Final Project link.
The project that I turned in is really a dumbed down version of my grand idea. The grand idea was far more interactive. However, due to deadlines and my lack of knowledge in Flash, I had to settle for sound slides. I had some pretty low expectations for my sound slides project, but it actually worked out beyond my wildest dreams.
This piece could really go anywhere. The piece would probably get put on a site like espn.com, or si.com before it made is onto boston.com or anything like that, but it could easily be run as a supplement to any article about Emerson basketball. In fact, next year when they win the division thanks to the help of a 6’2” walk on senior BJ major, and boston.com runs a story about the unlikely championship, boston.com can use it if they want. I don’t know if it would really be a great piece for an espn.com or something like that, simply because I’d assume if people are on espn.com they already understand the press. I think it would be better for a piece on boston.com, because people who read the story might not understand the press.
The audience for this piece is people who don’t understand basketball. The press is pretty easy to understand, but for those who don’t this is a 101 course in how the press works and why Emerson does it. The whole project’s audience is any one interested in Emerson athletics and anyone who likes underdog stories. I guess this project could be used as a recruiting tool by the coach because it shows what the program is all about and how the team plays.
The other parts of the project, the ones not delivered, would really allow the user to feel like they are a part of the team. The meet the players section gives users the feeling that they are on the bench, with the team. The blog page would be especially interactive allowing the author, players, coach, fans, referees, guys on the couch, and everyone else could join in an open discussion about the team, the games, and everything else. The video diaries of the preseason, postseason and regular season would give people a history of the team and allow them to feel like they are going through the season with the team. The all access style the videos would have would allow the users to feel as though they know the players personally and really connect the user to the story.
The research would be awesome. I say this because I believe it is every aspiring sports reporters dream to follow a team through a season. It would be like embedding a journalist on the team. It would be like that movie “Almost Famous” only for a basketball team instead of a band. For the blog part of the project, interviews would be integrated daily from conversations with the players. The blog part of this project is really what allows the user to immerse themselves in the story. Being embedded would allow the tone of the player bios to be more on key with who the players really are.
Producing the entire piece would be a challenge mainly because making websites is not in any area of my expertise. Gathering all the media would not be terribly hard, it would just take a long time. To do this project correctly, I would have to do the interviews and bio part way early on in the season. That way I could get up at least three parts of the site. The bios/interviews section would have to be completed in early September and be ready for editing/ being put up shortly thereafter. The Defensive Press part of the project would also need to be up and running by the time the season starts. The video diaries of the preseason, regular season, and post season could be updated weekly, and that would actually be a good way to continue to draw clicks to the site. However, at the end of the season, I would just combine the best sound bites and video and make a “highlight tape” for each time. The blog would go up early as well. It would be the easiest to maintain and be updated daily, if not more. One specific production problem I would have would be finding a program to help me create the whole site, and finding someone to make my flash dream come true. I really wanted there to be a court with X’s and O’s on it. The O’s start with the ball out of bounds under the hoop. The user would click where they want the ball to be passed to and based on where they click, the X’s and O’s would move and the ball would be passed in, intercepted and a small video would come up of the coach explaining what happens when the ball goes there and why. This looks so good in my dreams. I don’t know if flash could even handle it though, because I want to allow the user to click anywhere on the court and I don’t know if the program would allow for all the probable places someone could click.
The planning of the flash part would have to be done with someone who really knows what flash can and can’t do. The rest of the team for this project would really be minimal. I could really handle getting all the video and editing it as well as maintaining the blog and updating the weekly videos. The only help I would need is someone to do the logistics of the web technology. I would also need somewhere to get wireless in the gym during the playoffs to keep a running diary of games. Other than that, this story could easily be done by a one man team, with help from some web people…sometimes. It would really be extensive, and really be time consuming, but I think it would be really fun, and in the end, really rewarding. Really.
