Donald Rumsfeld had a lot of bad ideas, but one of his good ones was the concept of "unknown unknowns" and so forth. This is from a conceptual framework for describing the four stages of learning. One progresses from unconscious incompetency (you don't know what you don't know), to conscious incompetency (you know how clueless you are), conscious competency (you know what those camera controls do, but you have to think about them all the time), and finally, unconscious competency (you're in the zone).
I just got a serious digital recorder, an M-Audio Microtrack 24/96. I've been pondering whether I'm capable of making the shift to video, and I recognize that at least half the battle with video is mastering sound. Last night I took the recorder to my neighborhood contra dance, captured some sound, and combined it with the photographs I took last night, and made an audio slideshow. It's a rough first attempt forged from the heart of level 1 of the learning cycle. I have a long ways to go, and my aspirations far exceed my capabilities right now. But I'm starting.
Doug,
Very cool! You really captured the feeling of the event with your photos and sound. I really got a sense of what is must have been like to have been there. Only one comment though, I thought the pictures changed a little fast near the end, the effect was almost motion like, but it made me a little dizzy. Smoother transitions between slides that change rapidly might help. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your video's. How long did it take you to put this together? Looks like a lot of work, but the end result is quite striking.
Posted by: Jeff Henderson | August 10, 2007 at 09:03 PM
It was about 6 hours from scratch, which means not knowing a thing about either sound editing or slideshow software, or even owning either kind of software. I wish I could have aligned the musical rhythm and the transitions a bit neater. I know there are ways, I just don't know them.
Posted by: Doug Plummer | August 10, 2007 at 09:12 PM
So the book is going to have a DVD tucked in the back?
This was really an enchanting presentation. I think, for your purposes here, much better than video proper. You already have the motion in the stills.
(I understand the drive to video for professional reasons, but that is a different consideration).
On the question of the fades and aligns, a little bit of rawness with a subject so energetic is no bad thing.
Posted by: Colin Jago | August 11, 2007 at 02:19 AM
It's neat to see you expanding your repertoire in this way. The powerful storytelling quality of your photos takes on a new dimension when combined with sound. I look forward to seeing what you do with this new arrow in your quiver.
Posted by: romanlily | August 11, 2007 at 11:18 AM
I'm curious what video editor or slideshow software you are using, and any comments you have about it's ease of use for constructing slide show.
Posted by: soboyle | August 13, 2007 at 08:55 AM
I'm using Soundslides Plus, which seems to have the most flexibility for formatting and timing. Neither iMovie nor Toast seemed to have the ability to alter the duration within a presentation except by changing each slide individually. Slideshow you can do it as a group. I'm sure there are others out there, I haven't done an exhaustive search.
Posted by: Doug Plummer | August 13, 2007 at 09:37 AM