The web/social video below tells the story of volunteer Taylor Ryan part of the nonprofit organization the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I interviewed Ryan and her fellow volunteers to learn how they use their voices to help set up fundraisers to raise awareness for the cause. When interviewing I avoided using a room with reverberant sound to limit an "echoey" audio playback. In combination with the personal interviews, I filmed b-roll from the last fundraiser they were a part of, which was the foundations Out of the Darkness Walk in Santa Monica, California. By creating this project focusing on Ryan and her fellow volunteers, I learned about the essential part of video journalism: "writing to ear." In my video project, I made sure that the visualized concept I created in my head worked with the idea of the video being a spoken conversation between me and my audience.
When creating an infographic for the first time, I was still determining what to include. After learning the fundamental five design principles of proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, and interactivity, I created my infographic on mental health awareness. Including straightforward repetitive facts with eye-grabbing colors and images makes viewers more likely to pay attention to the infographic's message.
The explainer video above takes on the role of helping explain the long-term impact that childhood cancer has on those diagnosed. When creating this explainer video, I wanted the sound to play a prominent role in impacting the audience's emotions. Editing the sound of children playing on top of facts and quotes of children diagnosed with cancer helps the audience pay attention to the facts of the emotional impact of childhood cancer. In contrast, the sound reminds the audience that these are situations that real children go through. Including an edited combination of animations and real-life videos of children helps contribute to the visual impact of an explainer video. When editing the explainer video, I realized the importance of focusing on sound levels rather than volume since devices have varying sound outputs.
The following few photos were included in my photo essay on The Broad museum. Throughout shooting these images, I focused on using the primary camera techniques of focusing a camera, properly using the aperture, and when to adjust the camera's ISO to shoot these images correctly. In addition, I learned that aspect ratio plays a significant role in shooting since knowing what ratio you need beforehand for the platform you are using to present your work is helpful.
Through creating a photo essay, I've learned the idea of a story arch and how to tell a coherent story. First, you need to set up what story you will tell by beginning with broader images. Then, you can include more specific shots to move deeper into the story's development. Not all viewers will understand how all the photo pieces combine to tell a story if the photos aren't placed strategically.
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Credits:
Cierra Morgan