Web Documentaries

Completion of the project

2005-05-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

After a lot of hard work and eleventh hour scrambling, the Tower Reflections Website is up and running. The launch event on May 18, was excellent. The reports from each student provided insight into their challenges and interesting experiences.

Some clean-up has been going on since the launch. One final session is expected to make minor tweaks and to add Toua's behind-the-scenes-video.
The biggest lessons I learned were to better control file management and template files creation. Templates must be created far earlier in the semester and have a thorough quality review and testing before they are given to other teams. At that point no changes to the editable region structure can occur. Only changes to locked template content can be changed once templates are distributed.

The file structure for each team's section must also be established before they begin work. Each team should be given a project folder containing an images folder with template graphics. Within this folder should be a folder for that section's graphics and all section graphics should go in this folder. The templates folder should also be included. A third folder should also be included that is for all content pages created by the section team. The root of the project folder would look like:

images/sectionname [folder/folder]
sectionname [folder - i.e. theatre]
templates [folder containing content template files]

No files would appear at the root level. When the section is finished, the project folder would be given to the Webmaster for transfer into the main site. This transfer would involve

copying the image's sectionname folder into the main site images folder
copying the sectionname folder into the root of the main site

The above procedure should make the consolidating of the files from all teams work more smoothly. Less clean up would be required.

Finally, the students learned that they should have begun serious work on the site earlier in the semester. Though they were introduced to the project early in the semester many did not begin serious work until a few weeks before it was due. In some cases, those researching and prepping content started late which snowballed until those creating the pages were scrambling the last few days to get pages done. Additionally, some of the videos could have been created earlier eliminating another last minute element for some teams.

I think many of the students underestimated the amount of work needed to complete their sections. While the need to start work on the project early and interim deadlines were made known to the students, many did not appreciate their importance and had to learn this lesson through experience. Interestingly, at the end, many did acknowledge the need to begin work earlier and the value of not waiting until the last minute.

Since the student's lateness in completing work eliminated the testing phase of the project, fixing problems and making the site work fell on me and my teaching assistant. Since this was the first time for this class project I had expected there would be some problems. However, in the future I want to reduce the clean-up needed, hopefully by the tightening of the template and file management procedures. I will also work on earlier deadlines and forcing inclusion of time for review and testing the site before it's launched.

There needs to be time for me to go over the student's pages and give them feedback that will result in revising their work before it is turned in for consolidating into the site. Once the sections have ben consolidated into the main site, there needs to be a few days of testing, where each student thoroughly goes through the site and notes any problems to be fixed. Fixes will then be made and then the site will be launched in time for the final. The above suggests at least a three week period, which means student work needs to be ready for my review three weeks before the last class period.

Creationof the Tower Reflections Web site was a major undertaking. And since it was our first attempt at a Web documentary mistakes and problems were expected. Everyone involved, including myself, learned from this experience. I look forward to next year's class and refining the Web documentary process further.

Architect Team.

2005-05-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Nice job guys, good to see it all come together this afternoon at the Tower Theater.

FYI, I still need your final Time Budgets itemized along with total hours spent w/ a comparison to your time budget estimates that you completed earlier in the semester. I sent an e-mail out to you last Thursday morning. Contact me if you have questions, otherwise I cannot turn in our team's binder without them.

Joe

Promotions Team.

2005-05-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

Tuck -

I found the "Binder" assignment that we spoke about over the phone. I will work on the following and get it to you ASAP.

1. Summary of problems and your solutions.
2. Evaluation of what worked and what could be improved and how for future web documentaries.

Hollak

Andy...

2005-05-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

I have architect photos to pass along to you my friend.

I need your e-mail address.

E-mail me @ hollak AT gmail DOT com

Thank you.

Wednesday, May 4th, 2005

2005-05-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

The Collegian will be hosting its public Open House on Wednesday, May 4th from 4 - 6 PM.

As Photo Editor I am required to be there to greet and entertain guests. As the time period falls exactly in-line with class, I will miss class on Wednesday.

On the other hand, as a huge part of the MCJ department, the Collegian's open house is welcoming all students and faculty to attend in our new office located at the West end of SA building. Eat, drink, and be merry.

Joe Hollak
hollak@csufresno.edu

Home Banner Design

2005-04-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

Work is progressing on the design for the home page. The first version of the graphic look can be viewed at
http://www.csufresno.edu/tower/blog/tower_site/homev1.htm . Based on class feedback this design has been further perfected. The next version will be prviewed in a few days. (Unfortunately the lead designer, Eric, is ill and was not able to get the files to us for yesterday's class.)

Tower Site Design

2005-04-06T16:25:00.000-07:00

We decided on the banner design for the Web documentary. At Monday's class we looked at design ideas from the template team and, as a group, discussed the design. Through a collaborative effort we made some adjustments to the design. These included changing the color from gold to blue and moving the oval with the site title to the left instead of centered. Placement of the oval will draw the eye into the page more effectively. And the blue color is more vibrant and reminiscent of the neon effect previously discussed.

We also confirmed the name of the site, Tower Reflections, which was decided by myself and a couple of students during last Wednesday's class meeting.

In order to get decisions made as to the site name and the banner, I stepped in and pushed the process. Eventually, ending discussions and making the decision so we could move on. Time was getting short and we were undecided on key items so I needed to faciliate decision-making. The students actually appreciated this because they weren't sure what to do. The site name and design seemed to work well for everyone, so it was easy for the students to accept my decisions.

This experience points out the need for stepping in and facilitating decision-making when the students aren't sure what to do or are having trouble coming up with ideas. I had decided that by the end of the class period we would decide on the site design, whether it was student generated or mine. That approach enabled us to be productive and finalize the design, ultimately resulting in a banner we like.

Template Team Behind

2005-03-29T14:50:00.000-08:00

One of the critical and timely elements in the development of the Tower Web doc is the design of the home page and secondary page. The template team is responsible for creating the global navigation and, logo/banner, and layout which will be used throughout the site by all other teams. To do this they need to create Dreamweaver templates for all types of pages. The content teams are dependent on the template team to get the templates done in a timely manner so they can create the pages for their sections of the Web site.

Unfortunately, the template team has not met their deadlines and have made limited progress in the design of the site. Earlier in the semester they showed three layout ideas in class and received direction on other ideas to be explored. Since that time, however, no progress was made on the card sort to prioritize the global navigation, the logo/banner or the layout.

In order to get things back on track specific directions have been prepared with new deadlines for the team. Assignment directions for template team.

On Monday, April 4, the class period will be devoted to working on the Web documentary and the template team is to finalize their layout design and graphics. The template files are due on April 6. One way or another, the templates will be done by April 8 even if it means that the professor and her student assistant take over the design and template creation process. The time available to get the site produced continues to shorten, with only 6 weeks left before the site is to be posted, so this step needs to be completed.

Work Teams and Promotioning the Web Doc site

2005-03-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Work Teams
Students in the MCJ 131 class have been divided up among several work teams. These include:

Four content teams - each working on a section of the site.
Template team - creating the design, navigation and page templates

In addition, students also are on one other team, either the usability team or the promotions team

Usability team - Those content team members not assigned to the promotions team
Promotions team - The team is made up of one representative from each of the content teams and the template team.

Promotions Team Report
Last night the promotions team reported on their plan for getting the word out about the Tower District Web documentary. Ideas include press releases to the campus newspaper and local media, fliers posted in the Tower District, and a launch party in the Tower District.

The team members are working on getting permission to host the launch party at the Tower Theater. Backup locations were suggested by classmates such as the Starline club. Team members are also working on getting refreshments donated and the program for presenting the Web site at the launch.

Team Status Reports

2005-03-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

This week the content teams gave status reports to the class. This consisted of an overview of the topic they are covering and a rough diagram of the content elements. Topics are:

The Tower Theater
Day and Night Life
Tower District Architecture
Virtual Tour

The reports helped the teams picture what other teams were doing. In several instances overlaps became apparent and their was discussion of how this would be handled. For example, the Architecture group wants to include information about the Tower Theater. It was decided that the theater group would link to the arhcitecture section on the theater. In another instance the Virtual Tour group wanted to include the theater in their tour, but decided to leave that content to the theater group and link to it.

The content groups also began turning in the content maps for their sections. These were based on the card sort usability tests they completed and turned in last week. Some groups are still working on their maps. Finished copies of the maps go to the template team to combine into a master content map. The template team will then develop the global navigation based on the master map.

Tonight, the template team will present their sketched ideas for the layout and logo for the site.

Preliminary Content Ideas

2005-02-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

In Monday's class session the teams discussed their ideas for content they might cover. Ideas expressed are noted on the chart at http://www.csufresno.edu/tower/blog/images/Content_2-7-05.gif.

A challenge for presenting content is how to deal with the fact that we won't be updating the Website. The Web documentary is like a film/video documentary in this regard; its a story as presented in a moment in time. In our content idea discussion a student wonderd whether there would be a problem with the walking tour idea going out-of-date. Our discussion was that we are capturing the tour at the time of our documentary and telling stories relevant to our time. One idea was to have the tour be hosted by someone. So the tour would be through the eyes of the host and what they feel is interesting and significant. Further suggestions for the group considering the tour included researching the local Art Hop event which includes locations in the Tower District. This might be a good starting place for ideas of things to be profiled on the tour.

Teams

2005-02-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

Students are divided into 5 project teams. One team is responsible for creating the layout, graphic look and templates for the Web site. Four teams are designated Content Teams and will produce a section of the site. In addition one member of each team is on a promotions team which is charged with developing and executing a plan for promoting the finished Web site and our efforts to produce it. Those students not in the promotions team are part of the usability team. They will conduct a card sort test with users to develop the organization and content categories for the site. They will, also, conduct testing of the interface design using paper prototypes.

Brainstorming Audiences and Goals

2005-02-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

This week we went through a brainstorming process for the audience, goals and initial content ideas. We came up with quite a few audiences which we tried to categorize. Our title for our top group is Enthusiasts, people who like to visit and enjoy what's available in the Tower District.

Our goals are: to inform, to remind and to promote. The remind goal is based on the idea of reminding those who used to visit the Tower District that it is still a place of interest. And over the years it has continued to evolve into a vibrant community.

Welcome to Web Documentaries

2005-02-02T14:42:00.000-08:00

This is the first message in this project to capture the experiences of myself and my students in creating a Web Documentary about the Tower District in Fresno, California.

Part of our task in this project is to explore the idea of a Web Documentary. How is it similar and how is it different from a film/video documentary? I found an interesting research paper that looked at this comparison, "Influences of...Documentary Cinema...on the Internet", at http://www.archimuse.com/mw2004/papers/hosseini/hosseini.html.