CANNOT POST MY MOVIE, AH!

Sooo, my movie will not upload to either YouTube or Google Movie...I've tried compressing it and it didn't help. I have it in .mov format, so it should work...YouTube says if all else fails to change it to MPEG4 format, but I'm worried that if I try that it may ruin the movie...any ideas? anyone else having troubles??

Despite troubles...still pushing on.

Well, it always seems when I have an idea in my head it just doesn't come out on video how I envisioned it. My project isn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I worked with the equipment I had, and with the animals that were available. I went to the Center for Wildlife in York, ME and focused on the permanent residents finding a home at the Center. The animals were a bit trickier to film that I had thought...either they wouldn't move, or they would move behind a branch or tree. I had the best luck with the ducks since they are incredibly friendly and really love people. I had taken 20 minutes of great speaking footage from the development director...but of course, came back to load it into imovie and found that imovie only allows 9 minute clips. I would have liked to segment the 20 minutes down so I could import them into imovie, but I need to have Quicktime Pro, which of course, I don't. Thanks goodness, I brought my audio recorder with me and used that footage and put it in the background of the video and pictures. I was really hoping to at least have some shots of the development director, but I worked with what I have. The video is so long, and I've been trying to cut it down, but it doesn't seem to be working.

It should be posted tonight or tomorrow afternoon:)

Questioning.

After watching the multimedia argument on Wednesday I find myself still questioning...

Part of me thinks that multimedia posted to the website of a newspaper should be extremely relevant and professional. The equipment should be more than just a point & shoot (considering we have been working with them, and frankly, they take pretty crappy video). The multimedia should be something a reporter is proud of and enhances a story that can be better with different parts, such as a slideshow, or a video. Yet, there is this other part of me that thinks, "why not throw everything up on the web?" If you have the technology and the resources, chances are, someone will watch your video. But, will this take away some of the credibility and professionalism of a newspaper? Will a video of a dog catching a frisbee in a park, for instance, really do anything for your paper?

I want to say that it seems more acceptable for a small newspaper to load anything onto a website, while the NY Times may need to evaluate their material a bit more closely, yet, what does this say about small papers? Having interned at a smaller paper, I don't want to see nonsense displayed across the website just because someone knows how to use a point and shoot camera.

So, where does that leave us? There needs to be a balance. There needs to be relevance in multimedia, accuracy, and a sense that the person knows what their doing. If that means eliminating point and shoot cameras from an office, than so be it. It's not just about the equipment though, but about the person using it. Don't expect that just because a point and shoot camera is easy to use that we'll have the next Stephen Speilberg on our hands.

BIG trouble with video.

So, I had thought video would be easy, and of course, I can't even load the videos on my computer. So, it seems I will not have a movie posted to my blog today. My movies loaded into my computer as MPEG files, and for some reason imovie won't take that format, but I can't seem to even start to convert the MPEG files into anything else. The problem is similar to one I had with audio, but even my Switch program won't allow me to convert the files. I've pretty hit a wall for now...

Dancing Through Life.

I need a new camera

I bought my camera last year before I studied abroad in Europe. I quickly realized that buying a Sony vs. a Canon was a bad choice. I had the Canon in my hand but opted for the slightly cheaper one, the Sony, and have never been more disappointed in my life. I can't shoot at night, the dial continuously moves on its own...causing pictures to become movies spontaneously, all my images are usually blurred so there's no point in me even trying action shots, and the delay is unbelievable. Needless to say, this piece o' crap camera really made this part of the project hard. I shot stills of Megan during her aerial dance class, but just couldn't get the shots I wanted. Having taken a year of photography, I have always loved it, but my camera makes it a real chore. I ended up having to make Megan pose on the trapeze rather than get her mid-air, and while I'm hoping for some pictures of her tapping, I know it's going to be nearly impossible with all the movement. Lesson learned: don't buy Sony.

Audio Project