Multimedia critique: Scene In
I’m back to the Washington Post for our second multimedia critique. I actually stumbled upon the “Scene In” section and fell in love with it halfway through the first video. Alexandra Garcia is the main force behind the series, which shows fashions in different parts of Washington D.C., and what the owners think their fashions say about them.
I found the navigation to be pretty self-explanatory with a plethora of options. The video window is on the left side of the screen, with the accompanying information and navigation to the right. The information explains the series, supplies contact information, and provides a map showing where episodes have taken place. The map is clickable, providing yet another navigation option. At the bottom of the right side, there is a list of the episodes, beginning with the most recent. A tab at the very bottom brings up a list of all the episodes. On the left and right sides of the videos are arrows that lead to the previous and next episodes, respectively. There is also a constant link to “get these looks,” which could be a form of interactivity. The viewer can find information to eventually participate in the project’s experience. Underneath the video window is a link to the comments section, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Comments in web view
The comments window overlaps the video window, with options to view the comments as a “web” or a “tree.” The web view has a great deal of navigation options. It includes a zoom slider and a color code key, indicating that green refers to new comments, while purple means staff comments. In tree view, the comments are in a column. A prominent “X” in the upper right hand corner returns the viewer to the video window. Unfortunately, the video starts at the beginning, instead of where you left off.
Comments in tree view
Each video has an auto-hiding control bar, with the option to make the entire menu full-screen. I liked this option a lot, as it gives the project the more independent feel. It removes the surroundings. For me, it was almost like playing the content at a kiosk or off a DVD, at least until an advertisement came in before the main video. All navigation is locked out during the ads.
I found the series to be an example of a good Flash project, but it does carry some of Flash’s gremlins. The high quality video takes a toll on processors. I noticed my dual-core processor was running each core at 30-50% capacity. Despite occasional pixilation, the colors were beautiful. The videos also had great audio, for both the subjects and the music. The videos also incorporated stills, usually for detail shots. I would have liked a gallery of these images, but there was more than enough content to view. I was a little annoyed that there are no separate links for each video, and no easy way to share individual videos. I discovered that when I wanted to share the project with some other people.
Disappointingly, there were no dates attached to the videos. I found an old friend from William & Mary in the Eastern Market video. By searching his Facebook page, I discovered the video was posted around October 9, 2009.
I have done people-on-the-street things before, and know how difficult they are. This is probably why I admire someone who can do a series like this, and do it well. I wonder how many people she had to interview to get the final characters. Perhaps she could expand beyond D.C. into the surrounding areas. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this series, since it was a slice of home.
