The Ancient Way project tells about Galicia, the home of a 100+ mile religious pilgrimage. This is actually available in three different languages. The layout is very simple but easy to navigate. A menu pops out after the mouse rolls over the stories tab on the left side of the screen. Here all the stories are listed, and once clicked, the screen opens to the video for that story with a short explanation in front of it. The exceptional photography is present in all the video stories.
This project is another bilingual piece that explores Argentinian and Chilean Patagonia. There are three categories at the top, and when the mouse rolls over them, a drop down menu appears showing each of the related stories that are available. Each story has a description along with the title so the user knows what to expect from each story. The stories are in a different language but the translation plays at the bottom of the video. Once again, this also gives users the ability to watch the video and “hear” the words without having the volume up. Also, the images featured are very appealing pictures.
This multimedia project explores the use of energy in the United States. The main video is an illustration with audio because there isn’t very any options for visuals. The main goal of this project seems to be meeting the people involved in supplying energy for the U.S. The site itself seems a bit cluttered and difficult to navigate. Also, there could have been more mixed media stories involved.
This multimedia project looks at the effects of the economy crisis in North Carolina. It is the only home page of a project that has video directly on the first page. Corbella uses still photos mixed with video and an interview playing behind the visuals. Although this project has the least multimedia stories, the ones that are on it have good information and great images.
This project covers life in the Chile Archipelago, which is off the coast of Chile. The site itself is set up so that all the different stories are along the top. It leads to an introductory screen for the story, which is nice because the multimedia aspect doesn’t just start playing. The other good thing that this project includes is the words that the subject is saying in the background of the video. This way the user could still get the information from the video without using volume if they are in a place that they shouldn’t play the video aloud.
This multimedia project documents the Robinson Crusoe Island in Chile and compares the fictional novel and the real island. It has an interactive board game, along with the other mixed media stories. The site gives some direction as far as where to find what information. This is the most interactive site so far. Because the site has a lot to do with a fictional character and comparing him to someone who lived a long time ago, the multimedia aspect is limited to audio and slide shows of sketches.
This project features everything pertaining to North Carolina’s southern coastline. It looks at the culture and traditions of the Brunswick islands. The site says that it is from the Carolina Photojournalism Workshop, so it must have been a group effort. The rectangles along the bottom of the site are actually pictures that expand once the mouse rolls over them, and an audio clip plays while a picture slide show plays. The user can also click on the images to view a larger slideshow.
In this project, Corbella created a bilingual account of the Atacama Desert in the northernmost region of Chile. He incorporates all types of multimedia in this; however, the four links at the top bring the user to a new screen. Within these four categories, there are links to the various multimedia stories. The problem is that there is no way to tell what the different links lead to. The story Corbella is telling has substance, but the way the site functions could use some work. His photos in the slide shows are very high quality.
This project is about the rebuilding of one of the regions hardest hit by the 2004 Asian Tsunami. Each image in the photo collage at the top of the screen is a link to a slide show and interviews about that topic. Each of these is an individual story that fits within the general topic. This is a great way to organize the massive amounts of information that is involved in this project. Also, if the mouse just rests on an image in the collage, then the photo enlarges, and a slide show or video project starts playing. This allows the user to view the separate stories to decide if they want to view more information on that subject. This project is very well organized and user-friendly.
This project looks at South Africa, specifically Grahamstown, 10 years after Apartheid. It includes photography, audio and video. During the introduction, music plays automatically, which isn’t ideal. The user should have an option for no sound before it starts playing, possibly after choosing what bandwidth. On the home page, there are seven different categories: women, housing, integration, youth, music, economics and insights. They each have a photo, and the title appears when the mouse runs over the image. This technique makes the site look less cluttered and more visually appealing. Each of the categories has a short story explaining its relevance to the subject and at least one multimedia aspect. In some cases, there are several choices, such as slideshows, audio or video. This project is very user friendly and tells the story from many perspectives.
