If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what's the value of an entire slide show of compelling images, complete with sound effects, music and narration? In the "Visual Journalism for Science Writers" workshop at ScienceWriters 2009, three multimedia mavens shared their tips for creating informative visuals to stand alone or complement the written word. Then, the workshop panelists guided participants in building their own narrated slideshows.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what's the value of an entire slide show of compelling images, complete with sound effects, music and narration? In the "Visual Journalism for Science Writers" workshop at ScienceWriters 2009, three multimedia mavens shared their tips for creating informative visuals to stand alone or complement the written word. Then, the workshop panelists guided participants in building their own narrated slideshows.
Regardless of your writing venue, chances are that your work will appear on the Web, and visual images and sound are important tools to convey information that can't be summarized easily in print, according to workshop panelist Lee Clippard, communications director at The University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences. "Although we were trained as writers, we now have to also be broadcast journalists," Clippard said..
Fortunately, according to panelist Karl Leif Bates, director of research communications at Duke University, "The tools for creating visual journalism are easier and more affordable than ever."
To demonstrate the power of short audiovisual clips to both inform and entertain, workshop panelists presented examples of their own work. John Pavlus, a freelance writer and video producer, shared a short video he filmed in which George Musser, editor at Scientific American, explains dark matter using objects in his office. When asked by a workshop participant how much of the video was scripted, Pavlus explained that he made an outline of the script but gave the source plenty of room to improvise. "Good video doesn't have to be intimidating for the producer or the subject," Pavlus said.
When interviewing sources for audiovisual projects, "I tend to tape and coach," Bates said. He first lets the interviewee explain the subject in their own words, then he points out what he liked and didn't like and tapes again. "I typically tape three to four times to get a sound bite," he said.
Although raw footage can be condensed and polished through editing, in the world of audio and video, it's important for scientists to be good communicators. "There may be people doing great work, but if they can't communicate, it doesn't work for multimedia," Clippard said. "If scientists can learn to talk in sound bites, it's better for them."
Clippard showed a slide show he produced on giant deep-sea protists. The slide show was narrated by University of Texas biologist Misha Matz and accompanied a news story on Matz's research. "This slide show allows you to get a sense of the scientist, his personality, and the discovery process that you wouldn't get from a photo," said Clippard. "It's all about giving people another view."
But does the addition of a video or slideshow to an article actually attract more online readers? "Tracking data on our web pages shows that people really like videos and slideshows, and from a university PIO perspective, we've found that adding multimedia to news stories makes other venues much more likely to pick them up," said Bates.
Participants in this hands-on workshop were encouraged to bring laptop computers. In the second half of the session, attendees made their own narrated slide show presentations with free demo software from soundslides.com and the expert help of the panelists. Although their initial amateurish efforts featuring images of outer space, butterflies and flowers probably won't be winning any major awards, workshop participants gained valuable experience in visual journalism that will serve them well in the wired new world.
To see the companion site for the workshop, go to sites.google.com/site/visualsforsciencewriters.
Laura Cassiday was a Freelance Travel Fellow at ScienceWriters 2009. She is a biochemist-turned-freelancer from Denver, Colorado, and writes for such outlets as Chemical & Engineering News, American Chemical Society journals, and www.epigenie.com.
