Sensitive Subjects

After a few days of scrambling to organize this project, I've come to a settlement on a topic that is relevant to the arts, politics, and culture in general. I'm going to work with K-State freshman Clay Massingill and follow him through his preparation for performing in the K-State theater production of Columbinus. The play focuses on the tragedy of the Columbine school shootings, and Clay portrays Eric Harris, the leader of the massacre. I'll attempt to capture the emotional hardships he endures throughout his research, preparation, and performance of his part. I've been granted access to shoot a dress rehearsal of the play tonight, and Clay and I will work on an interview and some lifestyle work tomorrow. It should be a great piece.

"Better Late Than Never" and Other Useful Cliches

After a whirlwind week of trying to set up an interview with Morgan, we got everything sorted out and set to work. Honestly, I'm glad things worked out the way they did. Morgan had a great story to tell, and it was genuinely fun to work with her.

I'm in the process of arranging the soundbites I want to use to tell her story, and tomorrow I'll set to realizing them in Audition. Should be a good story when all things are said and done.

MC 580

To whom it may concern:

This will now be the website at which I post my thoughts concerning MC 580: Convergence Reporting. Previously, this site had been used as a canvas for my musings on Computer-Assisted Reporting. The times, they have a-changed.

There is much to be learned regarding convergence reporting. I do believe I've developed many skills in media production, but I have a lot to practice on with respect to reporting and content generation. Time to break out of the shell and start asking the tough questions.

That's It, Folks

Story's done, graphics are done, and everything checks out. Now it's just time to throw everything up on the website and do some design for that. Though I was pretty skeptical about the class to begin with, I ended up being pretty happy with the result. My grade isn't good. That's a fact. I missed a lot of work because I didn't take most of the class as seriously as I should have. However, I recognized from the beginning that I had an opportunity to do a unique story, and I've dedicated myself to it throughout the class. As long as I pass the class, I'll be happy with the final product. I'm not sure it's a great idea to make the final project only 10% of the grade when it's such a large project, but I'm satisfied with the results of my time in computer-assisted reporting.

Closing Time

Graphics are looking good. I've put together a map that features the locations of the last ten Metal Museum national metalsmiths of the year. The map is intended to give some graphical backing to the idea that metal art is strong all over the country (though it does seem to have quite a strong backing in Wisconsin...). Metal art is not concentrated. It's global.

Final Draft Looking Close

Put the finishing touches on my final draft last night. It reads nicely, and I think all of my information is properly attributed and super supportive of my story. Because the story is pretty experimental, it's really important that my data and quotes back up my information. I don't want to be making an argument; I want to be telling a story.

Finishing Up

The story has really come together in the past couple weeks. After starting as an amorphous blob of ideas (both good and crappy), the words started flowing like sweet cherry wine (which I'll admit I've never had, but I've heard good things). I'm planning on turning in my final draft in the next couple days. A couple more things to do with graphics and web design, but things are looking up.