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Here’s how I did it. If someone has some ideas of how to make the process smoother, please feel free to jump in:

1) Arranged the photos into the order I wanted, exported from LR.
2) Used Quicktime to trim sections of the interview into clips of interest-be sure to name the clips something to indicate their content.
3) Set the photos into the correct order in Final Cut Pro, assigned the time for each one, set the transitions
4) Place the audio clips along the timeline as you want them, add fades, etc.
5) export the audio as one long track
6) import the photos and audio into soundslides

Basically, I used FCP for just a mock-up of what I wanted for soundslides and to mix the audio. In the first rough cut, there were gaps in the audio, as there were more images. Each revision, I would go back to FCP and trim out images, which would mean I needed to trim out the silent spaces. Towards the end, I also cut out a bit of the audio tracks to accommodate the tighter edits, saving each revision in case I wanted to backtrack. There’s probably better ways of doing this.

I think its an excellent piece, lots of very strong photos and great audio work. And a really great story that is a bit of a meditation on humanity and the roles we play..

I get a bit over the fact people don’t seem to understand that multimedia is quite interactive and you can turn off the elements of captions and audio as you wish so I don’t think whether people find it better with or without sound a really relevant criticism.

My only suggestion would be to expand on it more in terms of its depth in the characterization, meaning I would have liked to have heard more about what he was feeling before the fight, but hey thats all.

A great piece like I said and its definitely the way of the future. I have just been booked to do my first commissioned multi-media piece here for one of the TV channels so I am really looking forward to the process as I am so used to thinking in terms of print only…

Perhaps you might have some insight into how you directed/produced the piece?

no…but, you would be the one to know where you had sent it before…i was originally under the impression you had just finished your edit with a collaborator and we were seeing it for the first time…but interesting for sure that at least two people said they had seen it before…odd

This is not intended to be critical of anyone posting here, but an observation. I included the audio because I thought it would add a layer of information that would otherwise not be available. Even if I wrote a long intro to the story with all the info, you wouldn’t be able to hear the intonation in the voice. There’s sadness and regret in his voice when he talks about his fighting career and the things he has missed out on.

The option to view the images at your own pace, without the audio is also available by clicking on the left/right arrows at the bottom of the slideshow. Including the audio gives the viewer the power to view the story as he/she wants.

Just curious about what people here think.

Michael I very deliberately said film. I think this presentation is closer to a film than a straight photo essay because here we don’t have to fill in much with our imagination. (Yes I know we do with good film) But mainly I make that comparison because of the speed of display and with the voiceover, you don’t have to time to look at an image properly. The pace of film takes that on board. The situation is the same with this work. We just don’t have time to observe and enjoy the images on their own because we are busy listening to the story. So I think it’s right that not all the images be strong, unless there are fewer and we have more time to see them. A strong image needs more time. Too many strong images in a presentation like this would be lost except when we can go back and look again at our own pace. So now i see that seeing them on TV wouldn’t be ideal at all. Or if it were to be shown on tv, I’d choose fewer images and stronger ones and allow a little more time for the viewer to absorb the image. I’d include more silences in the audio as well.

But I am not damming Brian’s work. I think he’s done a good job.

;-)

Some of that is covered in the written statement, but I always look at the photos before reading statements and often don’t read them at all. I’m starting to realize that maybe I should rethink that prejudice.

Watching it with the audio rather than without, it’s likely I would have missed some of the depth to the story that good photos communicate at an abstract, wordless level because I was using my left brain to decode the words rather than just soaking up the images. But who’s to say and what can you do about it anyway? Mixed media is apparently where it’s at these days. As an editor, I’d try to put it together in such a way as it works with or without the audio. It seems to me you’ve done a pretty good job at that.

I love the mission statement on your site. It is sincere and un-pretentious, which comes accross in your photographs.

Regarding the comments, Andrea’s contention that not every photo in an essay (yes, I know, she said film but we’re talking about a photo essay) should be breathtaking, lest we be overwhelmed, gave me pause. On one hand, I’ve no problem with images that further the narrative but are somewhat less than classic compositions, but on the other I suspect that the percentage of excellent standalone images in an essay is what separates the greats from the very goods. Why shouldn’t every image be spectacularly well-composed and technically awe-inspiring if it effectively furthers the narrative?