Boston.com

Today in my interactive journalism class we were asked to go to the eduction section of boston.com and blog about the interactive features. One of the interactive features is that there are a lot of pictures to go along with each picture. Also at the end of the articles there is a place to add comments. That feature is very interactive because it allows you to share your thoughts and opinions with others. There were also videos to go along with some stories such as the article about English High.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/

Terms used for videos

shot composition- the way you arrange visual elements on a screen.
wide angle- point of view with a 45 degree angle or more
low angle- point of view with a 45 degree angle or less
close up-zooming in
extreme close up- zooming in a lot
editing-
Film splicing- a splicing machine makes it possible to line up film and cut it.
tape to tape(linear)-film is copied from one tape to another
digital computer(nonlinear)- footage is put on to a computer and edited on there.
live editing- when live shows are edited
narration- someone telling the story
documentary- a film documenting reality
fiction- not true/made up
non-fiction- true

Out of Work in China
The narrator speaks introduces the situation in the beginning of the documentary. When people are being interview there is a close up to them. the shot composition is interesting At the end of the video a man is being interviewed but they show Chinese construction workers instead of the mans face.

Paris Fashion Week
The narrator introduces the subject and introduces a designer. The narrator is shown interviewing the designer. It is edited so that while a fashion show is shown a narrator is speaking.

My documentary
I will be narrating my documentary. The shot composition will change through out the video. Sometimes there will be videos and other times there will be photos.

Ny Times Videos/ Grapes of Wrath

Today I went on the New York Times website and looked at the video section. The movie I chose to write about was called "Critics pick: The Grapes of Wrath." It was a review of the old movie. The movie was about a family living during the dust bowl. The bank took their home away. The narrator talked about how this related to people today in this economic crisis. The video integrated clips from the movie with clips from the narrator. When the narrator is speaking a video of him is shown. He is standing still and the camera is steady.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/arts/1194811622313/index.html

New York Times

The New York Times coverage of the election is very interactive. It includes many videos. The site has both Obama and McCain's speech. There is also videos showing the reaction of people around the country. For both candidates there are interactive time lines. The time lines allow you to click on different years of each of the candidates lives. There are photos and writing to go along with events in their lives. There is a presidential map of the U.S. When you click on different states you can see the percent of people that voted for both candidates.

BBC website

BBC is a very interactive website. People from different countries can go to this website because you can change the language of the site. If you relate to one of the stories you can send in your personal story. For example their is a story called "Convoy delivers aid in DR Congo". The story discusses how citizens of Congo have been displaced due to fighting. At the end of the story it says: "Are you in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Have you been affected by the conflict? Send us your story using the form below: " This is a very interactive feature because it allows the reader to get involved in the story. Another interactive feature is being able to listen to the BBC radio live on the website. I also found that you can sign up for a weekly newsletter from the site.