Web 2.0 Anxiety

Speaking of the NYT’s David Pogue (see update on previous post), he recently wrote an interesting column, Are You Taking Advantage of Web 2.0?, on why many companies are afraid of Web 2.0.

“Not enough money.” “Don’t understand it.” “No technical resources.” “Not enough manpower.” “No visible return on investment.” “Fear of ridicule.” “Fear of slander.” “Fear of permanence.” “Fear of the public running amok.”

Then he offered a couple of solutions to those potential problems. You can check it out here. (Potential blog fodder for next week?)

Video storyboarding: the next step, the next assignment

You’ve been playing with iMovie, creating a short video using stills and video clips recorded with the built-in iSight camera on your Mac.

The next step is to actually plan a video — that is, to come up with an idea for a simple story, develop a storyboard that outlines the story and the shots you’ll need to make it work, and then shoot your video and edit it into a 2-3 minute piece. This will be your video project. (And if you’re really on the ball, you’ll think ahead and create a video that can also work as part of your final multimedia project…thus killing two birds with one stone!)

Your storyboard for your video project is due Tuesday, April 1.

What’s a storyboard, you ask? Here are a couple links to information on storyboards and storyboarding:

• Storyboarding – Resources and Vlogging Assistance, from a BlogHer presentation by Gena Haskett
  • If you missed class on 3/18 and/or 3/20, and did not pick up a storyboard template in class, you can download a sample from this web page. Just scroll down to “Analog Storyboarding” and download one of the two storyboard samples listed…or scroll down to “Digital Storyboarding” and download the (free) software for the Atomic Learning Storyboard Program.
• Five Steps to Multimedia Storytelling – Step 2/Storyboarding, part of an online tutorial developed by News U (click on Dancing Rocks Case Study to see a sample)
• Sequencing: The Foundation of video storytelling – a blog post on the Mastering Multimedia blog, another good resource

UPDATE: To create a video, you need to shoot video…and not just in front of an iSight camera in the computer lab. Some of you are planning to use the video mode in your digital cameras. Some of you are planning to borrow a camcorder from the DBH equipment room after spring break (we’ll hope they survive the Mexico trip).

However, if you’re interested in acquiring a camcorder of your own, here’s one possibility: I just watched NTY Tech Writer David Pogue’s video review of the Flip Ultra video recorder, a low-cost, easy-to-use, “point-an-shoot” version of a camcorder. It’s under $200, and it looks pretty neat. I think I may get one.

Direct link: http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=5599bfb498ac8619a79065bc71eb9549b8620db3