Soundslides Part 4: Instructions

The Soundslides assignment has four parts. You have completed Parts 1, 2 and 3. You will use the photos and audio from Part 2 in this assignment. You will use edited photos from Part 3. You may also include additional edited photos from your original story.

Follow these instructions for Part 4 of this assignment:

  1. Edit your audio file to a length of 90 to 120 sec.
  2. Use the Soundslides software to combine your audio and your edited photos, as explained in Module 9.
  3. Use a variety of shots to sustain visual interest in your story.
  4. Make sure the photos and audio match up reasonably well.
  5. Tell a real story with a good opening, a good climax, and a good resolution.
  6. Write a good caption for every photo. See below for details.
  7. Write a headline and credits in the Soundslides "Project Info" area. Your credits must include your full name and match this format: Photos and audio by Thomas Jefferson (using your own real name, of course).

FOLLOW AP STYLE FOR PLACE NAMES, DATES and EVERYTHING ELSE! The one exception is Florida: Please spell it out; do not abbreviate.

FACT ERRORS will count against you!

DO NOT add any sound that you did not record yourself at the scene.

Details of what is required

Length: 90-120 sec. (This means your AUDIO file must be this length)

Number of photos in the slideshow: 18-25 (You may have more than 25 photos if you have one or more fast sequences; you must have at least 18 photos).

Captions: One for EACH photo in the slideshow.

Headline: Write an appropriate descriptive headline in the Soundslides Project Info area.

Credits: Write these in the Soundslides Project Info area. Format example: Photos and audio by Mindy McAdams. (Use your own name, of course.)

Optional slides may include explanatory text, as seen in Larry Berman Signs Copies of His Book in Hanoi, or titles and end credits, as seen in Video Training for Reporters. These are simply JPGs created in Photoshop. They DO NOT COUNT as photos because, of course, they are not photos.

Captions

How to write photo captions was covered in Module 7.

People: Be sure to identify ALL significant people in EACH photo. First and last name are necessary for each significant person (that is, a person who could be recognized); some other identifying information is also recommended for each person (for example, "an economics major at UF," or "a diving instructor at the YMCA," or "a nurse at Shands hospital").

Places: The exact location of the event or events must be given in the caption on the first or second photo. Include the town and the state, spelled out, even if it is Gainesville, Florida. (Why? Because the Web is global!) We are spelling out the state in spite of AP style. Spell out University of Florida the first time it is used in a caption (UF is okay after that).

Dates: The complete date(s) of the event or events must be given in the caption on the first or second photo. That includes the YEAR. (Why? Because stories on the Web often stay there for many years!)

Other names: If your story concerns a named event, a company, a nonprofit organization, etc., make sure you include the complete name of those entities in the caption on the first or second photo. Correct spelling and capitalization are very important!

Naming your folder

Remember to SAVE and EXPORT before you copy the publish_to_web folder to Dropbox! If you fail to save one last time, your latest changes will not be in the Soundslides. If you fail to export, the slideshow will NOT be in the publish_to_web folder, even though you have tested it.

  1. Inside your Soundslides Project folder (which you named and saved when you began the new Project), you will see a folder named publish_to_web. COPY this folder and PASTE it into your Dropbox Public folder.
  2. After the folder is in your Dropbox Public folder, RENAME it.

The folder name (on Dropbox) for this assignment must match this style:

Your last name, your first initial, an underscore, and soundslides4.

For example, if your name is Maria Jones, your folder name would be:

jonesm_soundslides4

You may need to delete older files from Dropbox at this time. DO NOT delete any files until AFTER your grade for that assignment has been posted.

PLEASE NOTE that it is VERY IMPORTANT in this course that you name files and folders EXACTLY as instructed for every assignment. Failure to do so will result in zero points for assignments, because a misnamed file is a file that will be LOST.

Questions?

If you have questions about any part of this assignment, post them in the Course Questions discussion in Sakai.