Over the years, the Cronkite Zine has adopted many faces and designs. While each design was creative and aesthetically pleasing, there was no sense of branding tying each semester of the Zine together.
Well, now this small problem has been solved. Introducing the official logo of the Cronkite Zine. We hope you enjoy it, and look for it in the Cronkite Zine this spring!
Additionally, the Cronkite Zine now has its very own Facebook page where you can get more of the latest on the progress of Zine as well as other general information pertaining to the Zine. So be sure to check it out here and become a fan!
I’m not really big on getting in front of a camera, and I’ll go out on a limb and wager neither is my video buddy and fellow Cronk-ziner Desi. But there we are smiling for a photo in our source Tracy’s apartment.
Why?
We had to convince her that we weren’t out to get her.
Of course it sounds funny when I put it that way — and probably even more so for the folks who know Desi and me — But in my experience it’s common for sources to worry that they might be getting scammed. After all, if con artists can pose as utility workers or cops, why not reporters?
With that in mind, here are a couple of strategies to help gain the trust of your sources.
- Be honest. Seriously. You’re not the only one with a bullshit meter. Don’t try to pretend you’re doing a promotional piece or that no one will ever see it or anything else that isn’t true. If you do, the best case scenario is that you’ve burned a source, but much worse things could happen, like losing your job and reputation.
- Flip the script. Sadly, your sources are probably not at all familiar with your work or outlet. Invite them to ask you questions about the piece, your outlet, and when and how they can see it. See #1 for how to answer.
- Get personal. Give and take is part of the way people interact, so don’t forget to give a little. Disclosing something about yourself will help your sources feel more comfortable and remind you both that you’re a person first and a journalist second.
- Go to them. Set up your interview in a place comfortable and convenient for them. Tracy invited us to her home, but some people will feel safer meeting you in a public place.
- Be available. You probably talk to your sources a couple of times before a formal interview. Invite them to call you if they have any concerns, and when they do call, answer.
- Understand. Let them know it’s reasonable if they don’t quite trust you, and don’t take it personally. After all, you probably don’t quite trust them, right?
What if I were to tell you that researchers at Arizona State University know what it takes to create the strongest natural material?
What if this material was stronger than any bulletproof vest, but lighter than a t-shirt seen out on the Scottsdale nightlife?
What if this material could be used to replace or repair human tissue such as tendons, but is actually more flexible and stronger than the tissue ever was?
However, what if this material is commonly used in nature as a death trap, a symbol of fear to many people?
Welcome to the endless possibilities of latrodectus silk, aka spider webs. These spiders have amazing capabilities with a material that is so thin, it is 1/100 the width of a strand of human hair.
Researchers at the Biodesign Institute as well as researchers from around the world are looking to unlock the secrets to get this new material.
How do they do it?
Stay tuned…
How can you turn foolish dancing into a trendy commercial parody? Not that hard actually. Lets walk through the steps.
First, you need some materials.
- Digital camera – doesn’t have to be great.
- An editing program that allows Color Keying. (Final Cut Pro was used for this example, but Apple’s Motion and Adobe After Effects, and others work too.)
- Some friends willing to dance.
- A green/blue screen. This is vital, as without it the color keying won’t work. The better lit and uniform your background is – the better.
Choose your music first. This insures the dancing will – however bad it actually is - match up when it comes time to edit. Let’s take a look at how our dancer Dave.
So when you pull the video in, you should come up with something like this. (Note: I’ve moved the wire frame around a bit to show exactly what I want)
Bowie on green screens
Now its time to Chroma Key. Go Effects>Video Filters>Key>Chroma Key. Apply this and then tweak the controls (I find the visual one easier) until you get all the background out and you are left with something close to this.
Play with these until you get all the background out.
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Ours isn't perfect, but its close enough.
A nice touch here is Dave’s tie is close enough to the background that the tie gets pulled out as well. Color keying works by replacing the color range we chose with an alpha (or opacity) channel, effectivly removing that color range from our clip.
Getting close...
Now, we need to add some color to the background to give it that iPod feel. Go ahead and make a new video layer underneath your clip and choose any obnoxious neon pastel color.
This is getting there, but we need to add some filters to make our dancer, Dave, a sillhoutte.
Go Effects>Video Filters>Image Control>Brightness and Contrast
Pull the brightness to -100 and the contrast also to -100.
So close...
At this point we should be very close. If Dave were wearing darker clothes and hand some face paint on the rest of his skin we’d be closer, but thats ok.
Go back to Effects>Video Filters>Image Control>Gamma
Perfect!
Slide the gamma to 0 and then the mix to 100.
At this point we should have something you can in your video. A good tip is to now drag all your filters into favorites so you can easily reapply them into new clips.
The end result should look something like this.
As a group, we knew it would be tough to find people who were willing to share stories about how the economic downturn is affecting them personally.
But we didn’t know exactly how hard. We’ve all changed story topics at least once, and some might even be looking at another change this week. Hooray for flexibility!
We should have a first-draft video about a woman who turned to a home-based business after being layed off from a construction job in the next day or two, and we may also have some content about scaled-back weddings.
On April 11th, Desi and I are trekking to Tucson to interview cartoonist David Fitzsimmons, a.k.a “Fitz,” at his home studio.
Fitz is an awarding winning editorial cartoonist at the Arizona Daily Star. He was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist in 1988, and has been judged by the Arizona Press Club as the best political cartoonist in Arizona for three years in a row.
Fitz also entertains as a public speaker and comedian throughout Southern Arizona. Some of his acts incorporate quick drawings.
Political cartoons get away with commentary on the controversial, allowing readers new news angles through the offensive. They also draw attention to important political or social issues through quick visuals. This is something that takes real creative talent and I’m looking forward to talk with Fitz about it.
Here are a few other web resources:
A video of Fitz interviewing Janet Napoliticano.
An article he wrote about the decline of cartoonists on editorial boards.
What questions do you have for Fitz? Post them in the comments below before April 11th and we will ask him for you.
Our Zine group is tackling “The Reality of Sex.” When we’re not making peep-show web page mock-ups, we are trying to find sources willing to divulge personal information about their sex lives (or lack thereof). So far, here’s the breakdown in terms of topics regarding each of our individual projects:
- Chris: A “Shocking Facts” multimedia presentation.
- Elizabeth: “A Day in the Life of an Adult Film Star,” or something regarding the business side of the porn industry.
- Adriane: Losing one’s virginity.
- Rebecca: Abstinence.
- Cody: Sexual mores across cultures, or Phoenix’s asexual community.
- Sonja: Sex in the 50+ crowd.
- Jill: The evolution of sex for new couples, newlyweds and long-term married couples.
We do, of course, reserve the right to change these topics as we see fit.
Planning and work for the 2009 edition of the Cronkite Zine is well under way as students Adriane Goetz and Cody Shotwell ponder the “big picture”.
The Zine has been divided into three sections in which stories will be developed. The first of these groups is focusing on issues with the nation’s ailing economy, the second group is producing stories about innovation at Arizona State University, and the final group is investigating the “Reality of Sex” in Arizona.
So far, each group has figured out what kinds of stories they are going to pursue and some are beginning to conduct interviews and research their topics. Check back for more information on each group soon!
Welcome to ZINEBLOG, the official blog of the Cronkite Zine, an online magazine showcasing work done by students at the Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Stay tuned for updates about the progress of this year’s zine.
