When I talked with underwater photographer Tony Wu late last night (early this morning for the Japan-based Wu), he agreed with Ian Shive that making quality multimedia — from stills, video or both — is all about the story. To illustrate his point, Wu directed me to his fantastic blog covering underwater photography and therein to “A Very Hungry Frogfish,” one of his first experiments in multimedia storytelling
If you haven’t yet put together a multimedia piece, or are in need of inspiration, I strongly recommend you watch this wonderful Frogfish-staring piece by Wu. “It’s a good illustration of nothing mattering more than the story,” Wu told me, which is the exact sentiment Shive had shared (not to mention everyone else I have interviewed on the topic).
“Yeah, the audio sucks and the video processing is no good,” Wu shared in his slow, calm, thoughtful manner of speaking. “But the end result achieves what I wanted, which was to make people laugh, and to get people to emotionally relate to a fish.”
I definitely laughed. I definitely was not distracted or put off by the low-tech nature of the piece. For “Frogfish” Wu only used a handful of stills (patiently captured over more than an hour and a half), Wu’s voice-over narration and endearingly simple “special effects.”
“Frogfish” has a simplicity the resonates like the experience of the best children’s books, which (as my sister-in-law, who is a children’s librarian will tell you) are some of the greatest books out there.
“There’s no way I could have conveyed this story with one picture, or words alone,” Wu said. “People really get it.”
Not Being Overwhelmed by Overwhelming Technology
“I’m Photoshop challenged,” Wu told me with not hint of humor, but in a way that made me laugh with empathetic understanding. To look at his amazing underwater imagery, one would never guess that Wu is “Photoshop challenged.” Clearly he has well under control the most critical Photoshop skills: those required for his specific art.
In the three years that have passed since Wu made “A Very Hungry Frogfish,” he has come a long way in terms of his multimedia technical skills, as made very clear by his “Night Safari Video.” Actually, this excellent multimedia piece is is how I came in contact with Wu, as it was featured on DiveFilm HD, whose host, Mary Lynn Price, urged me to talk to Wu.
In “Night Safari” Wu intelligently employs video as well as stills, as well as a much more sophisticated (non-sucky) use of sound. But what makes the piece shine is Wu’s understanding of the underwater environments he loves, and his desire to share his experiences — with an eye on the story.
Currently, Wu is struggling to overcome the very steep learning curve of Final Cut Pro, to take his multimedia to the next level. But he’s not being held back by technology he has not yet mastered.
“The way I learn the best is just to do stuff,” Wu said. “So I will just take an assignment and learn along the way.”
Don’t Forget to Have Fun!
Wu strongly encourages still photographers to focus on multimedia projects that are enjoyable, and that we focus on stories we are eager to tell, and that we cannot tell in still images.
This is great advice, whether we are engaging in a project primarily to explore new technologies, or to offer a new service to a client. Motivation and the pleasure-factor are two key ingredients in the recipe of learning.