March 30, 2009
Homework Post #8: Multimedia Story Elements
Black Market by Patrick Brown
Post #8
March 31, 2009
Multimedia Story Elements
Black Marketby Patrick Brown is a moving mulitmedia story about the black market of animal trading.
Photographer Patrick Brown went on a journey throughout Asia and used his camera to document the horrific stories about exotic animals being purchased and sold.
Brown narrates the piece with a documentary-style or diary-style video. He does not look at the camera during his interview, but the look in his eyes compliments the story being told through photos.
Still photographs serve as the ‘meat’ of the story. The story features powerful images of bear and tiger skins being sold on the street in small towns across Asia. Other images shown in the story are so moving that it really creates awareness about this horrendous trade.
The photographs are enhanced by Brown’s narration of his journey that plays throughout the entire story.
Brown uses black and white photography to really make his presentation memorable. The only color in the story is some of the text and of course him during his interviews.
His technique of overlaying his narration on top of magnificent photographs really helps the viewer understand the severity of the exotic animal black market.
He uses text to highlight facts and statistics. The facts presented are so unbelievable that it is easier to read and hear them rather than just hearing or reading them alone.
The only thing that I would have added to the story would have been video because I think it would have been easier for viewers to connect with the animals if they actually saw live-action.
This powerful story is a great example of an excellent multimedia story, as are all stories featured on Media Storm. By looking at Brown’s other work on the site, you can see that he has a personal interest in telling stories that involve animals. His interest makes his stories much more moving.
