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The serious and the silly
In J2150 lecture this Tuesday, we watched A Thousand More, a multimedia piece about a nine year old boy with a life-altering condition. As a journalist, and especially a photojournalist, this story displays one of the kinds of topics I will have to cover– human interest. Many human interest stories are about suffering, or working through a difficult time, like this piece was.
A Thousand More could not have been as touching and successful as it was without Philly, the subject. Often a journalist might have a good idea for a story… but the story itself will fall flat due to the subject. Some people can never be comfortable being photographed, video graphed, and interviewed constantly. They may also dislike the idea of a journalist seeing into their private life and be unwilling to open up. However, Philly was a goldmine for the journalist. He was open, funny, and most of all, captivating. Because of his attitude, the audience was not feeling sorry for him the entire time but enjoying his bright and happy personality. The interviews with the parents were a necessity as well; Philly’s happiness often made me forget how his condition affected his life. His parents brought my thoughts back to the seriousness of the situation.
I would not change much about the video. I think I would have enjoyed seeing more about his relationships with his friends and how his friends have to deal with his condition. Do they think about it? How does it make them feel? I think talking to some other people outside of the family could have shed more light on Philly’s affect on the world. The other thing I didn’t quite agree with was the use of photography. The journalist inserted a handful of photos throughout the piece, but I found them to be out of place. There either needed to be more photos or none at all.
Many multimedia pieces orbit around serious, touching, or dramatic stories. Stories like Philly’s attract attention and audiences. However, not all multimedia has to be so serious! Once in a while, I come across fun and light-hearted. Here’s a piece I came across a while ago and fell in love with! It’s fun, fast paced, and frivolous. There’s no photography but I still love it:
And we’re off: J2150
Wow, after J2100 News Writing last semester, I thought I could take a deep breath. Doesn’t look like it though! This semester, I’ll be taking J2150 Multimedia Journalism and J2000 Cross-Cultural Journalism at the same time… which, in the words of my J2000 professor: “Your semester is going to suck!” Great! Just what I wanted to hear on my first day of class.
Actually, J2150 should be pretty fun. Because Multimedia and especially photography is really what I want to do with my life! I am hoping to graduate with an emphasis in Photojournalism. Photography is my passion… and my Nikon D7000 is my baby! I have loved photography for so long, I can’t remember when I started. And when I realized I could make a life out of it, I knew that journalism was for me.