AV News 182 - November 2010
Or have a look at the New York Times site called 'One in 8 million' where we
can see brief glimpses of the lives of some residents of New York. How about
that for an idea? A two minute glimpse of the life of someone local, someone
you know, and someone special. Have a look at
www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html
The software that seems to be most commonly used to produce these
sequences is called Soundslides (http://soundslides.com/ ) and costs $70.
I haven't used the software, but it seems to be used because it produces work
quickly and exports directly as Flash files, which can easily be incorporated
into web pages. Their site gives info, but also has a good forum,
(http://forums.soundslides.com/viewforum.php?id=12) and with links to
recently created sequences, similar to that found on the PTE forum.
So what do you notice about many of the sequences, compared with those
we produce, probably using PTE? Perhaps most noticeable are the
transitions between images, which are almost universally half-second
dissolves, perhaps that's a limitation of the software. Maybe because of that,
little attempt is made to use the 'third image'; they are sequential slide shows.
However, in most examples of the genre, the power of the audio track is
apparent. This is not surprising as most sequences are documentary in style
and make extensive use of interviews, something we see less of in our AV
sequences.
Another aspect of some published 'sequences' is the inclusion of some
video clips, see for example http://bombayfc.com/42/ which shows a
marathon in Copenhagen. Does the video add to the sequence? Purists
might feel that the same ambiance could be achieved with stills. Will we see
video included in our AV sequences? The ability of cameras such as the
Canon 5D MkII to produce quality video is having an effect on the commercial
world and Igor has recently announced that version 7 of PTE will allow the
inclusion of HD video.
What I've also discovered is that there is a plethora of web material about
story telling in this media. I was delighted to discover this, as I feel that I'm
often lacking in the basic theory of making AVs, not the technical bits you
understand, but the accepted practice in story telling. Have a look at
http://www.inms.umn.edu/elements/ for example.
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