Brandon's Story

This week I chose Brandon Call's story as the best. I think he had a great story idea and I think it was a great way to pay tribute. I think it was excellent that he used so many sources and executed it very well. I'm impressed by how far he's grown.  I think it was also a unique approach to a sports story because it wasn't the typical win/loss score reporting.
As far as the multimedia I think it was awesome to really see the coaches personality in it. The only change I would make is rather than using cross-disolve transitions each time he cut the clip, I would've but a picture instead, rather than having a large group of photos in the start and a couple more in the rest of the video. But I think overall he had a great story.

Maren's Story

This week I chose Maren's Story as the best of the class. It applies directly to UNM students, which I think is a good thing. Not to mention, with the cost of everything on the rise, it's nice that she pointed out one rising cost that we might not always think of: studying abroad.
I think her story was well written and flowed well. I wish she would have talked to a student about their thoughts/feelings on the cost, but I still liked the sources she used.
I am glad though that she talked to a student on her soundslide, I think it added strength to her story. I had difficulties getting her entire soundslide to play but I don't know if that was my computer or hers causing that. But, in my opinion, over 2 minutes seems a little long. Overall I think she did a great job and it was very informative.

Andrea's Story

This week, I think  Andrea's story was the best. Her headline was the first to catch my attention, as well as the image. Bullying has been a huge movement lately, and I think she did a great job of finding a new way to present the story. I think it was a unique story idea, written well and it was also nice that it took place at UNM because it added the local feel to the story.
As far as her multimedia, I really enjoyed getting to hear the song they dance to along with an idea of what the dance looks like through the images. I wish this would've been done through video though so I could see the full dance, rather than just tiny bits and pieces. I also think it would've been a little stronger if she had left the cheering of the crowd at the end of the video rather than cutting it off. But overall, I really liked the approach she took to this story and I think she did a great job on it.

Mario's Story

For this week, I chose Mario's story as the best one. The headline is what caught my attention first. Not only is New Mexico known for it's green chili, but having a chef who creates green chili cheeseburgers honored by the state is amazing to me. Personally, I don't like green chili, but I like any time that we gain recognition for having some of the best food in the world. I think he gave great information in the story as well, including things such as where the restaurant is located and how long it has been around. He also included information about GQ magazine, which added to the validity of not only his story but the restaurant.
I liked the way his soundslide flowed, but some of the images were too long for my preference. But I did enjoy getting to hear the chef and I think it added to the depth of the story. Even if this isn't a hard-hitting news story, I still think it's a great, fun, upbeat story.

Kelsie Soward's Story

For this weeks blog entry I thought Kelsie Soward's story was the best. Not only is the headline "Curbside cuisine is the newest food industry phenomenon" catchy, but it also works well with her teaser. The story was well written well which made it easy to follow. I liked that she had multiple sources which not only gave her story credibility but it also added to the variety throughout the story.

The images in her soundslide were done really well and gave a detailed look at what the mobile food pods really are and what they really do. I think the length of it was the perfect amount, too. It was long enough to give you all of the information and give you a full understanding of what's going on. But it wasn't so long that I lost interest and got bored. And for me, that's pretty impressive since I have a short attention span.

Another thing I liked about this story is that it's a unique idea and something I didn't know about until reading the story. I had seen one mobile food pod before, but I was unsure what they were doing (Ex: feeding the homeless, testing a new meal, etc.) So I was really pleased that she reported on this and gave me the 411 on what was going on.

Andrew Beale's LGBTQ

For this weeks blog I chose Andrew Beale’s story as the best. I liked the part of his headline of Safe Space. I also really liked that his story ended with how the rainbow flag was burned, symbolizing the need for a safe space at UNM due to discrimination. The contradiction between UNM being safe but adding the contradictory ending shows that UNM has been in need of LGBTQ.

I think this is a good story idea because it’s an organization that is present at most universities. I knew UNM had that center but I thought it was older than a year, so I liked getting that information. I also liked knowing what the center does, such as HIV testing. I also liked that it was written well and was easy to follow along with.

However, the soundslide was a little to long for my liking. I just have a really short attention span. But also he lists what the center does in his soundslide and he also writes in the story. I think by cutting out some of the images (like the hallway and the stairway) and shortening the interview, the soundslide would’ve been much more powerful.

Overall, I liked this though.

 Andrew's Story

Hair flies in Las Cruces

For this first, actual, blog assignment, I chose Lindsey Miller's story as the best. I liked the fact that her headline on the homepage, "Hair flies in Las Cruces" worked so well her teaser/lede, "Las Cruces residents raised a significant amount in the battle against cancer, and they didn't have to do anything. Anything but take it all off. Their hair, that is." Not only does the headline complement the teaser, but it doesn't repeat itself. Not to mention, she used anadiplosis in her teaser by ending one sentence with "anything" and starting the next sentence with "anything." I think doing that made it catchier and more interesting.

I think the idea of the story is great and caught my heart in the first few paragraphs. The story is written very well and I enjoyed reading it. I wish there would've been a transition into the paragraph that starts with, "Shaun Paques of Albuquerque was 6 years old when he crashed his bike and was rushed to the hospital." But it adds to the emotional value of the story.

As far as suggestions of how it could be improved, other than the above comment, I would say there are some changes I would've made to the video. I wish we could actually hear the questions being asked rather than just reading the text. I also wish the audio would've been left in while she was getting her hair shaved, just to capture more of the emotional aspects of the event. Usually not using a tripod would make it difficult to watch a video, but this time it didn't take away from it, in my opinion. But, I did like that the video didn't repeat what was being said in the story and we got to see the actually shaving take place.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story. Not only does my best friend have cancer, but it was written in a way that would touch anyone, even if they don't know someone with cancer. It spread the word about what can be done to help fight cancer, the event that goes on and even gave multiple personal stories.


Hair Flies in Las Cruces by Lindsey Miller

My Multimedia Experiences

In middle school, I went to a charter school that focused on alternative arts. I took up film and instantly fell in love with it. Our teacher taught us how to use final cut and it has been a love of mine ever since. I continued doing film in high school. Once I graduated, however, I stopped doing film. I took a semester of photography as my fine arts class at UNM. I learned the basics of photoshop, but I can't say I'm overly comfortable with it. For my own personal uses I use online photo editors such as picnik and fotoflexer. I just find them both to be easier, more user friendly and still achieve the same results. I don't have much experience editing audio in any software other than final cut, but I did learn by watching the audacity group. As far as social media goes, I'm pretty good at it, just like most of my peers are. Having grown up in the age of technology has greatly helped me and given me an advantage I think.