Special Topics in Journalism: New Media I
(Spring 2008)
Roger Williams University
YouTube Page video homepage
Special Topics in Journalism: New Media I is a course on Digital Journalism taught by Communications Professor Michael Scully at Roger Williams University. The purpose of this class is to expose students to the tools they may need to succeed in the evolving world of Internet journalism. To do this, Professor Scully will review current multimedia news sites and cite them as examples for student work. He will also train the students to think about nonlinear multimedia storytelling techniques. This class has 15 students, and currently meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-10:50 in Roger Williams' North Campus classroom building.
Students are required to purchase a Flip Video Ultra video camera as part of their course materials. The mini camera is about the size of a cigarette box, it uses two double-A batteries, it has a hard-drive memory chip that can record 30 minutes of video, and it costs $150. (See video consumer review.) Professor Scully first learned about the Flip Video Ultra camera from Arik Hesseldahl, a technology editor at BusinessWeek.com. Hesseldahl, who attended grad-school with Scully, found that the relatively new camera was cheap, easy to use and fun. Scully promptly purchased his at Wal-Mart in Newport, R.I.
For their part, the students will have to create blogs on BlogSpot.Com, open a YouTube page, and establish a GMail account.
Professor Scully began teaching New Media at Roger Williams University in Fall '07. It was during his opening days at RWU when Professor Ted Delaney approached him about conducting an independent study with three Communications students. Delaney then introduced Scully to seniors Michael Hurley and Phil Yacouby, and junior Lorin Richardson. That same independent study, entitled, Special Topics in Journalism: New Media, was soon launched.
Right now, there is NO textbook for the class, but Professor Scully is looking for suggestions and reading several potential texts. One book worth reading, he says, is Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. In it, the author looks at how the Internet is destroying traditional systems and replacing the everyday structure of society with a more complex and more sophisticated catalog of information.
Scully first learned of this book from John McGrath, a former classmate from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, who suggested that this book was quickly becoming a "must read" among digital journalism experts. Scully opted not to place this book in his syllabus, simply because it was less about journalism and more about the digital age.
Also under consideration is the Handbook of New Media, Student Edition by Leah Lievrouw and Sonia Livingstone. ISBN #1412918731
Lessons
Journalism
There are three different types of journalism; breaking news stories, general news, and features. Breaking news stories detail up to the minute details of current events, and from this, television benefits the most from breaking news stories. Next, general news details the overall spectrum of the news story. Finally, feature news takes an up close and personal look at the stories within the story. As an example of these three examples of journalism, in December, there was a snag in the movement of traffic in the city of Providence. The breaking news story was that a snow storm had made traffic come to a halt due to rush hour and confusing traffic patterns, and the general news story was more based on the fact that due to six inches of snow, traffic was locked on interstate 95. If a feature were to develop from this story, for example, it would show the first hand account of a school bus driver who would have had to look after a group of small children for numerous hours.
Media dates as far back as the 14th century, and The Venice Gazette was the first known news publication. Newspapers in the 1980's were extremely popular, however, with the development of online media sources, print newspapers are currently losing their luster, and media is en route to solely Internet readers and viewers. Newspapers such as the Providence Journal will quickly be replaced by media outlets such as Boston.TV and other major newspapers who have begun to place video media on their websites to feed different interests and reach out to a younger generation.
Newspapers present perspective and timeliness since they are published daily, but the circulation of print media is decreasing every year with a growing lack of interest from the generations who read them. Meanwhile, new generations are turning to the Internet and cable television for prompt information when they need it.
Blogging
Blogging is a fun and useful tool; it allows people to present information to others on the internet through the use of text, pictures, and videos. Anyone can create a blog, and free sites like Wordpress and Blogger offer free space on the internet for people to do so. To make a blog accessible to the largest number of people, it is important to use tag words. They enable a person to find a blog when they type in certain keywords. When choosing tag words, it is better to have a lot than not enough. Tag words could include the subject, people mentioned in the blog, the location of where the blog was written, when the blog was written, and any other words relevant to the topic.
A good thing to include as a tag word is a dead word, or a word that is not commonly used in the English language. This word will allow the author of the blog to be able to locate their blog by simply searching the word. It is considered a back door key. Blogs allow for a lot of personal expression and are a great journalistic tool. It is also important to consider the grammar and language you are using in your blog. If your audience is a professional audience, you should make sure the grammar is correct.
Web 2.0
Following the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Internet became commercialized in the sense that it was available to the general public, as well as businesses. Before 1996, the Internet was used solely by government agencies and research laboratories as an internal system that was closed to the public. As a result of the commercialization of the Internet, many online businesses appeared in the years between 1996 and 2002. However, this period of rapid growth did not last long as almost all of these companies went out of business following 2002. This period in the history of the Internet is referred to as Web 1.0.
Over the past five years there has been a renaissance or rebirth of successful online companies, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. This rebirth of online business is called Web 2.0, and it has reshaped every media industry it can get it its hands on. In recent years there has been a proliferation of online newspapers and television stations, such Boston.TV. What differentiates online media from traditional media is that online media is less formal and more personal. Although the Internet market is still experiencing rapid growth, it is believed that it will eventually reach its capacity and be dominated by a few large companies.
Economics
One of the reasons why media on the Internet is becoming so popular and widespread is its cheaper price tag; television media costs thirteen times more than Internet media. Television requires expensive sets, equipment, and man power to produce a simple 30-minute broadcast. The Internet however, eliminates most of these costs and can allow one person to write, produce, film and distribute the same news that television studios potentially spend millions of dollars on.
Identity in the Global Community
When filming yourself or others, it is important to keep in mind that the identity of the person who is being filmed is at stake. That identity that is portrayed is out there for the world to see. Remember that it should be about the person being filmed and the camera; there should be no other distractions or loss of focus. Often, the reporter (or the person standing in front of the camera) will begin pandering to the production team or bystanders. The result is a stand-up where the reporter looks distracted. Instead, the reporter must understand that it is their responsibility to present themselves in a professional and confident manner. In many cases, a student reporter will say things or do things in front of the camera forgetting that this medium has a long shelf life and that these images can be posted on YouTube and elsewhere. As a result, a reporter must be very aware of and very concerned about the reputation of their own on-air personality.
An Appreciation of Light
When shooting footage, respect your light. Be sure the sun is behind the camera man when at all possible, as the sun will create a star-light effect on your film, resulting in an unsightly glare. Also, never have the reporter stand in front of a window to shoot their broadcast; the light will come in behind them and cause their face to look too dark. Light can be your best friend or your worst enemy, as it can create great shots if you get the correct balance, or it can ruin hours of footage if you do not.
TV News production process
Story Idea
A television news story has to be relevant to the market, it has to have news value, and it has to be visually pleasing. When considering a story idea, producers have to consider all three of these elements. Stories must be interesting, and most TV news stories need video to help relay the details of the story, as well as to give the audience aid in visualizing what the station is attempting to relay to the public.
Vetting Process
Before a producer approaches an executive producer with a story, the producer must know if there will be enough sources to tell the story. To do this, the production team needs to consider who they need to speak to, then contact those people to see if they will grant access to locations and experts.
Pitching the Story
Once the story has been vetted, the producer needs to get approval from the Executive Producer. This pitch session usually takes place during a TV news channel's story meetings. Ideally, the producer will bring a printed explanation of the story, the sources and the scope of the content.
Reporting the Story
Reporting is a key component to any news story. Identical to the vetting process, reporting requires the production team to conduct preliminary interviews and reviewing source material. Often, the team will define the content of the story, and the producer will identify what materials are needed to thoroughly tell the story.
Shooting the Story
Shooting is when the team goes out into the field to gather the B-roll and interviews it needs to tell the story. When shooting interviews, the producer must be aware of and manage any unpleasant "ambient sound" and extraneous distractions. This could entail asking workers to stop working (briefly), or shooing away "camera flies" who like to cluster behind the reporter. Before you leave any shoot, the cameraman should preview the tape to make sure the video and audio is "television friendly." There's nothing worse than arriving at the editing station with bad tape.
Logging the Video/Audio
Once back at the office, the production team needs to review the content of the field shoot. To do this, the producer and cameraman should watch all the video and interviews and "log" the tape (write down where the best information is available). Logging helps ease the post production process.
Scripting
Once the team has a sense of the audio and video content, a script needs to be written. As with all journalism, the scripting process is the most important part of this process. Bad scripting means bad storytelling; great scripting means great storytelling.
Tracking the Audio
With script in hand, it's time for the reporter to "track the audio." To do this, the reporter should be stationed in a quiet place where he/she can read the script into an audio track. Often, a field team will simply have the reporter read the script into a video camera. Afterwards, the editing team will "wall paper" over the reporter's face.
Going to Post
With all the body parts gathered -- B-roll, standups, interviews -- it's time to assemble Frankenstein's monster.
Video Terms
Interviews - Typically an interview is shot with the reporter off-camera asking questions, and the main focus is on the person being interviewed.
B-Roll - Short for "background roll" but also known as "wallpaper". This footage is shots of scenery or action shots to compliment the interview segments. If you have time to kill on a video shot, always film B-Roll. Film everything in the area to give the viewers a perfect picture of where the location is or what the event really is. 80-90% of the video being shot should be B-Roll. It is one of the essential veins that pumps into the life of any newsworthy package. In order for B-Roll to work effectively however, there must be a sufficient amount of writing created to compliment it. If there is a ton of B-Roll footage and no V/O, you get dead air which makes for a flaky broadcast. Although 80-90% of footage is devoted to B-Roll, there must be a decent amount of writing completed to coincide with the extra footage you've shot. Another important factor in shooting B-Roll is what kind of shots you're filming. If it's a story about hospitals, you don't want your first shot to be a hot dog stand. Continuity is what keeps the reader/viewer engaged with the piece of work so be sure to film accurate shots which dictate where your story is going.
Stand Up - Most news casts open up with a stand-up describing who they are, where they are, and what they are reporting on.
VO - Short for "Voice Over". Used during scripts to designate which parts of the B-Roll have an overlapping voice.
Nat VO - Short for "Natural Voice Over". Used in news scripts to designate which parts have natural sound plus a voice over.
SOT - Short for "Sound on Tape". Every time someone other then the reporter is speaking.
Butted SOT - This is where two or more interviews are butted together and stacked one after the other.
MOS - Short for "Man on the Street" interview.
FS - Full Screen. Used when a still photograph is used such as a map or a mugshot.
Field Producing - Group of three on scene reporters. The positions are broken down into reporter, camera man, and producer. The producer oversees the shoot and picks out the locations for the broadcast. The camera man is in charge of filming the broadcast, framing the reporter, and shooting B-Roll. The reporter is in charge of reporting the story being covered in a professional manner. They must dress appropriately and in relation to the story being covered.
Anchors - These are the faces of the network. They relay the news to the audience that the reporters have covered.
Field producing
Executive Producer
Producer
Camera Man
Reporter: The reporter's job is perhaps one of the most important when conducting a field production. It is very important to remember to be clear and articulate when speaking. Also, the reporter must always keep eye contact with the camera or with the person or people he or she is interviewing. Making sure that the microphone is held just below your chest is also important when reporting. Making sure the microphone is turned on is also be important.
Since the reporter is the person who everyone sees on TV, it is imperative that he or she knows what to say. Standing in front of a camera and stumbling over your words is not only embarrassing, but it makes you look dumb as well. Practicing reading what you are going to say and saying things like "unique New York" will also help.
Public Exposure: Remember that when videos end up on the internet, they will be there forever. The internet, and other ways of making your video public can be a great thing or your worst nightmare. Using public forums allow you to get all of your hard work out there for people to see. You can use it to set up a website for future employers to view to go along with a resume, or you can use it just to show others the work you enjoy doing. However, if something is really inappropriate or contains some things you don't want people to see, you should probably stay away from putting it online. Also, when putting yourself on video, be careful of what you say. If you don't want your teachers or parents to find out about you drinking or doing other things in college, then don't say it on camera. As you can see, all the videos from the New Media class end up online, just like Greg's Pigging adventure. This exposure is great for not only our school, but for us as individuals. We must remember we are representing ourselves and our school. Some embarrassing things may surface, like if a friend finds out that you said you are going to spend your spring break following a Hannah Montana concert. Be careful with what you want the world to see, but don't forget that the internet is a great way to share your hard work and interests.
There are some good techniques to get your video more exposure as well. In the New Media class, students use the word Merkin, which is a dead word in todays' dictionary to provide quick access in web search engines such as Google and Yahoo to their videos. Tagging is very important when uploading video to the internet, because the more words, and the better words you use, the more quickly people are able to find your video, and the more likely it will be for someone to come across your video unintentionally, creating more of a viewership.
Steps for making videos in New Media
1. Shoot your video.
2. Plug your Flip Video Ultra into the USB port on your computer.
3. Load the Flip Video software.
4. Download video files to the hard-drive. (Do this by hitting the save video tab in the flip video software. Highlight the videos that you want saved and then click the green Save button in the top right hand corner.)
5. To save the files you, must create a folder to save the files to. The folder you give a name to will be saved to the Documents folder on a Mac or My Documents on a PC.
6. Files are saved as .AVI files. Now, they need to be exported and converted into .MOV files. Open the files by doubling clicking on the AVI file. The file will open in Quicktime. Under the FILE section of Quicktime, click on export and export it as a .MOV. TIP: Save the .MOV files into another folder so you don't get confused with which files you have already exported.
7. Move the new .MOV file into Final Cut Pro and begin editing.
8. Once finished editing, you need to export the file back into Quicktime. First save the Final Cut Pro file. Then go to the FILE line and click on EXPORT and go down to the "Using Quicktime Conversion" line. In the dialog box you need to do three things:
1. Give the project a title.
2. At the bottom of the dialog box click on "Default Settings" and set the video quality for "Broadband -- Medium."
3. Click on the "Options" box: This will open a second dialog box; in this NEW box, click on "Size," and then check the box "Preserve Aspect Ratio." Click OK, through the dialog boxes and begin converting the file. Conversion to Quicktime should take a few minutes.
Canon HG10
The Canon HG10 was a simple camera to use. The picture clarity was better than most cameras the students had used before. Although the students had audio difficulties, the camera was strong enough to pick up audio without help from the dysfunctional microphone. The small camera was easy to transport especially in the tight confines of North Campus. The students look forward to learning more tricks and useful options the Canon HG10 has to offer.
Camera Work
When using a camera, one of things you want to avoid is standing a person against a brick wall. You want to refrain from doing this for two reasons; 1. You will get a shadow of the wall, and 2. It may look like an incarceration picture. Always try to use depth of field so that you do not detract from the subject or audience. Also, it is important to use your tripod. Having a steady camera that is not moving and can stand still is key to having a more successful video. When filming, it is important to always remember the rule of thirds. This rule provides for having multiple points of interest to attract the eye instead of just one central image.
Camera Training
On a cold January morning, the 15 students gathered outside of Roger Williams' University Commons student union to learn how to wield the Flip Video Ultra. They mounted their cameras on tripods and took turns doing stand-ups in the 35-degree weather. Four students, Geoff Baranger, Ben Camobreco, Sophia Tiberi and Greg Curtin, made the error in judgment of using Professor Scully's camera. Now, their stand ups are on YouTube.Com under the title RWU Camera Training.
Students film outside The Commons on the campus at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI.
Stand ups
Position yourself so the sun is not behind you. Make sure there is something pleasant in the background and that there's plenty of depth of field behind you. Hold the microphone below your chin so the head of the mic is roughly at your sternum. Do a sound check by counting numbers or using words. Never blow into the diaphragm of a microphone. Once the cameraman has framed the shot, count down "three-two-one" pause and then begin speaking. Look directly into the camera and speak clearly and precisely. Smile and remember that Internet journalism is fun.
On February 14th, Professor Scully dragged his 14 New Media students into the winter air to shoot stand ups. The students only had 10 minutes to get through the exercise.
RWU Student Standups
Here are some out-takes from the training session: Dee learns the process.
Script writing
Script writing is the underlying facet of the news broadcast that needs to tie the whole piece together. The script writer needs to be aware of when the reporter is going to be on camera while reading the script and mark that segment with capital O/C, also mark V/O when the reporter is reading a voice-over. The actual text of the whole script should be in CAPITAL LETTERS with no punctuation. The document that the text is typed on should be cut in half by dragging the indent marker on the right-side and dragging it from 6 to 3 on the document ruler located at the top of the page.
Camera Advice
Working with the Canon HG-10
Audio troubles
When working with digital video, audio is a key part of your footage. Whether it be a news report or for leisure, sound is very important. When it comes to news reporting, a microphone is usually involved. Prior to reporting the story, you must always check to see if the audio and the camera is working correctly. In the field of reporting, you get one chance to get the story, and if your audio is malfunctioning, you're stuck without sound.
In this new media class, the students have an opportunity to work with both a wireless microphone and a microphone with a cord. They both involve some type of connection to the camera, and it is crucial to make sure the connections are flawless before any shoot.
Working with the Flip Video Ultra
The camera is very easy to use. It only has a handful of buttons, including an on/off switch, a record button, a zoom button, a delete button, and a pop-out USB port. The microphone is mounted on the face of the unit, and a red light comes on when the camera is working. It also has a tripod mount at the bottom. To use the camera, press the on/off button up and the camera makes a slight bleeping sound. The small video screen at the rear of the camera lights up, first with the company logo, and then with images from the small camera lens. Then, aim the camera at your subject and you press the red record button situated in the center of the back of the camera. A text line at the bottom of the video screen will change from blue to red, and will begin counting off the length of the video shot in seconds. When you want to stop recording, press the record button again.
About the zoom feature: because of the resolution of the camera, the zoom feature is worthless. If you press the bottom while you're recording, the microphone picks up the finger movement. If you zoom in, you simply punctuate the size of the pixel image. Warning: The camera records in an .AVI format which is difficult to work with in the post production cycle.
When editing, you simply pop the USB port out and plug it into a computer. If you're working on a PC, the Flip software comes up automatically. If you're working on a Mac, a camera icon pops up on the hard drive. Click the image and then double click on the blue Flip Video software icon. The first time you do this, the software will download onto the hard drive of the computer, and then a Mac window will open asking for a Codec patch for Quicktime. If you read the prompts, the process is relatively seamless. Once the Flip software is working, you can view the video and you can download it to the hard drive.
Before you move the video files into Final Cut Pro, you MUST convert the .AVI files into .MOV files in Quicktime. To do this, simply click on the image, which should come up in Quicktime. Simply EXPORT the image as an .AVI file and you'll be done. This extra step will save you hours in Final Cut Pro production.
Working with Final Cut Pro
Roger Williams University has Final Cut Pro 6.01 in its classrooms. This professional-grade video production software package is very thorough and fun to play with, but can be difficult to learn if students do not have any previous experience with film editing.
Final Cut Pro has been pivotal in creating the videos used in the students blogs. The sheer power the program provides allows users to create satisfying works of art. Whether it be video for News, Documentary, Entertainment, or even Commercial Advertising, Final Cut Pro fits the bill. The student have been using the program to edit together their videos and some have been dipping into some transition effects, such as Fade Out - Fade In. The class will undertake editing a news story in the upcoming lesson. The students have worked hard compiling the footage needed including Interviews and B-Roll to complete the task. Video and Audio overlays will be needed for seem-less transactions through scenes to create a riveting story. For examples of the students other work, visit the bottom of the page and click the link on their name, to each of their blogs to see their work.
Fun with the Green Screen
After looking at growing news sites including Boston.TV, Professor Scully realized that the University needed a Green Screen room of some sort. Searching the campus, he realized that one of the classrooms in the basement of Stonewall IV had a bright wall that had (mysteriously) been painted moss green. Armed with a camera and a tripod, he positioned the camera in front of the wall and then shot video of himself to see if he could get the technology to work. Using Final Cut Pro to edit the footage, he essentially erased the background color and replaced it with video.
In this experiment, Scully needed to have a uniform color behind him which could be edited out "in the post production", but the lighting on the back wall needs to be uniform as well. In this experiment, there is a flash of "hot" light at the top of the screen just above Scully's head. The spot becomes apparent in the final video.
After he shot the video, he loaded it into Final Cut Pro, erased the moss green wall and replaced the space with video of an asteroid field he found on a NASA website. He called that prototype shoot "Fun with the Green Screen." He later replaced the asteroid video with animation shots from the Disney movie "Finding Nemo" and called that project "Scully Under the Sea."
Course Work
Show & Tell
For the first assignment of Digital New Media, Professor Scully asked the students to use their Flip Video Ultra to film something to show to the class. This virtual Show and Tell was easy to shoot for the class, however, many students ran into trouble while trying to upload, edit, and convert their videos for their blogs. After working through the problems, the students were able to finally place rough copies of their Show and Tell video on the blog. This was the first video posted on most of the blogs and is a nice reference point of how the students will improve throughout the semester.
Show a Person
Interview a faculty/staff member
To put it simply, interviewing a faculty member is not as easy as it may sound. While faculty members generally have interesting backgrounds and have a lot to say they tend to give you a lot of "babble." The best way to overcome this problem and get the professor to focus on the most interesting things about themselves is to provide them with a lot of direction. In other words, clearly show your subject what you want them to focus on in the interview. When conducting the interview, the best method is to start a sentence for the subject and help provide direction in the interview, which allows you to get a lot of compelling information. You can see this here in the interview with Professor Bob Blackburn. Additionally, selecting a faculty member that you know has a lot of unique aspects helps in improving the quality of your interview. For example, Professor Blackburn was chosen because he is one of the longest serving teachers at Roger Williams University, and he also has one of the more unique teaching styles on campus.
User Review of the Flip Video Ultra
Max Covill's purchase of the Flip Video Ultra, through the recommended B&H Photo & Video, was a very stress-free and excellent transaction. The camera was shipped using 3-day shipping UPS from New York, and made it to Rhode Island in one day. Max used Google Checkout to purchase the camera, receiving $10 off his first purchase as a first-time buyer. The camera is quick and reliable, and works as advertised, shooting 30 minutes of video, and using only two double-A batteries. Covill is quite certain you'll be as happy as he is with the purchase.
A Little History
The Feed (Fall 2007)
In Fall 2007, Professor Scully taught his first version of this class to three Roger Williams University communications students. Those included Michael Hurley, Phil Yacouby and Lorin Richardson. During that 15-week semester, the students created a video news digest called "The Feed," which published three-minute television news packages and published them online. During the course of the semester, the team published 12 video stories on YouTube.Com and Facebook.
About a month into the Fall semester, Professor Ted Delaney decided to shoot and produce a mini documentary on The Feed team, which he entitled "We Are the Feed." In it, the three students explained what they were doing in the course and what they were getting out of the curriculum.
Special Topics in Journalism: New Media (Spring 2008)
In Spring 2008, Professor Scully launched a full-course offering of Digital Journalism. The class opened with 15 students but dropped to 14 (because of a student's scheduling conflicts). The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is slowly easing its way into television tools for the Internet, blogging and building a collective WIKI page.
Building a Curriculum
In January 2008, Professor Scully addressed the Roger Williams University Curriculum Committee about his petition to add two new classes to the Journalism concentration. Those classes, Digital Journalism I and Digital Journalism II, are designed to address the systemic changes currently underway in the news media community. Digital Journalism I is an introduction of multimedia storytelling that fuses video with the written word. Digital Journalism II is about a more complex model for non-linear multimedia storytelling. In February, the committee tentatively approved COMM 355: Digital Journalism I and with some revisions also tentatively approved COMM 455: Digital Journalism II. Both these classes should turn up in the Fall 2008-2009 catalog. In March, the administration officially approved COMM 355 and COMM 455 for the 2008-2009 school year.
Past Stories
"The Feed's" first story was about the new entrance gate at the University. In this story, Lorin Richardson worked through her first reporting assignment as Phil Yacouby and Mike Hurley experimented with the camera, a Canon XL-1. The team had many technical problems throughout the editing process which lasted several hours. Starting at 3 p.m., The Feed filed its first story around 10 p.m.
Their next story was on the 9/11 memorial exhibit on campus.
In the fourth week, The Feed reported on Roger Williams' smoking initiative.
The Feed's most popular video package was on Roger Williams Professor Marilynn Mair, entitled, "My Mandolin." In it, Professor Mair plays her mandolin and talks about her career both in and outside the classroom. To shoot this interview, they set up a set inside an on campus dorm called Stonewall IV. They used a white wall for the background and used two lighting kits. They also used one microphone, which was mounted on a small mic stand in front of her. This report was a direct duplication of The Washington Post's "On Being..." series, which is running on its multimedia pages. Here, producers set the subject in a static environment and let them speak about a specific topic. With Professor Mair, The Feed spoke to her about her relationship with her mandolin. The idea is hyper edit the video to the essence of the conversation. The process also creates a series of "jump cuts", which are historically considered bad form in traditional television news settings. Oddly enough, the jump cuts are esthetically pleasing in this format. This issue of The Feed continues to be the most viewed video in the '07 catalog.
In the middle of October 2007, Professor Scully assigned The Feed team a song and told them to tell a story without words. The song was "The Breeze" by J.J. Cale. The idea was to get the students thinking about editing and images instead of words. This drill was also about continuity and storytelling. The team shot images from around the campus and the nearby Mount Hope Bridge, focusing on seasonal pictures and people in motion. And while the shoot went easy enough, the editing became a bear. The team spent several hours laying the video over the audio. The final project was aptly entitled, "The Breeze."
Spring 2008
Geoffrey Baranger is a future RWU graduate from Fairfield, Connecticut; a journalism major and plays basketball. Geoff was recently named RWU Male Athlete of the Year, and will graduate in Summer 2008.
Ben Camobreco is a graduate of Roger Williams University with a Journalism degree. He is from Duxbury, MA and played on the RWU basketball team.
Brittany Costa is a 2008 graduate of Roger Williams University and is a Global Communications major from Rhode Island. She also has a double minor in Political Science and Creative Writing. Brittany has much experience in on-air reporting with local network affiliates in Rhode Island as well as within her job outside of school. Brittany is planning on continuing her work in the communications field.
Max Covill is a senior Computer Information Systems major from Rhode Island; also a minor in Music. He is a graduate of the Roger Williams University class of 2008. Max brought to the table experience with different computer technologies. He is pursuing video editing after college and hopes to continue in the field.
Greg Curtin is a graduating senior from Massachusetts majoring in communications PR and has a psychology minor. He still does not have a job.
Diana DeQuattro prefers to be called Dee. She is a double major in Political Science and Journalism and is a part of the class of 2009. Someday she expires to work as a producer for T.V. or radio.
Jake Dumond is a RWU Graduate. He majored in PR Communication with a core concentration in Psychology. He has learned a lot from New Media and plans to use his experience to persue a job in the television or radio field.
Katherine Fleming is member of the class of 2008 and a Global Communications and Spanish double major. She recently completed her Core Concentration of Italian Studies while abroad in Florence, Italy. After graduation she plans on landing a job, any job, to be able to live comfortably in Boston with friends.
Shaun Hogan is a member of the class of 2008. I was a communications major with a concentration in journalism and I plan on attending the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, NH next fall.
Joanna Nettelfield is a 2008 graduate Communications major from New York. She played on the women's tennis team for four years and is very sad to leave RWU behind. She doesn't have a job lined up for after graduation yet, but is excited to see what is outside of Roger William's little bubble.
Charles Schipani is a graduate of the communications dept. at Roger Williams University. And he is a champion at everything he does.
Kristen Seturins is a member of the class of 2009, a Communications major, and a Creative Writing minor. She is also a member of the Varsity Equestrian Team at Roger Williams. She hopes to do graphic design for a publishing company or work as a copy editor. Eventually, she would like to relocate closer to Boston at some point in her life so she can further establish her love for the Red Sox and Patriots.
Jason Smith is a senior Communications major studying Public Relations. He is from Weymouth Massachusetts.
Sophia Tiberi is a junior Communications (public relations) major and is finishing her core concentration in psychology. She was born and raised in New York and enjoys it in Bristol, RI. Sophia is a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America and has a positon on the e-board as the historian. Sophia is part of Roger Williams University's class of 2009.
Greg Walsh is a 2008 graduate of Roger Williams University from Massachusetts. He majored in Communications, with a double minor in Marketing and Psychology. He was the DJ Manager for 88.3 WQRI and is starting an independent film company.
Fall 2007
Michael Hurley is a graduate of the Roger Williams University Communications Department from Massachusetts. He was with The Feed in Fall '07 and worked as a field producer, writer, editor and cameraman. He aspires to write and produce sports stories for newspapers, television and the Internet.
Lorin Richardson is a Communications major graduating in 2009. She was with The Feed in Fall '07 and worked as a reporter and writer. She wants to be an on-air reporter for a television news company.
Phil Yacouby is a graduate of the Roger Williams University Communications Department from Massachusetts. He was with The Feed in Fall '07 and worked as a reporter, field producer, editor and cameraman. He aspires to work as a Final Cut Pro editor for a production company or news operation. In The Feed's story on the campus smoking ban, he appears in the opening and closing stand-ups.
Faculty and Staff
Michael Scully is an Assistant Professor of Communications at Roger Williams University where he primarily teaches journalism classes. His classes include Writing for Mass Media, Feature Writing, Mass Media Law & Ethics, Digital Journalism I and Digital Journalism II. He has been working as a college professor since the Fall of 2004. Prior to academia, he wrote for a variety of new organizations including CNN, Fortune Small Business magazine, The (Middletown, NY) Times Herald-Record, The Fairfax Journal, Washington Technology, The Vienna Times and The (Glens Falls) Post-Star. He also worked for New Century Networks, an Internet news operation launched in the late 1990s by a consortium of newspaper companies.
