W4 Lecture: Picture Stories

This type of Journalism functions on the ideology that a picture is worth a thousand words (sounds like the week three's lecture...). I thought it interesting that as well as mainstream picture stories such as newspapers, TV programing, films, and photos; graffiti and outside advertising may also quantify as picture stories. pictures are an important way to convey messages, as they are suitable for a wide audience, catering for illiterates and people of little reading ability. Pictures normally accompany written stories.

Something I wondered about: before the use of cameras (around the 1860's), newspapers were illustrated with 'line drawings'. It seems so unprofessional, when compared with the accurate and incorruptible photograph--before digital editing, that is. But there was truly something majestic in the line drawings in the old papers...see what I mean?

The first news photo was published in 1880 and the first colour photo was published much later, around 1936. These days, telling a picture story is much faster and simpler. Photos can be taken and uploaded to the internet almost instantly, meaning there is virtually no publishing delay either. Shortly to come, are tablets and ipads in which the pixels can't be seen so the pictures and display are ultra clear. The pace of our news content generation has had to match that of all the instant services in our lives-instant internet bank transfers, and even our snacks must be instant (reference to university instant 'two minute noodles').

But-- as in the words of Spider man's uncle Ben, "with great power, comes great responsibility". We have the capability through technology to meet the demand for instant news, but things aren't as simple as all that. With all the photo editing and manipulation programs, such as Photo Shop etc., we must decide what is acceptable and how to wisely use our power. For good or for evil?

Below is the video we watched in the lecture, and don't worry, it's also a lot more relevant than my Spider man analogy:

So what makes a good photo then?

1. Framing
2. Focus
3. Angle and Point of View (POV)
4. Exposure/light
5. Shutter speed
6. Being in the right place at the right time (capturing 'the moment')

*I would just like to put it out there, at this time, that I love burst settings on cameras. :) It makes it so much easier to get the perfect shot, as you have a number of images taken in very rapid succession. The chance of finding that perfect moment should be much better then, in theory. And a note to be careful with flash settings as it can often ruin an otherwise good photo-particularly important when in a photographic journalist setting.

-"A picture has no meaning if at all if it can't tell a story."- Eetu Silanpaa

Emotive pictures are sometimes more hard hitting than gory ones. The 'rule of the golden means' dictates that the object should not be put square in the middle, as it is too predictable, and leaves little room for the viewer to preformed ideas about the story's content. If the viewer cannot conjecture about the story, the photo is not as effective, as they are not being drawn in to read about it. Even aesthetically, a simple, square on photograph is boring. Having different perspectives and angles with objects gives them a more interesting look, and allows the development of meaning. Moving pictures (films) follow similar guidelines to photos, but they also frame in 3D, the focus changes, it may include the dimension of sound, you can splice edit the product, and capture a narrative rather than a single image.

Seeing newsreels at the cinema were a big part of news broadcasting before television. For example, the cinemas in Nazi-ruled Germany showed propaganda films. It was a rapid and effective way of spreading their ideologies, which in turn, influenced the audience to make their bias align with the government's (essentially agenda setting).

News 24 news cycle's content quality is not always great because of lack of funding. This has meant that automated systems and better technology have reduced the number of people needed to produce television news reports.Video journalism (VJ), a new form of human journalism requires only one person to broadcast a story, as they film it themselves. This isn't just in television either, there are also many online video journalists.

-Bon.