By Jennifer Lu
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but you probably need fewer words than you think.
Multimedia editors from Science and National Geographic helped unpack the mechanics behind using videos, graphics, and photos to tell stories at the annual DCSWA Professional Development Day on Saturday, April 7, 2018.
“Visuals can do a lot of the work for you,” said Sarah Crespi, a multimedia producer at Science. Crespi was joined by Science colleague Bill Douthitt, along with Jehan Jellani and Jason Treat, both from National Geographic, and moderator Catherine Matacic, online editor for Science.
The first step to great visual storytelling: bring your photo, graphics, or video editor on board the project as early as possible, said Jellani, a video editor at National Geographic.
Then, bear in mind that less can be more–a common theme throughout the conversation.
Analytics indicate that most people don’t finish watching videos, Crespi said, so put your best material high up top. Don’t save “easter eggs” for the end, she added.
The same mentality applies to choosing which photo should go up top, Jellani said.
Another no-no: avoid writing captions that mirror the action in the video, Crespi said. “You shouldn’t be creating visual wallpaper.” Instead, the text should convey information that isn’t apparent from watching the video, or should draw viewers’ attention to key aspects of the video, Crespi and Matacic agreed.
Treat, a graphics editor at National Geographic, likes to find a metaphor for whatever he’s designing. In a project about cheetahs, Treat envisioned the fast cat as a jet engine to give the infographic a sleek design.
Crespi and her colleagues produced an entire story around visuals in an interactive piece about why birds’ eggs are shaped the way they are. They used graphics to show a “visual progression” in what otherwise would have been a numbers-heavy story.
Douthitt, Science photography managing editor, shared his best tips for making strong photos. Good photos require good composition, light, color, and timing, Douthitt said.
Douthitt showed two portraits he took of a Science intern as an example. The stronger photograph used even lighting on the subject’s face, a tighter frame, and a neutral background without clutter to distract the eye.
“It has nothing to do with your camera,” Douthitt said. “It has everything with you how look at the world around you.”
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