Slug & Lede

The audio piece for the Colts’ fans in Houston was not what I anticipated it to be. The piece does a subpar job of describing or visualizing what Colts fans are like in Houston, and trails off quite a bit at the the end. However it is an uplifting piece, it just has a confusing title and doesn’t focus much on the Colts fans.

The strengths of the piece are the music and the entrance of the Colts. They inserted the music in there to get you ready for the colts to come out, which I thought played well with the slide show. There’s also a clip of a lady yelling “The Super Bowl champs are here” which let the Houston fans know who was in town. I thought both of these played really well into the audio and should have been the stepping stone into the rest of the piece. Also I think the idea of showing the fans before the game with some interaction, and followed by the game and how it progressed was a great idea. I think the orginization of that went well.

The weaknessses of the piece seemed more prevalent to me than the strengths. The video was very confusing because it is supposed to be a piece on the Colts fans in Houston and was almost anything but that. Instead, it starts out with Houston Texan fans, trash talking colts fans and beating what looks to be a colt Peyton Manning pinata. Even though that could have been a great transition into some footage of Colts fans, it seemed to focus more on profiling Texans fans than Colts fans in the beginning.

After that we finally get some Colts fans, who happen to be the only Colts fans featured in the audio piece,  it goes right into the Colts entering the stadium and focuses on the Texans fans booing the Colts. This still has me wondering when they will show the Colts fans. I think the piece definitely needed more interaction betweeen Colts fans and Texans fans, and if anything should have focused on the Colts fans in Houston, because that was the topic. As far as the actual editing of the audio, it was a decent job. They could have transitioned into the game a little bit better, but i did like the idea they had. I think visual media is necessary for this piece, and while i think an audio slide show is good, I think a longer video segment is what is needed.

Overall it was a nice piece with a great idea. While I think the piece was very inspiring, it was also a little confusing. The title of the piece leads me to believe it is going to be about Colts fans in Houston. Again, it seemed almost anything but that. I think the clip they did get of the Colts fans in the beginning, and some of the game pictures fit in very well with the piece, and they should have shown more of that.The piece definitely needs more audio and visuals of the Colts fans, however I liked where they were going with it.

Rather than using a slideshow with only pictures and narration, I think the Colts’ fans in Houston piece featured on Indystar.com did a nice job of utilizing additional components. For example, the music and the two clips outside the stadium before the game began did a nice job of combining various aspects of the game. Other multimedia resources can be considered, but ultimately, I think this was the proper and most effective medium. Attending a game as a fan of the visiting team is a unique experience, far different than it is going to a game cheering on the home team. As a longtime sports fan myself, I’ve attended a few games in support of a Chicago team on the road, and as a result can relate to the atmosphere and experience. This piece did a nice job of depicting the atmosphere in Texas, and effectively demonstrated the experience of going on the road to support your team.

The two areas of this slideshow that in my opinion could be edited differently are the second clip shown of the Colts’ fans outside the stadium, and in the middle of the piece there was a brief moment of silence where the music was faded out. As I stated above, the two clips outside the stadium before kick-off do a nice job of setting the tone for the experience, and definitely were effective, but the audio editing needs additional work. The background noise in the second clip where the two Colts’ fans are cheering is extremely loud and almost distracting. I’m not sure if it was taken in a different spot outside the stadium than the first outdoor clip, but it was noticeably louder. I really enjoyed the music that was inserted, and I liked that the stadium noise was still faint in the background. The only issue I had with the music insert was the brief moment about halfway through the piece when Reggie Wayne caught the ball and the music stopped. Whether it was paused intentionally, or the song was in the process of restarting, it was inconsistent from the rest of the piece and slightly awkward. If the music was continuous I think it would feel smoother and more natural. Overall, the piece was compiled well, good job!

In September of 2007 The Indianapolis Star did an audio slideshow feature over the Colts and Texans game at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The slideshow is only about 2 minutes in length and features audio and photo from Colts’ fans as well as Texans’ fans. However, the photos taken during the game are definitely more favorable towards the Colts.

The slideshow did a great job of capturing the tension between fans of each football team. The beginning is strong with photos a Texans fan beating up a pinata that is supposed to represent Indianapolis Colts quarterback Payton Manning. This is answered by audio of a Colts fan shouting “The Super Bowl champs are here!” I thought that this was fairly objective coverage for each team’s fan base which is surprising since it is an Indianapolis newspaper. Also many of the photos taking during the game are very professional-looking and the music being used syncs up well with the action.

The only major complaint that I have is that the serious of photos used at the beginning of the show, which gives it a movie-like motion, is poorly done and makes the viewer nauseous. Other than the fact that I hate the Colts the rest of the slideshow was well done.

The biggest thing that I would change would (for obvious reasons) be to devote the slide show to the Iowa Hawkeyes or at least a college football team. Personally I think that the atmosphere of NFL games is quite lame compared to college football, particularly Kinnick Stadium. Another thing that I felt the slideshow was missing was the final score of the game since it gives no indication which team won.

The slideshow was adressed well but I just fell that the Colts recieved too much coverage which is to be expected since again it is an Indianapolis newspaper. It would have been cool if a third party covered it and got equal coverage of each team in action.