Slug & Lede

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Narrated by Katherine Q. Seeyle, “Choosing A President” was a video showcased on nytimes.com. The obvious goal of the video was to give a summary of the campaign, with a focus on Barack Obama and John McCain. The video is a little over 16 minutes, which may turn some viewers away. However, as I began to watch the piece, it immediately grabbed my attention.

The video consisted of mostly pictures. The pictures were taken by New York Times photographers which did nothing but help the piece’s credibility. Some may have appreciated seeing more video than photographs. However, I felt the pictures made the video more enjoyable to watch. I am a firm believer that the photographs taken during this historic campaign really defined the feelings and excitement that Americans had.

In the opening of the video, a graphically designed view of the United States showed headshots popping out of numerous states. The camera would focus on each headshot and a voice over of that person would become audible, saying who that person was supporting and why. This opening sequence grabbed my attention and it provided a more creative way of getting sound bites from people.

Throughout the piece, Seeyle used a very soothing voice for narration. This helped the listener feel comfortable while viewing. Yet, one of the best things Seeyle did was when she used “Touch and Go.” When Seeyle “touched” on the economy and health care, photographs were shown of a stock graph and of an elderly woman being treated. The incorporation of the “Touch and Go” helps the viewers see and hear which makes the piece become clear.

Whenever SOTs were used in the video, they were usually enhanced by laying photographs over top of them. In instances when Barack Obama was making a speech, a still picture of the crowd’s reaction usually followed. Breaking up the SOTs with photographs enhanced the video by making it less stale.

The video was broken up into four parts, with each part having a title and a time stamp. Breaking up the time made the viewer feel as though the piece wasn’t as long as once perceived. It was also helpful because the viewer knew what was coming next. The titles were also accompanied by a timeline that was visible each time a new segment came up. The timeline was a graphically produced imaged that helped transition the segments and made the video flow well. Music was also used throughout the video which made the piece more upbeat. There were no voices in the music, only instruments were used which kept the viewer focused on the content of the video.

While there were many positives seen in the video I did find some areas that needed work. When Sarah Palin made her first appearance in the piece, one of the SOTs said that “Sarah Palin is flat out scary.” If one did not have extensive knowledge of Sarah Palin’s interviews and actions during the campaign, he or she may be confused by that comment. It would have been helpful to show a clip from her interview with Katie Couric to see why the SOT said that.

Another area that could have been better was the portrayal of Hillary Clinton. In many of the SOTs of Clinton and in the narration, the piece showed her speaking against Obama. This was a correct portrayal of Mrs. Clinton, however it was never mentioned how much of an ally she was to Obama during the last few months of the election.