Media Gatherers

Series Introduction

An article series taking a closer look at the building blocks of Multimedia Journalism.
The articles will look into all of the elements that make up a multimedia piece.

In it’s true sense Multimedia consists of three elements – still images, audio and video. The series intends to break down each of these individual elements hopefully highlighting the importance of understanding each process separately in order to produce an effective and powerful piece.

PART 1: The Photo Essay

Part 1 will deal with the still imagery aspect of multimedia, hopefully giving you an insight into what images help build a strong and powerful multimedia piece.

Before we rush straight into this thing called multimedia lets backtrack and get back to basics and explore what telling stories with images is all about.

Photography is a powerful way to illustrate events, ask yourself what imagery you remember from various times in history.

The naked girl running from a village in Vietnam following a napalm attack, an aeroplane seconds from striking the World Trade Centre, an unarmed man in Beijing, China, standing defiantly in front of a column of tanks as they rolled into Tiananmen Square, a flag raised over the island of Iwo Jima after fierce fighting, a sailor kissing a girl at the end of the second world war, a vulture looking on as a starving child lies in the dust….you get the point.
There are many more.

Each of those images is, rightly so, held up as a symbol of events from that specific time, sometimes marking a turning point in history, sometimes changing history.

This is the power photography has. Potentially an awesome power for change.

These are strong stand alone images but to create a strong photo-essay then the images need to run in a sequence, they need to tell a story, they need to take the viewer on a visual journey from one point to another.This is not easy, because the photographer needs to have an idea what he wants to achieve and plan for this.
This could happen over a few days or weeks or, in the case of a spot news event, it might have to be done immediately bringing with it additional pressure.

In video they call it a storyboard, this is the ‘blueprint’ that the story will follow, either directly or as a foundation on which to base the story. Without this it is easy to loose sight of the story and what you want to achieve.

There are certain types of images that together will produce visual variety in your photo essay.

• OVERALL or General View (GV) – Establishes the scene.
• MEDIUM – Focuses on one activity or group.
• CLOSE-UP – An element or intricate detail.
• PORTRAIT – A standard portrait or an environmental portrait.
• INTERACTION – People in conversation or action.
• SIGNATURE – A summary of the story with the key elements.
• SEQUENCE – To create a sense of drama, or a how-to piece.
• CLINCHER – A strong image that could bring the piece to an end.

If, and it’s not always going to be possible, these elements are brought into a story then it will flow more naturally with a tempo that will produce a strong photo essay.

I’m all for being creative and going into a situation without having to think about a hard and fast formula but at times this process will allow a skeleton or framework to be built, around which your creative photographs can be built.

Using the points above will give you a sense of direction for your project, it will solidify your thoughts and ultimately serve as the skeletal foundation to any good story.

In part 2 of ‘Multimedia Building Blocks’ I will be looking at Audio.

Series Links:

• Part 1 – The Photo Essay