Visual Storyboard

First, it is important to note that my video project has changed in terms of content. While it will still be exploring McKeesport’s history, it will be exploring it from the point of view of the McKeesport Heritage and Historical Society. The video will include different clips from the society as well as from the city area. I am finishing collecting the footage for final editing as I have begun to collect the audio for my audio documentary and edit it. 

While I have quality sources for the video, the sources’ images are not as important to the story as their voices are with some of the concepts that they are discussing. Blending the two will help to create a visually compelling story that ties in footage as well as anecdotal reflection to personalize the piece.

I envision the piece moving as follows:

• The piece will begin with an opening title screen with a title layered on top of a still image.
• The title page will fade to an introduction which will have audio spoken by one of my sources about McKeesport today in comparison to what it used to be. The audio will be layered on top of footage of the city today.
• The scene will cut to an image of the first source continuing to speak. This will also introduce her name and title.
• The scene will then transition to images of the city in the past with music that was fitting of the time period.
• The music will then give way to the second source’s voice and images that are fitting with what he is speaking about
• The image and audio will cut to an image of the source still speaking and identify his name and title. Like the first source, the second source will be standing and walking, but you will only see his face.
• The piece will then move to video of pages flipping in an old development plan from the sixties. The audio overlayed will relate to the development efforts of McKeesport today, and what the sources think that it should become.
• The piece will close with audio layered over an image of the city fading out to a black screen and the production credits.

I believe that this type of format lends itself to telling the story in a compelling way that allows people to truly visualize the issue through the images provided. Because of this, I plan to use multiple images that can further what the sources speak about.

Sourcing McKeesport

My Scoop.it on McKeesport provides annotated sources that provide information on McKeesport, the city government, Community Development Block Grants, and its possible future, among others.

Audio Documentary Reflection

At this point, I am working to edit my video essay but have also began collecting audio for my audio documentary. While I have begun to collect audio, the project is still in planning. It has been interesting to consider how every decision to create the documentary has a rhetorical and aesthetic impact on the piece. I have chosen to use a combination of audio clips from the three members within the city because I believe that the titles behind the voices have enough credibility that images are not necessary to establish ethos.

Not blending the the audio with image also place more reliance on the words being said. Journalistically, I think that it is important that the words said by these sources are not altered and do not rely on images to carry them in any way. That is not to say, however, that the piece will not be edited in a way to convey meaning within the conversation. Injecting in my own voice will help to bring the audio threads together into a cohesive piece. Working to create cohesion will guide my transitions. The sequencing will also work to create cohesion, but will follow the typical news story principles with a lede, nutgraf, body, and kicker to create a narrative flow in audio form.

The audio documentary will share information about the city’s efforts for development in the area. I will have to consider how to tell a story without punctuation but with auditory signals and aesthetics. This, though, should not be too difficult as even written stories rely on quick, concise language and clearly articulated ideas. The piece will use the auditory medium to explore McKeesport’s The other works have not done this because they have explored the history of McKeesport. The audio documentary will explore some of the city’s history, but it will also look McKeesport’s development in the present and the relationship that members of the city have with development efforts. In this way, the audio documentary will expand the subject in a new way.

Pitch: Audio Documentary

For my audio documentary project I plan to present more points of view on McKeesport’s past, present, and future. I aim to work with each developed project to present new and compelling information on the city’s history and future through different media. In this case, I will choose audio clips from interviews with some of the city’s official governmental voices.

The documentary will raise questions related to the city’s development through a combination of interviews with members within McKeesport’s city hall. The audio compiled for this documentary will include interviews with Director of Development A.J. Tedesco, City Solicitor J. Jason Elash, and Contract Officer for the Community Development Office Johanna Bell.

These sources will be able to provide knowledgeable comments and responses to questions. While video would provide a face to the voices, the audio will provide a different reporting and learning experience. In this case, the sources do not necessarily need images to help establish their ethos. Instead, the sources’ titles establish them as reliable speakers on the topic. With their title-established ethos, the sources will speak to the city’s changes overtime, the difficulties and successes it has experienced, and its plans for development in terms of federal assistance and consultations.

I intend to let the sources respond to direct questions about their work, as well as speak freely about their experiences. Because of this, the audio produced will not be fully scripted. Instead, the documentary will be a combination of scripted questions posed to the sources and unscripted responses and anecdotes from the sources. Depending on the content produced from the interviews, I may also choose to include inserted voice segments that I would produce to include information that is not immediately provided by the sources. Inserting additional segments will help to create a stronger context by which to understand the other audio portions.

McKeesport Concept Map

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This map allows for a visual understanding of ideas, reporting and sourcing for this “untold history.” Laying out the map in this way helps to outline similarities and differences between the areas of the story, which helps to clearly develop it. 

Concept Map

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The above concept map outlines the variety of concepts that we have discussed in regard to composing digital media. While each author touched on different areas of the topic, similarities were clear. At each argument’s essence lies the idea that technology and media forms can be manipulated to convey messages differently, and each choice that an author consciously (or unconsciously) makes impacts the reader’s experience with the message.