Farming the Future

The pictures were phenomenal, I really liked a couple of the turtle pictures. The video use was interesting because it didn't really further the story, but broke up the pictures so it wasn't just 3 minutes of photos. In the first 20 seconds there are a series of pictures of the clothes fluttering on the line strung together so it looks like a video, but not; it's pretty cool. I liked the pictures the most because the captured a lot of the landscape and the lives of these people pretty well.

Scene: Interactive Map...Hell Raising Tradition

This is a really cool idea. It really adds a lot of background information into the deaths of other reporters as well as where Kasherman was that night he died. It also shows the landscape of Minneapolis, and is a really creative addition to the story.

The Hell Raising Tradition story was a really good background piece. I read it after watching the movie Rubbed Out and it helped answer some of the questions I had after seeing the film and added more to the information that was presented in the film. In hindsight, I should've read the story first then watched the video because it woiuld've been easier to follow, but either way I stil enjoyed them both.

Rubbed Out

This video is really interesting. I like the black and white, which was a no-brainer for them to go with since the only photos are in black and white, but never the less it looks good. The dramatizations were good too, and split up the slides, because a 5 minute slide show can be boring, the breaks in photos with video was great to keep my attention. I also really liked the beginning with the typewriter spelling out the title, and the music was ominous, and immediately put me in the right frame of mind to watch the story.

Life Lessons from the Family Dog

This is a cool story about the effects that dogs have on our everyday lives and especially how Jennings shares a connection with his dog even more now that they are both constantly on medications. This story was a simple blog post, and accomplished what he was trying to do, but overall was not as entertaining as other posts. It seemed more of a filler story than anything else.

My Brief Life as a Woman

This was a pretty amusing story about having to deal with the lack of testosterone and the hot flashes he experiences. I like the line about being not only menopausal but also turning into a teenage girl from the '70's. His voice comes through very strong and his sense of humor makes the blog post easy to read.

Dana Jennings Video

This was a great video. The story was powerful, and I also really liked the reoccuring video of them playing soccer. I felt like that was a good look into their relationship and seemed really genuine and not forced. The beginning with both of them stating their illnesses really grabbed me because the sound of their voices is optimistic and different from how I'd expect someone to sound. The switch from video to pictures were done well, and I like the constant side to side motion while showing each of the pictures, like the prom picture and the group of photos. The bond between them comes through strong, and the only other thought I have is maybe how Owen's mother and brother feel.

The Soundtracker

Lame, I don't even know what the point of this movie was. The pictures were cool, but otherwise the guy was boring, and the story was lacking. I did not feel like I should care about this guy tracking sound. Even the choice of video that was used was wasted because it did not further the story but rather just showed him in a field, which a picture could have done just as good. After about a minute and a half I wanted to stop the movie.