SoloJourno

Charlton “Charlie” Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism. (source: Wikipedia)

What will 2010 bring? It’s sure to be an eventful year in journalism and multimedia and I’ve already spelled out a few of my predictions for the year. But how can you prepare yourself for all the twists and turns? If you’ve already given up smoking, joined the gym and don’t need to loose any weight, here are 10 resolutions to make you a better multimedia journalist in 2010.

1. Learn a new web skill
2. Read up on business
3. Make audio slideshows
4. Learn a new design skill
5. Pick up a microphone
6. Have personal projects
7. Aim to double your blog readership or website hit rate
8. Devote time to storytelling
9. Collaborate and hookup
10. Be audacious

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Via MultimediaShooter.com:

Before you can break the rules, you need to know the rules. Here are a few rules I live by and some tips on how to train yourself.

This teaching thing must really be getting into my blood. Now that I’m on winter break and I haven’t been in a classroom for over a week, I have a strong urge to spew unsolicited and unnecessary multimedia advice. Please excuse the rant and take it for what it’s worth–the ramblings of a wanna be intellectual. TAKE WHAT YOU WANT AND LEAVE THE REST…

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Via the Online Journalism Blog:

Having reached a potential plateau in my addiction to Wordpress plugins* I thought I should blog about the plugins I use, those I’ve installed in preparation for potential use, and those I may install at some point in the future. Of the 85 or so plugins installed on my blog I ‘only’ have around 30-40 that are active – the rest have either been used in the past or are ready in case I need them at some point in future. Some are one-click installs; others you need to put PHP in your templates; instructions are generally given on the plugin page. I’d love to know what plugins you find useful on your own blog.

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Today was Day 3 (Video Reporting) of the multimedia training at The Toronto Star. Topics included fundamental of producing video stories, how to shoot a visual story, interviewing and script writing tips. The workshop also introduced concepts like basic edits and story planning to speed up production time.

photo credit: Robyn Doolittle
(can you tell which attendee is yours truly?)

For this workshop, Robb was set up with a mac and Final Cut Pro, but it’s not so much the tools - which one can learn at any time - but the way that they’re used that’s important. MovieMaker comes with WinOS, while iMovie comes with MacOS. They’re both pretty good little programs, and additional plugins and widgets (titles, transitions, effects, etc…) can be downloaded for them, but a more robust program that a journalist can grow into might well be the way to go when choosing an editing program. On the Windows side, Sony Vegas Vegas Movie Studio Platinum, http://www.sonycreat … oftware.com/vegaspro and Adobe Premiere Pro are popular choices. Mac Users tend to favour Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro.

Helpful tips:

• Before you leave for your interview, make sure you have everything you need. Lay your equipment out on table if need be. Make a check list, and check things off.
• Test your equipment ahead of time. Check and double-check. Then check again. Take spare batteries, spare cables, etc.
• Use a tripod. And if you're not going to use a tripod, hold your camera firmly in front of you with two hands, much like a soldier would hold their weapon.
• Remember 3-6-9: for 3 shots (wide, medium and tight/closeup) that are each 6 seconds which will make 9 sequences. This sort of shot-making is the grammar of videography and photography. Don't pan and zoom, walk the line between the subject and the camera.
• Start recording a few seconds before talking, not at the same moment there's going to be talking. And wear headphones so that you're not recording blind.