hours upon end in addition to the amount of time it took to get footage and to initially find where we wanted to go for the footage. BUT--to say that the hours of time we put in was for nothing is a blatant lie. Especially now that the class has ended, it's impossible to say that nothing was done without reason and without an educational value to it. I now know how to work the newest generation of video recorders, how to work a movie editing program and how to stand up in front of a camera and use personality to introduce and end a story. In fact, I really learned that a little enthusiasm can take you a long way--but apparently not win you a Pulitzer, right Jeremy!?!?

I guess the long hours and hard work are my only complaints which actually make me sound pretty pathetic as a college student, so I'm moving right along to the reasons why I loved this class. Like I said before, we did every exercise for a reason. Despite the work, I learned so much by doing things in a hands-on fashion, rather than just reading about it in the textbooks. What I really loved about Multimedia Reporting was the emphasis on social media. I had never used Twitter before this class and now, I can't imagine my life without the site. Everything I've done this semester, whether it was for class or not, was documented via my tweets. I love it!!!

I also loved the size of the class. Because there were very few of us, we got to be a close group and developed relationships with each other as well as with Jeremy. The small size enabled us to feel close enough to ask each other questions and to be each others teachers.

Hmmm what else did I love??? I liked the fact that the end of the semester was used solely to work on our projects. Once we had all the knowledge on how to use the programs, we were able to use class time to get our work done. This worked really well because I am on an entirely different schedule than my groupmates, and we knew that 1-3 on Wednesdays definitely worked for all of us, so we definitely were able to take advantage of class time to get things done.

And lastly, it was great that we started working on our final projects almost at the beginning of the semester. I didn't know either one of my groupmates before this class, so working with them for the whole semester really lent itself for us to get to know each other. Now, as a group, we couldn't be any prouder of what we accomplished and created as a team!

So yeah, for now, that's why I LOVED J198. If I weren't graduating and if Wally Trimble can come up with a way for students to take this class twice, I would sign up again in a heart beat.

It's official

Thank GOD I did not go into the tech side of Internet work. My head hurts!!!!!

Story Ideas

These are our preliminary ideas for our final J198 project. A few of the topics listed we've covered already, however it puts us in a great place in order to finish the weebly website on time. If there is anyone out there who is somehow reading my blog, perhaps you could offer some insight or suggestions??

1. How will the skate park impact the skate and snowboarding shop on 4th Street in South Bethlehem? We’ll do a profile on the store and ask them about what they anticipate from the opening.

2. A narrative story on local Bethlehem residents who used to work for Bethlehem Steel. What are their lives like in Bethlehem now? How has the city changed?

3. According to the Morning Call, Sands casino executives and the owners of the Steel Ice Center are considering a partnership to build a 3,500-seat concert and meeting venue next to the casino in south Bethlehem. We’ll look into this and see what the planning stages look like so far.

4. A slideshow photo series on what the Bethlehem Steel property looks like now with text describing what it could look like in the future.

5. What impact has the casino had on the Bethlehem community? Is it economically similar or different than that of Bethlehem Steel? What are the social implications?

6. Word on the street is that the work on the hotel is set to resume! We want to investigate the truth behind this matter, get in touch with the right people, and report on its progress.

We also need to examine the best formats in which to present each of these stories. What works best as a sidebar feature? What works as a narrative? What should be in writing format and what should be a video or an audio podcast. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I really think we're in a great place. We've got all the necessary tools to get this project done to the best of our ability, and I think we can really do a great job and gain a lot of important experience!

We made a Podcast!

Anya, Liz and I had a great time sitting around a table and basically talking to ourselves. It was kind of therapeutic!

Powered by Podbean.com

Our First Flickr Slideshow

We weren't the only ones who had the idea to share a slideshow of photos of the Bethlehem Steel Property, because not only did the Wall Street Journal do the exact same thing, they posted it on the exact same day. What can I say, great minds think alike.

Obviously, our slideshow is a bit more amateur, however I definitely think the work is something to be proud of. It was quite a task for Liz and Anya to get these pictures. As Liz sped by, Anya quickly snapped away at the property and did an excellent job of varying the lighting, angles and images.

I'd say our slideshow is a pretty decent representation of the property--take a look!

FINALLY!!!!!

After a loong editing session last night, we finally have our latest creation completed. Anya and Liz went back to the Dealer Training classes at Northampton Community College after a bad experience the first time with the Lapel mic. The interviews they got this time lended themselves to excellent material about the class and the sentiments of both the teachers and the students.

A (embarrassing) complaint: I filmed the intro and outro a few weeks before we edited the finished project and learned exactly what this class was all about, and as you'll see, the actual story doesn't go well with what I had originally filmed.

Enjoy!!!

We Tried...

Today, we learned a very valuable lesson. A note to all: when using a lapel mic, it might be a good idea to test the audio after the first clip is recorded. To our dismay, only the clips created without using the lapel mic have audio, thus resulting in an impossible task.

Nonetheless, we created a video to give you a sense of what we had in mind and to show that we actually did make an effort. An hour and a half after beginning our editing session here in Coppee, we're waving our white flag in defeat....

J198 Final Project Preliminary Report

Today in class we received our assignment for the final project. It's pretty extensive, however I feel like Professor Littau has prepared us for the required pieces. We're putting it all together on a weebly website with accounts that will be given to us from Littau so that he can go in and do some tweakage. The sites will showcase all our stories on one page and will be searchable on the Web and can be accessed by the public.

The first four elements we will be including are required. They consist of one summary story of about 1000 words that serves as the main focus of the page. It'll basically explain what the website is all about and give an overview to our proeject. We also have to include 2 sidebar stories of 400-500 words that will give a more in depth look to an angle to our story. There will be a one tv news style story of 1:30 that serves as a video news version of our summary story, and we'll include a narrated steyle story featuring an audio overlay on the video.

The last elements come from a grab bag. We have to pick three out of four options to include along with the four required pieces. Our choices include: a custom Google map that shows key sites covered in our story, a slideshow of different photos, an auido podcast of raw interview material or a walking trip of key sites in our story using the Gowalla location-based service. No one in my group has an iPhone, so this may be a difficult element to include, however, our topic (which I'll explain in a second), lends itself to this sort of technology. We may have to look into borrowing someone's phone for the day.

We decided on a preliminary topic a few weeks ago and have decided to stick with it. We're doing a an expose on the old Bethlehem Steel property, and taking a closer look at what is being done in terms of the actual real-estate and its economic implications. We have some time to decide where each element will fall into place, however we have ideas stewing.

Stay tuned for more information, as well as a link to our finished project. It should be really neat!

...A Map of registered sex offenders is more interesting

For a collaborative look at map making, J198 divided up the Bethlehem-area zip codes and researched all the registered sex offenders near Lehigh. The whole process only took about 20 minutes, so it was so interesting to see how important collaboration actually is.

Notice how close to home these crimes actually are....


View Megan's Law: Registered offenders in Bethlehem, PA in a larger map

What's more interesting than a map of public high schools near the Lehigh Valley?

Well, it's been a while since my last post, so what's better than coming back from Spring Break with an exciting map of all the public high schools near the Lehigh Valley?? NOT MUCH!!

Just kidding!! In our lab today, we're working on using Google Maps to share information. We're starting with a few simple tasks like finding all the Dunkin Donuts in the area as a class and then breaking off on our own to do a similar project. Professor Littau gave us a list of places we could look up, and I figured the most exciting thing to find would be public high schools...kind of, sort of, not really...

Take a look at my masterpiece, I'm oh so very proud.

Another map is to follow right after this, so I guess stay tuned!


View Public High Schools in the Lehigh Valley in a larger map

It's Done!

Although a bit delayed, we finished our first small project to be incorporated into our final, and it looks great! Liz, Anya and I worked really hard on our video and to be honest, I think the material is going to be a real help in the future.

We used the lapel mic for the first time with Mr. Donches and it really seems to make a difference. The acoustics in the museums warehouse weren't too bad, but it didn't hurt to have it.

Take a look!!!!

What a Day!

Yesterday, Anya, Liz and I went to a warehouse with a man we don't know. OK, that sounds a bit creepy. But I had to throw that in there because that's basically what happened. For our final multimedia reporting project, we're investigating what's going to happen to the old Bethlehem Steel property. What that actually entails, we're not too sure yet, but we'll see where the wind takes us.

For now, we're starting small with our first short-story report and we thought we'd incorporate our final project. We investigated the National Museum of Industrial History that is going in on the property and to do this, we enlisted the help of Steve Donches. Mr. Donches was the VP of Public Affairs for Bethlehem Steel for 30 years and now he is the CEO and President of the Museum. He's going to be such an asset for our final project.

Anyway, Mr. Donches took us to the warehouse near Airport Road yesterday to show us the artifacts they have for the museum and I must say, it's quite impressive. I think we could have spent hours there just exploring the pieces.

Our video won't be complete until later tonight, so stay tuned!!

National Museum of Industrial History...Take 1

So, we thought we had an interview today with the Director of the National Museum of Industrial History. BUT, there was an issue with scheduling and we have to go back Wednesday to get A-Roll footage. We used our time wisely, however, and collected some B-Roll of the museum offices and the future location of the actual exhibits.

Final Project Topic

Liz, Anya and I came up with our final project idea today and I think it's going to be great!!!

I don't want to give too much away because it'll be more exciting to explain it as it unfolds, but basically, we're going to be doing a little investigation on the old Bethlehem Steel property. Let your imaginations wander...it's going to be a good one!

Do you Tweet?

Much to my dismay following a new found love affair with Twitter, I have come to learn that not too many Lehigh students are using Twitter. In fact, they don't even understand what it is. Ok, Ok, I may be getting a bit ahead of myself because just a few weeks ago I was basically blogging about how dumb I thought the whole thing was but really, I'm a newborn Twitter-lover.

This week's lab was all about figuring out which kind of environments are most ideal around campus for audio and visual effects on camera. We were given a list of 8 places to go on campus and to ask community members the same questions about a topic. Of course, we jumped all over Twitter because it's fresh on our minds, but apparently, it's not fresh on the minds of most college students.

To start, finding a volunteer to even give their feelings about the web site was like pulling teeth. We found ourselves getting to a point where we were forcing people to just even talk about a time they heard someone talking about it from a distance. Some people, on the other hand, jumped at the opportunity to be on camera and hear themselves talk. It was a pretty hilarious contrast.

In terms of the logistics, I don't think we had much of a problem with lighting anywhere. For the places outside, today wasn't too bright so the lighting was fine. With the audio aspects, we ran into a few problems with background. Pay attention to Todd from Dave's Deli and you'll notice that the TV is on in the background...quite a shame because he gave an awesome answer and even followed up with me and Anya when the interview was done, offering to give us any help we may need with anything in the future. Nice guy. Go to Dave's Deli and give him your business...seriously.

The project went basically like I thought it would. The bulk of the work landed in getting the footage. The editing process this week was pretty simple because we were really only dealing with transitions and credits. But the filming...that was a task.

Anyway, I think I'd have to say that of all the projects I've done for Multimedia Reporting, I'm most proud of this one. Take a look! Enjoy!!!!

Lab 5

This week's lab seems pretty easy. At least the editing part, which was our demise last week. Stay tuned on Friday for the real report!

Citizen Journalism at Its Finest

The George Polk Awards are given to journalists by Long Island University in New York and are considered to be extremely prestigious. This year, whoever shot the video on his cell phone of Iranian protester Neda Soltan won the prize, making it the first time ever the award was given to an anonymous journalist.


http://gawker.com/5473153/cell+phone-neda-cameraman-wins-polk-award


Goes to show that as long as you're in the right place at the right time--and of course, you have a cell phone--you can be considered a content creator rather than just a consumer. This shift from one-to-many to many-to-many is quickly closing in. Poor professionals. They're doomed.

Did this work....?

I'm crossing my fingers that when I press publish post, you'll see the YouTube video above my copy. Oh, the trials and tribulations of multimedia reporting...you never know what you're going to get!

Dance Team Video

Our video is done and I have to say, it's pretty impressive. I have to thank Anya and especially Liz for putting in the extra time...I couldn't have asked for a better team!!!

And yes...as you can see, I have forgotten how to embed. For now, enjoy the link as I search through my notes to figure this out. Sometimes, I seriously think that I'm entering the early stages of Alzheimer Disease at age 22. YIKES!

Stay Tuned....

Liz, Anya and I worked for more than 3 hours today working on our video for Lab 4. While I have to say it's pretty close to perfect, we can't post it yet because we still have to work out some kinks that Liz graciously said she'd work on tomorrow. So basically, stayed tuned for the link....it's a good one!

On another note, I realize that I've been seriously slacking on my posts. Not because I have nothing to say, because honestly, I always have something to say, but really because I've had zero time. I haven't mentioned this yet, but this semester, I have an internship every day at the Office of Communications and Public Affairs here at Lehigh. I love it. I recommend that for anyone who is interested in any kind of communications or PR path to look into an internship here. The people are beyond nice and I'm learning so much. Specifically, I work in the media relations division under Dina Silver Pokedoff who has already taught me so much. I'm really learning how to do a lot of media research and how to apply it to relevant and current events that someone on Lehigh's campus can weigh in on....it's so interesting how the world of media works...it's all intertwined (like a media ecosystem....yep, I said it!).

So, as I leave my post (the first for the week...oops), stay tuned for our video. It's pretty damn good if I should say so myself.

I borrowed a classmates footage today in order to complete the lab. This presented a few challenges because 1. I'm not familiar with the person who was interviewed, 2. I was not familiar with the collected footage until I began the project, and 3. I am not used to the style used by the person who's footage I used. Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY appreciative of her for allowing me to use what she did on her own, however this has taught me a very valuable lesson: If I have the chance to do the work on my own outside of the classroom (meaning, I am in possession of my group's camera), the I MUST take advantage of it.

Needless to say, I'm not too thrilled with what I created in the lab today. I mean, I guess its what Professor Littau is looking for, but at the same time, it's basically the bare minimum. On the other hand, I'm glad I'm learning the basics so that later in the semester things can get a little fancier. Professor mentioned today in class that by the end of the semester, we'll be able to go back to the work we did at the beginning and laugh and how amateur our videos were. Can't wait!!!

Twitter

Ok...so I may have spoken too soon regarding Twitter. I set it up a while ago and didn't use it until now. 4 posts in...I'm loving it! I don't think anyone is actually reading my "tweets" but when it comes to me keeping track of my own life, I think I might find it to be pretty organizational.

FOLLOW ME....rebeccaraphe!!!

LOST!

Due to an interview, I missed class today and I'm a bit nervous....I'm LOST!!!! We received an assignment that I'm not too sure how to go about completing. I need to meet with Professor Littau ASAP to figure out how to go about all this in order to complete it correctly.

Here's what I figure. I need to figure out where this blog is actually going to go. So far I've been using it as basically a diary to talk about what we learn in class. But let's get serious. If I were someone who happened to stumble upon Becca Raphael's blog about her Multimedia Reporting class at some school in Pennsylvania, chances are I'd click back to Facebook and go about my normal procrastination routine. Standard. I need to figure out a way to make this forum both apply to what I learn and what I'm all about---as a person, and more specifically, as a student. I've got to start really thinking.

Also, TWITTER! I still don't get it! I can see how a business might be able to use it as a marketing tool, but as a person, I'm NOT trying to market myself. "Hey everyone! Pay attention to me as I wash the dishes!" No. Again, I need to start thinking.......

My first REAL editing experience

I can't believe I got the assignment in by the end of class! It took me FOREVER to get the hang of the whole process, and if Professor Littau did not provide us with an idiot-proofed guide on how to do it all, my lab assignment would never have worked!

I chose to interview students about Elie Wiesel--the highly anticipated commencement speaker. I definitely made things harder for myself, because instead of finding just one person to talk about him, I found three. They were all sitting together in the Upper UC, having lunch and clearly talking about a subject with no relation to my subject at hand. When I imposed on their lunch break, they were definitely willing to talk, but when it got down to it, only one of them had actually heard of the man...I thought that was bizarre. What made the whole thing difficult for me was having to edit with all three of them as elements. Ahhhh I guess I should just stick to the simplest ways of going about things from now on. Besides, this is a learning environment...why take on more things than necessary?

I like that Professor Littau gave us a preview of what our lab will be tomorrow. While the details on what we will be interviewing others about weren't too explicit, it's giving me time to prepare myself for the task at hand. Again, I'm glad that I have my group's video camera so that I can practice filming on my own, but it will also be interesting to work with someone else on the effort. To be completely honest, I think I'm a pretty good interviewer. I'm good at coming up with things off the top of my head, so if a conversation gets dull, I'm able to salvage the footage into something meaningful and interesting--that is, depending on what the topic may be.

Playing Around

I was so excited to be the group member in charge of holding on to my camera for the weekend. I had a chance to play around the camera and test out what it's capable of. I need soooooo much practice, but I'm starting to get the hang of its functions. Being a good photographer and director is going to be a completely different story. Right now, I've mastered how to turn it on and turn it off.....

Practice makes perfect!

My First Video and Uploading Experience

Despite the fact that I'm a young adult exposed to the latest technologies, I'm clueless when it comes to digital media recording and uploading, even on sites I frequently visit like YouTube. While I'm quite familiar with the site and all it has to offer, when it comes to my own contributions, I have none.

But not for long! Today I finally learned how to record videos, download them to my computer and upload them to file sharing sites like YouTube. What a world this has opened up! Having my own channel makes me comfortable enough to make mistakes, experiment and compare my work with others, especially my classmates.

I think the most exciting part about the whole process was using these new cameras. They're so tiny and portable, it makes everything so much easier than they potentially could be! Besides the fact that they're tiny, they're super easy to use, even for someone like me who hardly touches a digital camera.

Honestly, it's going to take me a while to really be comfortable with the whole thing, but I'm sure that as the weeks progress, I'll be a certified pro in the world of multimedia reporting....maybe...possibly....we'll see.....

Hello!

My name is Becca Raphael. I'm a senior Journalism major at Lehigh University, taking a brand new class called Multimedia Reporting! I am so excited to get underway, learning about the many emerging media channels and how to put them to use. I have very little blogging experience, so this is an experimental journey within itself.

I'm PUMPED!!!