THE YEARBOOK ANGLE: DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

CLICK PLAY ABOVE TO FIND OUT!

Objective: Through viewing this video the student will determine whether or not he or she would like to join yearbook staff and/or pursue a career in journalism.

Thanks to all students who entered their photos to be in this project, and to Howe Street for providing the Soundtrack What Makes the World Go Round.

Well, I was pretty pumped about this week's assignments for the ole' grad class. This was the week I had been waiting for - something FINALLY in my specialty area! Since I am an English major/Journalism and Education double minor - I do the yearbook for my high school (as I have mentioned in the past). Photos are something I have been collecting for quite awhile now, and the videos I created were such a great way to show them off! What I did was ask all of my students on the yearbook staff to (at their own will) put some of what they thought to be their best photos in a folder on a drive at our school. I told them what I was going to be doing with the photos, and with their permission, added them to what I had also taken and collected from photo contests over the years. What I was stumped about was the "story" part of the video.

But then it hit me. Why not use this as a chance to promote what it is the yearbook staff does, and tell that story?!

So, to make a long story short, I created a video using Photo Story 3 and Animoto.com. When comparing and contrasting the two programs, both had their positives and negatives. See below: 

Photo Story 3:
PROS: This is a very step by step process - great for newbies like me! It led me through the process, letting me choose each photo and record audio for each slide. I also thought that when the slides/photos were compiled - the audio transitioned very well. You could barely even tell that the audio had been recorded separately.
CONS: There is definitely a lack of creativity to the slide transitions and add ons. Though the end product turned out great - other programs offer more "jazz".

Animoto:
PROS: What a fun looking website; very modern and sleek. The layout for the slides was unique, and I love how it let you see the big image of the slide to the right. Great FREE music choice! I played the video for my students and they were like, "Who sings that? I want to download that song!" Guess I just promoted Howe Street by picking that track at random. Also, what great effects and transitions! SO COOL!
CONS: Uhhhh... it really bothers me that you have to wait (and wait) for the video to process before viewing it in its entirety. There were a few times I went back to edit text and such, and then had to wait again for the video to process before I could see the final product. Very annoying. Also, what's up with the limited number of room for text. I could barely get in what I wanted to say.

My advice to newbie video makers like myself would be to play around with both. After sharing the two videos with my classes, the majority ruled that Animoto was the better of the two (maybe b/c it was that they hear my voice all day- like in the Photo Story video). We will see what the rest of the school thinks when I use the videos to promote joining the yearbook staff during enrollment later this week! Perfect timing!