NPPA Multimedia Immersion 2007


This website was built to promote the 2007 NPPA Multimedia Immersion Summit. THe Immersion program offered a 4-day hands on workshop for still photographers that allowed them to replace their Canons and Nikons in favor of video cameras and sound equipment.

I was one of the "students" during this particular summit and I can assure you it is an amazing experience. If you are interested in attending an immersion workshop go to the NPPA website for more information: nppa.org/training/multimedia-immersion. They still offer intense, five-day, hands-on training workshop for visual journalists looking to expand and grow their multimedia skillsets using the latest technology.

Once the summit was over, the usefulness of the site was done. The site's domain eventually expired and NPPASummit.com/ disappeared from the web. Recently I discovered that the domain was available, so I bought it with the goal of recreating as much of its original content as possible from archived pages. I did not want someone else to purchase the domain and re-purpose the site for something that had nothing in common with the original NPPA Summit website. These workshops are extraoridnary and the more information about them on the WWW the better, as far as I am concerned.

I have utilized the information and experiences of the 2007 NPPA summit in my own work. Recently I finished up a video about the creation of an e commerce site that specializes in eyeglass lens replacement online. What a smart and convenient way to get lens replacements without having to go to a eyeglass store. For people who live out in the country or don't have easy access to an eyeglass store, mail-order is a great way to go. This particular online store allows customers to mail their glasses in to them, and they will install the replacement lenses. The site offers all kinds of replacement lenses, including single vision, progressive, bifocal, and trifocal. The replacement lens materials run the full gamut from plastic and polycarbonate, to high index, Trivex, as well as glass lenses. Customers can also order replacement prescription sunglass lenses with custom tint, Transitions technology, polarized, and mirror coated lenses. You can even send in your frames with a new prescription along with your phone number, and an optician will call to discuss the best, high quality lens choices and options for your needs. Before I started filming I ordered some replacement lens for my favorite frames just to see how the process worked.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE CONTAINS SELECTED ARCHIVED CONTENT FROM THE ORIGINAL
2007 NPPA Multimedia Immersion Summit SITE.

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NPPA president Tony Overman said: “This is one training session you don’t want to miss, so register now. The multimedia program is a ‘boot camp’ of audio and video recording, editing, and slideshow presentations for both still and television photojournalists. The NPPA Multimedia Committee is planning the faculty and curriculum for the four-day program.

The sessions will take place at the Doubletree Lloyd Center in Portland, where there's a special NPPA nightly room rate of $119.

During the Photojournalism Summit, the part of the program that is open to all attendees, there will be speakers in three tracks of workshops: Still Photography, Multimedia, and Television Photography. Some of the multimedia faculty from the Immersion Program may also do “double duty” and lead sessions during the Photojournalism Summit as well. One-hour workshops are planned ranging from traditional storytelling to the latest and greatest mulitmedia tools and techniques.

Behind the Scenes by wills

Apple gives the NPPA Multimedia Immersion Seminar a shout out.

We’re like a proud father steadying the back of his child’s bike seat. The giggling adolescent pumps their tiny legs to get up to speed and with a brisk shove, we have released the Multimedia Immersion Students into the streets of Portland to start the hands-on reporting portion of the seminar.

Each of the 43 students are out there right now reporting on their own stories, thanks largely in part to the hard work of Oregonian photographer Rob Finch and last minute help from Documentary Photographer Geoff Hiller and Oregonian Online News Editor John Killen for lining up a bodacious mix of content ideas and colorful sources. I’m a rolling boil of jealousy for the opportunity these students have to mix with the Portland community report on all these fascinating stories.

NPPA on Apple.com

In the meantime, coaches are roaming around the halls like lost puppies. …Asking random guests at the hotel if they need help capturing video or converting audio. I swear I saw someone that looked like Seth Gitner fanatically trying to force an older woman by the pool listening to her iPod to use noise canceling headphones, in place of her ear buds. “Listen closely for airplanes overhead!” He bellowed. “And give me your socks. We need to protect the shotgun from the wind.”

Some of us coaches are catching up on email, neglected family members and news. We noticed that The Multimedia Immersion Seminar made it on Apple’s “Hot News” section. It’s even above the YouTube video on AppleTV news! Woot. Woot.

(If you’re wondering about that screen grab, yes, that is Annie Lennox above the news. She’s probably biting her nails in frustration over how bad she wants to be at the NPPA Multimedia Immersion Seminar.)

You may also be interested to know that Apple stock jumped 2.42 percent today. (Which I directly attribute to the NPPA Multimedia Immersion Seminar being mentioned on their site.)

 

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John Killen’s Observations

The future is becoming a bit more clear for more than 40 professional photojournalists who are attending the NPPA Photojournalism Summit this week in Portland.

Those who made the trip are being rewarded with both hands-on training and open-ended discussions of all the new challenges and opportunities that are opening up in the new world of journalism.

As I write this at about noon on Thursday, I’m able to eavesdrop on a Final Cut presentation, during which participants are learning the basics — and more — about how to use this tool to create video presentations for their newspapers websites or other publications.

Earlier today, a similar workshop was held on Soundtrack Pro and last night was topped off by a discussion of the ethical challenges that all the new tools can present.

And in less than two hours, the group will disperse across Portland to work on story  ideas that were pre-arranged by Rob Finch, a multimedia journalist at The Oregonian.

After an afternoon of shooting, everyone will return to the Doubletree Hotel in Portland and begin to put together their projects, which will be posted to the workshop website no later than Saturday afternoon.

It’s pretty clear to me that people at the Summit will go home with a much better grasp of where they want to go — and how to get there.

– John Killen, online news editor, The Oregonian

 

 

Schedule

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WEDNESDAY
(Multimedia overview, what tools to use for storytelling, audio immersion)
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL MULTIMEDIA IMMERSION SEMINAR LECTURES ARE IN THE MT. BACHELOR ROOM

8-8:30 a.m. – Registration Welcome and introductions.

8:45-10 a.m. – The arsenal of multimedia tools at your disposal – Broad overview of multimedia storytelling tools and how to choose the right tool for the job – (Rich Beckman)

10:15-11 a.m. – The audio-driven slide show - Workflow, storyboarding, synchronization and thinking about how to mesh stills and audio for effective storytelling – (Josh Meltzer and Scott Sharpe)

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Aperture Training - Photo editing workflow for multimedia – (Bahram, the Apple guy)

12:15 – 1:30 Lunch on your own

1:30 - 3:30 p.m. – Hands-on audio equipment technique and gear training – What the buttons do, where plugs go where, microphone examples, recording techniques, interviewing techniques, etc. – (Jim Seida)

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. – Hands-on video equipment technique and gear training - What the buttons do, where plugs go where, microphone examples, recording techniques, interviewing techniques, etc. – (Regina McCombs and Scott Jensen and Simon, The Canon Guy)

5:30 – 6:45 p.m. Dinner on your own

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. – Soundslides - How To, Tips, Tricks, Optimization and Customization – optional session (Joe Weiss)

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Or later) - New ethical/legal considerations evening group discussion – (John Long, Rich Beckman, Regina McCombs, Scott Jensen, Tom Kennedy)

 

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THURSDAY
(Video immersion, hands-on training/reporting, hands-on editing)
8:45 - 10:15 a.m. - Basics of Sound Track Pro - Importing, basic tools, interface explanation, basic cuts and transitions offering step-by-step handouts for training - (Richard Hernandez, & Bahram)

10:30-12 p.m. – Basics of Final Cut Pro - Importing, organizing content, basic tools, edits, transitions, interface explanation offering step-by-step handouts for training - (Rich Beckman)

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own

1:00 - 1:30 p.m. – Hands-on multimedia reporting preparation - Split the students into teams with coaches assigned to help them, have them pick assignments for hands-on equipment training (out of a hat or randomly somehow), check out gear to those that need it. - (Coaches assist their respective teams)

1:30 – 7:30 p.m. – Hands-on multimedia reporting - Students’ hands-on time for reporting their assignments - (Coaches assist their respective teams)

5:30 – 6:45 p.m. Dinner on your own

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. – What’s ‘new’ in new media - New tools for inspiration and building multimedia projects, Flash, QuickTime VR, Interactivity, etc. - (Richard Koci Hernandez, Gary O’Brien, Joe Weiss)

 

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FRIDAY
(Heavy  hands-on training/reporting, hands-on editing)

8:45 - 9:30 am - Intermediate Sound Track Pro editing - More advanced multi-track editing and mixing, effects and audio mastery offering step-by-step handouts for training - (Bahram)
 
9:45 a.m. 12:00 p.m. - Intermediate Final Cut Pro editing  - More advanced editing, blending photos, video and audio, basics on compression, exporting final videos and transferring from the field/posting to the web offering step-by-step handouts for training -  (Tim Broekema)

(Optional) 11:30 a.m. - Evening - Exhibitors Room opens - Broadway/Wiedler Rooms.

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own

1:00 – 1:50 - Shooting Stills with a HD video camera – optional session, in conjunction with the Multimedia Summit. (David Leeson)
 
2:30 – 7:30 p.m. - Hands-on multimedia reporting and editing time – More time for students’ hands-on reporting and editing their assignments - (Coaches assist their respective teams)

5:30 – 6:45 p.m. Dinner on your own
 
(Optional) 5:30 – 7:30 - Exhibitors Reception - Broadway/Wiedler Rooms

 

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SPEAKERS

 

STILL PHOTOGRAPHY SPEAKERS


Documentary photojournalist and author Lauren Greenfield, sponsored by Canon, is scheduled to make a Still Photography-related presentations at the NPPA Photojournalism Summit. Greenfield is the author of Girl Culture and Fast Forward. Mmost recently her acclaimed full-length documentary film called “Thin,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Independent Film Festival of Boston, the Jackson Hole Film Festival, and the the Newport International Film Festival, .

In addition, Carolyn Cole, of the Los Angeles Times, and Mary Calvert of The Washington Times will also speak. Just last week in NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism 2007 contest, Cole and Calvert were named Photojournalists of the Year in the Large and Small Market categories.

 

MULTIMEDIA SPEAKERS

Multimedia speakers who will make presentations at the NPPA Photojournalism Summit include Will Yurman, a staff photojournalist for The Democrat and Chronicle; Seth Gitner, a multimedia editor for The Roanoke Times and Roanoke.com; Dirck Halstead, editor and publisher of the DigitalJournalist.org;and Josh Meltzer, a staff photojournalist for The Roanoke Times and Roanoke.com who is last year’s NPPA Photojournalist of the Year for Small Markets, and Will Sullivan, Interactive Projects Editor for The Palm Beach Post;

Additional multimedia presenters are Tom Kennedy, managing editor for multimedia at Washingtonpost.com and Newsweek Interactive; Geoffrey Hiller, an independent multimedia producer; David Leeson, the executive producer for new media and video for The Dallas Morning News and a Pulitzer Prize winner for photography; Andrew DeVigal, multimedia editor for The New York Times; Rob Finch, a staff photographer for The Oregonian; Brian Storm president of MediaStorm; and Rich Beckman, a professor of multimedia design and production at the University of North Carolina;.

Other multimedia sessions will be lead by Judith Levitt, a multimedia producer for The New York Times; Jim Seida, a multimedia producer for MSNBC; Scott Sharpe, a photo assignment editor for The Raleigh News & Observer; Gary O'Brien, a photo systems editor for The Charlotte Observer; Tim Broekema, an assistant professor of photojournalism and new media at Western Kentucky University; Joe Weiss, the creator of Soundslides; and Richard Koci Hernandez, the deputy director of multimedia and photography for The San Jose Mercury News.

 

TELEVISION PHOTOGRAPHY SPEAKERS

Television photography speakers scheduled to make presentations at the NPPA Photojournalism Summit include: Scott Jensen, a former NPPA Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year who is director of photography for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, AK; Matt Knisely, director of photojournalism for KMSP-TV Fox News; Andy Shilts, a photojournalist for KMSP-TV Fox News in Minneapolis, MN, who is the newly-crowned Best Of Photojournalism 2007 NPPA Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year; and Carol Thomas Koon, a freelance television photojournalist in Portland, OR. There may be additional speakers.

 

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The NPPA Photojournalism Summit is sponsored by Canon, Soundslides, The Digital Journalist, and The Digital Railroad.

 

NPPASummit.com