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.