3.31.2010

Strong Slide Shows

We used the tool Soundslides today to create a quick slide show.

Please look on professional news sites and, as a comment to this post, add a link to one you particularly liked. Be sure to say what's good about it!
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9 comments:

Rachel Pryz said...

This is a link to the Washington Post's fourth annual Peeps Diorama contest, which drew more than 1,100 sugar-inspired entries.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/03/29/GA2010032903934.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

I mainly thought this slide show was great because of the creativity and adorable design of the dioramas. However, I thought the photos were extremely well-taken in that they were close enough to examine the detail in the dioramas and were well-lit. Further, this is a timely slide show because the peeps store in D.C. just opened up. Finally, the slide show gave a broad range of images (38 total) to examine. I dislike when slide show's only have eight or less photos, as other recent Post slide shows have (like the Carla Bruni/Michelle Obama one).

2:33 PM
Don Dada said...

Jim Marshall slideshow

The New York Times' slideshow honoring rock and roll photographer Jim Marshall, who died last week at 74, is a great example of why slideshows can be a great method of telling stories. This slideshow provides some of Marshall's best photographs -- one of Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire on stage, Johnny Cash playing at a prison, Bob Dylan backstage and Chuck Berry playing at Madison Square Garden.

This slideshow demonstrates Marshall's ability as a photographer, as well as how remarkable it was to take pictures some of rock and roll's biggest stars over the years. The slideshow depicts Marshall as a rock star in his own right, as he would follow around huge stars for days at a time in order to get good shots.

The NYT also does a good job at giving the reader the choice of watching the slideshow by linking to it on the text page of Marshall's obituary, rather than forcing it upon the reader, or, by contrast, hiding it somewhere. It also uses a good mix of photos: the slideshow has pictures in color, black and white, from the 60's, 70's and 80's, and of many different musicians.

2:34 PM
Matt Wilson said...

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/26/arts/20090626-JACKSON_index.html

This is a slide show from the New York Times about the life of Michael Jackson that was published just after his death this past summer. It's just a basic video slide show that includes text for each picture, but it is still a really good representation of the highlights of his life.

It starts with a good color picture of Jackson to draw the reader in and then goes on a chronological trip through his life from when he was a young kid in the Jackson 5. I think the intent of the slide show was to be a simple tribute to Jackson honoring, in death, the influential life he had.

The slide show includes both black and white and color picture which gives some variety and highlights the greatest performances and events of his long career. This slide show is interesting compared to many others that were probably made around the time of Jackson's death because of the interesting photos that were chosen and also because of the way the captions walk you through his life. As a reader you want to continue going through the slide show to see the next interesting or impressive thing that Jackson achieved during his career.

2:41 PM
Dana.Cetrone said...

I looked at this slide show on MSNBC.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36085300/ns/health-animal_tracks_slide_show/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

I liked this slide show because you easily scroll through the pages with arrows or the numbers (it highlighted which slide you were on which was nice), and the photos were unique. I love pictures of cute animals like fuzzy little kittens as much as the next person, but these pictures were ones you could not easily capture every day.
One particularly striking photo was the sixth one of a nuthatch bird sitting on the edge of a metal hook drinking with its reflection in the water perfectly and clearly mirroring the actual bird. I felt I wouldn't normally see this photo on MSNBC because it reminded me a bit of National Geographic or something. I also liked that the photos were of different animal behavior around the world, not just in one particular area.
Another thing I liked about this slidehow was the captions were short and to the point, letting me know exactly what was in the photo. Sometimes in the Eye on the World slide show on washingtonpost.com, the captions can be long and you're left wondering what the point was. The captions are also easy to read and are set against a light background, whereas the Washington Post one is on a black background.
One other interesting thing was that some of the captions included a video so you could see the real action of what was going on. In slide 7 if you click "more animals" there's a picture of a surfing alpaca, and there's a link to an actual video of the alpaca surfing.
The only thing this slideshow could have improved upon was that some of the caption titles were a little bland. Some were a play on words but others, like slide 19 in the "more animals" section, is titled Dogpile, and it's literally a pile of dogs laying on a car. Some of the caption titles could have been spiced up.

2:42 PM
Naz Beyranvand said...

I found an audio slideshow about a Desert Festival in Essakane, Mali, by BBC News Online, . I found this slideshow to be especially captivating because the reporter ‘s voice matched the pictures perfectly. Not only did the pictures flow with the audio but the photographs were taken in all different forms: close up, medium, wide shots. These photographs and the photographer’s attention to detail, made me watch the slideshow with anticipation for what was coming ahead in the story. Another thing that made this slideshow interesting was that the reporter inserted natural sound that of course, matched with the picture. For instance, we see a picture of a camel while hearing the camel’s heavy breathing. The reporter used natural sound breaks as transitions in his story, such as musicians with their drums, singers, camel noises, and interviews with attendees, to explain the culture of Mali. On one final note, I liked that the last picture was placed at the end of the slideshow because it taken at night. If the reporter had placed this image at the beginning or middle, the slideshow would not have flowed as well because all of the other photographs were taken in the daytime.

2:43 PM
Tricia said...

This slide show about vaulting , a type of gymnastics done on horseback, from the New York Times website is a good example of what a picture and text slide show should look like. The captions explain what is happening in each photo, but they are not so long that the reader would get bored. The assortment of pictures is well thought out-- there is a nice balance between straight-forward, "snapshot" type photos and those that are more artistic (such as the one with the girl and horse silhouetted against a light background). The pictures illustrate a sport that most people have not had a chance to see, so it helps the reader have a point of reference and better understand the atmosphere of vaulting.

2:43 PM
Gabby LaVerghetta said...

The Washington Post's slide show "In limbo at Walter Reed" is an eye-opening chronicle of the life of an all-but permanent patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The slide show is effective because it could serve as an addendum or an alternative to the four-page feature story. The captions are brief but an informative. Someone without the time to read the story would not feel lost.

The photos are up-close and clear. Seeing the faces of the narrative's characters is very moving. The viewer feels like he is a part of Lyudmila Sukhanov's daily routine.

2:43 PM
ben said...

In class, we talked about the importance of variety in online slideshows. This New York Times presentation demonstrates the idea powerfully. The slideshow portrays a Moscow subway station a day after suicide bombings there shook the country. The first picture focuses sharply on two women with worried expressions as blurred strangers dart past them. The womens' isolation perfectly captures the fearful mood pervading throughout the system. The entire slideshow could have caught different examples of people's concerned faces and portrayed the fear pervading Russia, but this slideshow probed the subject from multiple perspectives. Sure, many citizens, were fearful. In fact, most probably were. But the Times' also captures an uplifting priest and resilient patrolmen. It portrays sobbing mourners and bandaged victims, but also a touching shot of a candle light vigil. My favorite shot in the slideshow is the last one. From an overhead angle, it shows a tightly packed crowd filling a subway car. It varied visually — it's the only photo in the collection shot from a zoomed-out, overhead angle. But it also varied thematically. The photo showed people living in spite of the country's horror. To me, this was the most touching photo of all.

2:45 PM
Naz Beyranvand said...

I found an audio slideshow about a Desert Festival in Essakane, Mali, by BBC News Online, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6310685.stm. I found this slideshow to be especially captivating because the reporter ‘s voice matched the pictures perfectly. Not only did the pictures flow with the audio but the photographs were taken in all different forms: close up, medium, wide shots. These photographs and the photographer’s attention to detail, made me watch the slideshow with anticipation for what was coming ahead in the story. Another thing that made this slideshow interesting was that the reporter inserted natural sound that of course, matched with the picture. For instance, we see a picture of a camel while hearing the camel’s heavy breathing. The reporter used natural sound breaks as transitions in his story, such as musicians with their drums, singers, camel noises, and interviews with attendees, to explain the culture of Mali. On one final note, I liked that the last picture was placed at the end of the slideshow because it taken at night. If the reporter had placed this image at the beginning or middle, the slideshow would not have flowed as well because all of the other photographs were taken in the daytime.

2:49 PM

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