Media Consumption Blog: May 25th

Today I returned from a wonderfully fun but entirely exhausting weekend in Talkeetna in which I camped by the river with a unrivaled view of McKinley. I was in town chiefly for a softball tournament, with plans for carousing in the down time. Well, my body hurts and both were total successes. We won the tournament, and you can find my picture on the trophy at the Fairview Inn as a member of the Mandingoes. I left more than just my image there as well, having spent hours dancing and celebrating the victory with tourists and revelers alike.

I’m sitting on my shabby blue love seat in front of the television right now. It’s where I’ve been since I rolled back into Anchorage and up my driveway.  The bruises, cuts and dehydration that I sport at the moment happily made it uncomfortable to descend the five stairs to my current throne in front of the 50-incher.

GCI has pumped nothing but channel 58 into my house for the last four hours or so, that is until now. AMC is showing Hamburger Hill, the mesmerisingly depressing Vietnam War flick w/ a young Don Cheadle. Anyway….I watched a two hour special called “The Link” that featured a recently studied primate skeleton that has proven to be an ancestor of ours.

The skeleton was studied by a crack team of expert paleontologists. Of the six, one was female.  She was selected for her knowledge, her reputation, and nothing else. Dr. Holly Smith of the University of Michigan was brought in and tasked with analyzing the 47 million-year-old Ida’s teeth and compare the 95-percent complete skeleton with that of the modern lemur, which is found exclusively in Madagascar and exists as an ancient cousin to our ancestral apes.

It was a pretty interesting show, and the team was able to prove that Ida — who is nearly 20 times older than Lucy — is in fact a ancestor of our species, modern homo-sapiens.  The clincher was a bone, the talus bone, that they identified in the ankle of, well, great aunt Ida. Smith played a huge role in discovering the conclusion reached, and received a very comparable amount of airtime in the show, with no focus on the fact she’s a woman.

I suspect this type of attitude is found nearly exclusively in academic-type settings like this History Channel special, unlike Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches or some of the other trash that litters my selection.

Evolution is so thoroughly astounding when you try to drink it all in.  Both scary and comforting at the same time, I find that I never tire of the subject. I have serious difficulty believing that many people refuse to recognize its legitimacy. Maybe as more discoveries pile on top of this one,  minds will change.

Multimedia Story Reflection

I have pretty mixed emotions with my final multimedia story.  On one hand I’m happy with it because I know I put in effort, and it was my first attempt at anything of that nature, but on the other I’m disappointed.  The audio was a little off and I couldn’t get the pictures I wanted for my revision.

I think that my topic was great, and I think that given the shots I had to work with, I did a good job asking questions that would relate.  In comparison to my original photo story, I think the pictures were arranged in a better order. I still went with chronological because it felt natural to me to do it that way.   I really wanted to open it up with a black screen and have Whiteman talking about the attack.  The people I tested the story on felt it sucked you right in.

The biggest problem with the audio was the fading at the end of segments. In the editing process, I was unable to get rid of the fade in Moviemaker when linking pieces of the interview together. I chose Moviemaker after an attempt with Soundslides where I ended up at square one after an hour or so of toying with the program.

A smaller issue with the audio was the quality, which suffered due to the recording device. I used a small hand-held Sony I rented from the department, and didn’t like it too much.  I had an Olympus until December (it was stolen from me) that would have done a better job.

In reflecting on this entire project, I think that if given a second opportunity, I would’ve settled on a subject that is geographically closer, and less busy! The guy’s life is insanely full of stuff he has to do, and matching my crazy schedule with his crazy schedule was a real challenge.  And in full disclosure, I would’ve began collecting photos sooner than I did. I left myself a few weeks to do so, and instead a month or more would’ve led to a better result.

The experience itself was a good one though! It was cool putting this together, and I feel like have a handle on Moviemaker and Audacity, as well as more experience with Adobe Audition.  It’s pretty cool to be able to take pictures and sound, combine the two, and have a (semi) polished product in the end.  I feel that as long as I have a good subject, I could replicate the results with very little effort this time, and in the end construct something much better.

I’m glad I was assigned this project, and I’d reccommend it in the future, for sure.

Photostory: Josh Whiteman

Josh Whiteman was on top of his game. He had a beautiful girlfriend, a steady job as a construction worker and was a rising star in the Washington state fight scene. Nine months ago in front of a Bellingham, WA bar, all of that was nearly taken from him. For a mere $50. Seven men attacked and beat Whiteman, leaving him with broken facial bones, a broken nose, a class-3 concussion and a shattered, wired-shut jaw. Forced out of work and training, his life was put on hold, and he and his girlfriend Anna Mrowka moved back to his hometown of Wasilla, AK.

Today he has recovered and shows no signs of the nearly fatal attack, or any bitterness toward his assailants and the curve ball life threw him not long ago. He and Mrowka recently moved into their first home after learning they are having a child, and Whiteman is back in the gym, training for a July title fight in the Alaska Fighting Championship.

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b224/mckiernan/?action=view&current=whiteman_0001.flv

(link, because WordPress does no’t allow .WMV files….grrr.

Weekly picture: 4/15

John Gardiner and Mark Pavitt enjoy the Sping sun on their roof with some watermelon on April 11th in Anchorage.

John Gardiner and Mark Pavitt enjoy the Sping sun on their roof with some watermelon on April 11th in Anchorage.

These two are my neighbors, and I saw them on Satudray around noon chillin outside on the roof listenin to some tunes, and I knew summer was right around the cornder. It was amost a euphoric feeling that day, haha.I posted both becuase I couldn’t decide which I liked more. The first one is candid (they hadn’t seen me) and you can tell what they’re sitting on, but I like the angle the second one is shot from.

Statistics-

Picture 1: shut 1/250, ap 5.6, ISO 100

Picture 2: shut 1/160, ap 5.6, ISO 100

Josh Whiteman: Fighter, Survivor, Expecting Father

Josh Whiteman was on top of his game. He had a beautiful girlfriend, a steady job as a construction worker and was a rising star in the Washington state fight scene. Nine months ago in front of a Bellingham, WA bar, all of that was nearly taken from him. For a mere $50. Seven men attacked and beat Whiteman, leaving him with broken facial bones, a broken nose, a class-3 concussion and a shattered, wired-shut jaw. Forced out of work and training, his life was put on hold, and he and his girlfriend Anna Mrowka moved back to his hometown of Wasilla, AK.

Today he has recovered and shows no signs of the nearly fatal attack, or any bitterness toward his assailants and the curve ball life threw him not long ago. He and Mrowka recently moved into their first home after learning they are having a child, and Whiteman is back in the gym, training for a July title fight in the Alaska Fighting Championship.

Whiteman falls asleep in between training sessions on March 17 at his parents home in Wasilla. Between his upcoming title fight and impending fatherhood, the brief break of rest is both well needed and appreciated.

As a result of being beaten and robbed by seven attackers in August 2008, Whiteman suffered a Class-3 concussion and shattered jaw. He remained in the Hospital for nearly a month.

As soon has as medically possible, Whiteman jumped right back into his training. He found Primal MMA, a new gym in Wasilla. The 8,000-square-foot gym is full of new students on March 17.

Whiteman pauses halfway through over two pounds of spaghetti on March 21, a typical dinner for the light-heavyweight. In preparation for his upcoming title fight, he tries to consume as much carbohydrates as possible.

Whiteman looks on as a student attempts to apply a submission on his opponent on March 17 at Primal MMA. Whiteman helps teach three times a week, and in return recieves free, unlimited access to the facility.

Whiteman and Mrowka enjoy their first dinner together in their new home on March 21. While Mrowka could do without spaghetti so often, Whiteman needs the carbohydrates as ofen as possible.

Whiteman (on his back), rolls with a student at Primal MMA on the evening of March 21. Five days a week, Whiteman will return home from teaching at the gym to eat, and go striaght back to get in some work himself.

Whiteman and Mrowka moved into their first new home together on March 14th on Neil St. in Wasilla, AK. The young couple are expecting their first child in the fall, and settled on the condo shortly after receiving the news.

Video Comparison: Soldiers vs Bison

I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to reach the conclusion that the bison video posted at adn.com and the video of the American soldiers in Iraq, which was submitted into a formal contest, are very different in every respect.  I’ll get to the inevitable conclusion right now.  The video about the soldiers is much better, in nearly every respect.

First, I’ll address the video about disease testing in Bison.  From the very start I was able to tell that the video was either ‘user submitted,’ or not shot by a seasoned professional videographer.  My first clue was the lighting; everything was darker than is desirable.  The camera at times shakes and moves a little bit, which is distracting. I think most everyone would agree with those two points. I’m not sure if it’s the website its running on (I’m reasonably certain it is due to the amount of space provided by the host site) but the video quality, in comparison to the Soldier video, is far less.

In my humble opinion, I think there were some strange decisions made in the editing process to add to the technical issues.  The first thing that made me WTF was the weird Judd Nelson-in-Breakfast-Club freeze-frame moment in the middle of the video.  It totally snapped the mood for me. I realize this was done to emphasize the dude getting railed by the Bison, but unfortunately it had the opposite effect. I would have much rather seen it in full speed because I would have had more of sense of how it felt and looked; more like I was actually there.  John Hughes will always be a master at his craft. He pulled off the freeze…not so similar results here.

I think there was a curious editing choice at the end of the video. The last two scenes are a shot of a bison from behind, running off, seemingly into the wild. There is a huge mountain central to the shot, the angle is cool, there is contrast of depth and colors; it’s really nice. Instead of closing with that, they lumped in a few seconds of an oddly-angled and totally unflattering running bison along a fence?!? Bad, bad move. Maybe not on the level of Stalin’s signing of a peace treaty with Nazi Germany in 1939, which cost 30 million Russian deaths (and nearly their sovereignty), but bad nonetheless.

Lastly is the matching of the audio to the video. While the audio is about the animals and the testing it doesn’t match up particularly well. I don’t remember there being a single time where the two coincided to great effect; never complimented each other if you will.

Now the soldier video…beautiful. I LOVED the mixing of the still photos and the video, combined with the audio.  Still photography, to me, is much more personal, and draws me in with a harder sense of emotion. The people who constructed this video did exactly that, and I really loved the way they used the stills in the introductions of each soldier too.  It instantly pulled me into each person and their story.

The video is crisp too. The lighting is excellent, and having the soldiers interviewed in front of different scenes of carnage and surrounded by rubble provides a stark contrast to the calm each individual’s calm, measured demeanor when talking. The transitions from video-photo-video are seamless, and I never once felt jilted by the switch.

The use of three different media types (video, sound, stills) is perfect here because due to the piece’s subjects. They’re stationary people being interviewed by two (not one, two) trained professionals. The video is professional; the audio and still photography are professional. Combine that with the fact that the soldiers are in a controlled environment, and it allows for a perfect mix. The audio from the video is the same audio used in the final cut. That’s not the case in bison video, and it shows. Also, the use of graphics and seeing who is talking adds a lot.

In comparison to one another, I think the subject matter plays a huge part as well.  One is about disease testing in bison populations, while the other sits with American soldiers in Iraq as they discuss their good-luck charms. One is so much more dramatic and interesting than the other. I don’t even feel the need to explain it.

While that can’t and shouldn’t be used in any argument for or against either (the bison video is what it is), the truth is one is more appealing than the other based on subject matter alone.

The bison video, meh. Not so great, maybe a 3/10. About as interesting as an unrelated 8-year-old’s little league game would be.  The Iraqi video? Game 7, World Series-status.  Great, well-done, gripping, and hard to pull your eyes away from. After viewing it, I said to myself, “That was the kind of thing that had I seen on TV, as I was flipping through channels, I wouldn’t have been able skip over.”  I’d say that’s the ultimate test.

Blog Post: People, 4/08

4-month old Liam Uphus tries on his first pair of glasses on April 5th.

Picture Story Reflection

After shooting the picture story, I’m quite happy with the results and I feel much more comfortable with a camera as a consequence. I’m sure my grade will be good, but more importantly I thought the experience of sitting back and observing things I would otherwise thrust myself into was equally as valuable.

My subject, Josh Whiteman of Wasilla, AK, was not my first choice for a subject. Not my second even.  Initially, I wanted to follow three homeless men that I see roughly once a week at a Carrs grocery here in Anchorage.  Every week I stop by to pick up my lunch, and a few months back I began buying the three of them a sandwich in addition to my own. They are always very grateful, and seem nice enough, but their living situation proposed problems that made it too difficult.

My second thought was to follow my friend Nick for a couple days, both at work and at home. Nick recently had his first child, Liam, and works a very exciting  job as an Animal Control Officer for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  The combination of those two would’ve made a great piece, but I was told that I couldn’t take photos during a ride along.

So, I settled on Mr. Whiteman and it worked out great.  I believe (given limitations I will expound on further down) that I did a great job presenting what he has gone through recently, and what he is enjoying as of today.

I know Josh personally. We went to high school together at Wasilla High, but I don’t think I can say we were friends during that time. It wasn’t till after graduation that we became friends by watching fights, playing poker together, and causing mischief as 19-year-olds do.

That made the time spent together while taking pictures easier, but at the same time it didn’t feel very natural.We’d spent so much time together in the past without any formal procedure or anything, and the camera and assignment made moments weird.

I made some rookie mistakes too. One notable instance was showing up with a camera that, naturally, was unsuccessful in trying to operate with dead batteries. If I had been in the deserts of Iraq and my equipment had no juice, I wouldn’t have the luxury of driving to the store to purchase more. That’s a lesson I will only have to learn once.

Another difficulty was the distance I had to travel. 50-plus miles must seem like a lot if you live in New England where you can drive across entire states in hours, but up here it’s not that far. Yet, the travel becomes problematic when trying to balance it with a full-time job and classes. I would have been able to spend more time had we both lived in the same area.

I almost lost my life traveling back, Southbound on the Glenn Highway during a surprise snowfall when a jackass driving a truck and towing a trailer decided to pass me despite poor visibility.You don’t want to know the things I disclosed to my dog Haiti during the chaos. Those words will die with the both of us.

Even more than the geographic distance and death-defying driving, I think the most difficult thing to overcome was (and is) my lackluster camera skills.  I have a sordid history with cameras. I’ve been through five of them in the last, I don’t know, four years?

I kill them.

Because of that, I’ve never seemed to use them much. Until now that is, for this class.

While at Josh’s training session, I felt like I missed a lot because I couldn’t figure out how to expose correctly. The lighting in such a large (and white!) building made for some difficulty. Combined with my trepidation of getting in the way by going beyond the bleachers and onto the mats, some great shots were missed. These two obstacles will be overcome simply by experience and nothing else I imagine.

Some similar problems emerged at Josh and Anna’s new place. It was difficult to frame a shot interestingly with such an empty house, and many pictures that would have been great had to be tossed becuase of blurring and other amatuer flubs.

Overall, I’m very happy with the set. One picture in particular I really, really like is the shot of Josh in the recliner with the toys at this feet. The light hitting the curtain and flowing down to him, I think, is real nice.  Ironically, this was the very first shot I took over my three visits.

I guess even a blind squirrel can find an nut.

Weekly pic: Springtime in Alaska

Willow bushes begin to bud as spring descends upon East Anchorage on March 2. ISO: 100, Ap: 4.9, Shut: 1/200

Willow bushes begin to bud and trash starts to reappear in the woods behind the Alaska Club located on Tudor Road and Boniface Avenue on March 25. Every spring, as the snow melts, the beauty of budding plants is scarred by the reemergence of garbage. ISO: 100, Ap: 2.5, Shut: 1/1000

Pic Story: Josh Whiteman – Survivor, Fighter, soon-to-be Father

Josh Whiteman was on top of his game. He had a beautiful girlfriend, a steady job as a construction worker and was a rising star in the Washington state fight scene. Nine months ago in front of a Bellingham, WA bar, all of that was nearly taken from him. For a mere $50. Seven men attacked and beat Whiteman, leaving him with broken facial bones, a broken nose, a class-3 concussion and a shattered, wired-shut jaw. Forced out of work and training, his life was put on hold, and he and his girlfriend Anna Mrowka moved back to his hometown of Wasilla, AK.

Today he has recovered and shows no signs of the nearly fatal attack, or any bitterness toward his assailants and the curve ball life threw him not long ago. He and Mrowka recently moved into their first home after learning they are having a child, and Whiteman is back in the gym, training for a July title fight in the Alaska Fighting Championship.

Whiteman and his girlfriend Anna Mrowka before the accident in the summer of 2008 in Bellingham, WA.

As a result of being beaten and robbed by seven attackers, Whiteman suffered a Class-3 concussion and shattered jaw. He remained in the Hospital for nearly a month.

Whiteman suffered a broken nose, shattered jaw, and broken right orbital bone. His black eye lasted for months after his release from the hospital.

Whiteman and Mrowka moved into their first new home together on March 21 on Neil St. in Wasilla, AK.

In preparation for his July title fight, Whiteman trains at Primal MMA in Wasilla. The new, 8,000 square foot gym is full of new students on March 17.

Whiteman looks on as two students grapple at Primal MMA on March 17th. Three times weekly, Whiteman helps instruct beginning Jiu-Jitsu students.

Whiteman looks on as a student attempts to apply a submission on his opponent on March 17 at Primal MMA. Whiteman helps teach three times a week, and in return receives free, unlimited access to the facility.

Whiteman and Mrowka enjoy their first dinner together in their new home on March 21. Mrowka is three months pregnant and they expect their first child in August.

Whiteman devours pounds of spaghetti for dinner on March 21. In preparation for his July title fight, he tries to consume as much carbohydrates as possible.

Whiteman rolls with a student at Primal MMA on the evening of March 21. Five days a week, Whiteman will return home from teaching at the gym to eat, and go straight back to get in some work himself.

Whiteman ponders his future between training sessions on March 17 at his parents home in Wasilla. Between his upcoming title fight and impending fatherhood, the brief break of rest is both well needed and appreciated.