When I’m taking a new path, it’s helpful for me to find one that's comfortable.
The
first computer-assisted reporting project I tried 10 years ago analyzed
restaurant health inspections – along with about every other CAR newbie
in the country.
I’d written about the so-called “CSI Effect” from a courtroom perspective. But I’d always wanted to shadow a crime scene investigator and show, not tell, what they did.
When
the Wichita Police gave me permission to follow Cory Rodivich around on
a shift, my goal was to produce a mini-documentary and experiment with
simple non-linear storytelling.
The result was published today. Through video,
I tried to produce a story capable of standing on its own, while still
adding some depth to the print story. I wanted to break the video story
into chapters, so viewers could pick their order. After years of
driving the narrative through print, I’m still trying to wrap myself
around the idea of non-linear storytelling.
I
decided the print story would deal with the differences between
television and reality, while the videos would show what the crime
scene investigator really does.
While I don’t consider this my best work, it’s my best in this new area of multimedia reporting.
Above
all, completing the project and getting it published improved my
comfort zone. The minute I finished, I started planning the next
project.
I
really liked the segment about fingerprinting -- a lot! I think it's a
little long, but you have a lot of interesting close shots. The part
with the cellophane tape is very nice!
Nice
multimedia package. I too like the fingerprinting segment, especially
the part where the light changes and the fingerprints appear.