View Full Version : Anyone creating Rich Media projects


Bob Kerner
November 1st, 2008, 04:50 PM
I was curious whether anyone here at DvInfo has created so-called "rich media" presentations blending still, video and audio to tell stories.

I'd be interested to hear of your experiences and whether you felt having still photographs enhanced or distracted from your project.

How are you gathering audio during the still photo shoots?

Thanks

M. Paul El-Darwish
November 2nd, 2008, 09:44 AM
Not to sound snide, but based on your re-definition of the 90's term "Multimedia", I'd be surprised if MOST members here weren't creating rich media all the time. Actually, rich media is a close cousin to immersive media. As I practice and understand it, Immersive Media involves interaction. So a fully Menu architected DVD whether a game or a movie is by definition, Rich Media. Flash based and served Movies streamed over the Internet are definitely rich & immersive media.
"presentations blending still, video and audio to tell stories." have been around a LONG time and no doubt are part and parcel of what most modern presentations are.




I was curious whether anyone here at DvInfo has created so-called "rich media" presentations blending still, video and audio to tell stories.

I'd be interested to hear of your experiences and whether you felt having still photographs enhanced or distracted from your project.

How are you gathering audio during the still photo shoots?

Thanks

Dave Christensen
November 2nd, 2008, 12:16 PM
I think, maybe, Bob is referring to projects that are composed primarily of still photography and audio to tells stories, rather than more traditional film/video to move the story along. Think something along the lines of MediaStorm (MediaStorm: A Multimedia Production Studio Founded by Brian Storm - Photojournalism, Photography, Video, Audio, Storytelling (http://mediastorm.com/)). It's a much different feel and storytelling technique than the running narrative on video.

But I might be wrong.

@ Bob - I'm part of a media group that is currently working on projects like the one you described. I think most photojournalists bring along a voice recorder of some kind to grab audio on-location. This includes people retelling their stories, answering interview questions, and in some cases hooking the recorder up to a powered mic to grab ambient background noise. Basically all the same resources you would want to cut a documentary.

Giroud Francois
November 2nd, 2008, 12:37 PM
Seems that to be "rich" a media must be interactive.
this covers the zillion of flash games you will find on the web.
Flash seems to be the choice for creating content, while microsoft producer can
create web pages embedding synchronized powerpoint slides +video +sound +web pages (including forms), reaching the definition of rich multimedia.
they were product allowing to overlay menu and buttons on video (like blueray and DVD) but they never really take off (like Hypnotizer)
the same for SMILE, that was impaired by the use of reaplayer to be played.
today you can consider that most websites including sound, picture and video and search forms (like youtube) are de facto rich media.

Bob Kerner
November 2nd, 2008, 01:13 PM
Yes, this is what I had in mind. I was reluctant to post a link directly to the other site.
Most of the content I've seen on DV Info is purely video so I was wondering if anyone was cutting in still photos into their docs.

I think, maybe, Bob is referring to projects that are composed primarily of still photography and audio to tells stories, rather than more traditional film/video to move the story along. Think something along the lines of MediaStorm (MediaStorm: A Multimedia Production Studio Founded by Brian Storm - Photojournalism, Photography, Video, Audio, Storytelling (http://mediastorm.com/)). It's a much different feel and storytelling technique than the running narrative on video.

But I might be wrong.

@ Bob - I'm part of a media group that is currently working on projects like the one you described. I think most photojournalists bring along a voice recorder of some kind to grab audio on-location. This includes people retelling their stories, answering interview questions, and in some cases hooking the recorder up to a powered mic to grab ambient background noise. Basically all the same resources you would want to cut a documentary.

Allen Plowman
November 2nd, 2008, 01:33 PM
Isnt it standard practice to use still photos to fill in? after all, video is simply photographs and sound. I see them talk about it all the time in the wedding section, if they miss an important shot, get a still picture and use that to fill in the missed shot.

Richard Gooderick
November 2nd, 2008, 04:39 PM
There's a 26 second sequence that's mostly stills starting at 3' 20" here:
Take it away: Adam Newton on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/830930)
I don't know if this counts as rich media. It was just a way to tell the story.

Dan Chung
November 18th, 2008, 08:51 PM
Bob,

This is exactly what I do a lot of the time, there are plenty of good resources around the net. The work of Brian Storm at Mediastorm is pretty much the best place to start though. I recently gave a lecture with him in China and he is one cool guy. Try MultimediaShooter (http://www.multimediashooter.com) for more inspiration.

Dan