Friday, June 5, 2009

A Walk on the Wild Side

Gathering photos and audio for our audio slideshow yesterday at Sunset Zoo was quite an experience. When I called Allie Lousch, the zoo's marketing and development director, to set up our visit, she gave me a list of ideas for coverage. She listed everything from new animal habitats, and updating the flower beds to summer clubs and junior zoo keepers. When we first arrived, Allie led us into the zoo, pointing out our options and we ended up going with a summer club group. I wasn't sure how we would put together our project, by following a group a kids who were playing on a jungle gym, little did I know we were to follow them on a 45 minute hike through the zoo's wilderness trails. Word to the wise, never wear flip flops to a zoo when you don't know exactly what you are doing (or just leave the flip flops at home). It was a challenge to follow these kids on a thin dirty/mud path through the forest. It was steep, messy, the bush was overgrown. Taking photographs was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. Who knew a hike in the woods could be so difficult to shoot? A lot of the photos include the backs of people and it was something that I just couldn't control. How do you get in front of a group of kids who are constantly moving, while the earth is literally slipping beneath you due to washouts? All in all though, the trip was a blast. I love working with kids and this work was hilarious. From boys talking about how "cute" pandas are, to seeing one of six glass frogs in America to a little girl with a lot of spunk and had peacocks as pets. It was great to hear what they thought of the zoo, to see it from their perspective. From the project side of things, it was challenging to take all the information we had gathered and put it into a two minute slideshow. I think we did a good job though and I learned quite a bit along the way: never wear flips to the zoo, audacity has a mind of its own, soundslides is a very wicked, cool program and once you have the knowledge of the two programs, you can create some pretty cool presentations.
~Melissa~

1 comment:

  1. Hey guys!
    I thought your zoo soundslide show was simply amazing. Even though you got stuck behind the group, the video still turned out fantastic. In fact, I think being in the back gave your video a new and interesting perspective. Through this technique, viewers feel like they are actually part of the tour. Good job! :O)Chantelle

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