Star With a CSD Photo Essay

PSA Journal, Jan, 1999 by Linnet G. Dean

Have you ever dreamed of being a Hollywood producer, director, writer or cinematographer? How about being all of these in one single production? Would you also like the possibility of being rewarded with acceptance credits, handsome medals, cash and Conference recognition? All of the above may be accomplished with an entry in the CSD Photo Essay Contest held in early July, followed by the presentation of the top winning essays at the annual PSA Conference.

Subject matter includes just about anything. Entries may be as short as 25 slides or as long as 80 slides. Time limit for script, music, or both is 15 minutes. (Last year's winning entry had 80 slides and was 13 minutes long. The year before, 25 slides and 3 minutes long.) First place receives $50 and a PSA Gold Medal. Second and third place winners receive PSA medals. Honorable Mentions may or may not be awarded. Medal winners get 8 acceptance credits and 4 titles, and HMs 6 acceptance credits and 4 titles. The entry form for this contest is found yearly in the January issue of the PSA Journal (page 42). Entry fee is $5.

Following are ten steps which may be helpful in producing your essay, especially if this is a first-time production:

1. The Schedule: Start early! It's a lot more fun if you aren't in a rush. You may need to shoot additional images or even revise your original concept of the essay. The CSD contest requires submission of an entry form by June 1st (listing title and approximate length) and the completed essay in the hands of the director (or appointed chairman) by July 1st.

2. Subject and Theme: Decide on a subject and a theme. Think of the theme as a little engine that keeps your essay subject on track. For example, in last year's winning entry the subject was "Early American Life" and the theme was remembering the different cultures that made America great.

3. The Slides: Start with a lot more slides than you need, and decide if you will need to shoot more images to best illustrate your essay. Weed out out-of-focus or over/under exposed slides. Some essay producers like to write the script first and then photograph the images for it, but this seems to be more difficult and costly than simply starting with a lot of slides on a subject which interests you. (Which is why you probably already have a lot of slides on the subject!) Then think of an appropriate theme (or musical accompaniment) to fit the slides. Do you have a better chance of winning with a script instead of just music? Probably, unless your slides tell a definite story.

4. Arranging the Slides: Here is where a slide sorter is a valuable aid. An 80 slide slanted sorter is relatively inexpensive and lets you took at the whole essay at one time. Slides may be moved from place to place until the sequence seems right for a script. (If doing a shorter essay, a smaller, flat sorter will work fine.) If you are producing an essay without narration, it may be especially important to consider how the color or intensity of an image flows into the one preceding or following it. Likewise, a mostly visual program is smoother if verticals are grouped together followed by a series of horizontals and then back to a series of verticals, etc. However, if the narrative is telling a story in sequence, the audience will be concentrating on the words as well as the images so verticals, horizontals, colors and intensity can be more mixed, and still produce a smooth presentation.

5. Titles: Before you go any further, choose your "title" and "end" slides. Hopefully, they will be images not vital to the sequence of the story but will convey an overall view of the essay. The easiest way to do titles is to simply photograph a ready-made title from a brochure, map, guidebook or sign, etc. Or use ready-made letters (even Scrabble letters!) on a bright piece of construction paper and photograph that. Another way to do a title or "The End" slide is to "sandwich" a pictorial with the title of your essay using an Erie or Gepe mount. Choose a pictorial that leaves a fairly clear area for the title letters (light grass or sky for example). Just make sure your title is placed on the background so that it fits the format of the pictorial (top, bottom, left, right, etc.). The title part of the sandwich may be made several ways. Titles can be computer generated on plain white paper, hand lettered or photographed from a brochure with a white background. Whatever the source, overexpose by 2-3 stops (bracket) in order to insure a transparent background. Then line up the title with your pictorial and re-mount. (Do not include your name in the essay.)

6. The Plan: Your essay will fare better with a beginning, a middle, and a definite ending. Lay the groundwork by establishing the theme with a few introductory slides that lead into the middle (the main portion of the essay) and then summarize by restating the theme in such a way that your audience knows that this is definitely the end. Watch out for "double" endings. They are anti-climatic, confusing and should be avoided. You may decide you need a literary "gimmick," or you may not! A "straight" narrative has won many an essay competition. You can, however, use other narrative forms to illustrate your subject and theme. Narrated poetry, journal entries, and letters have been used successfully. Some essayists have used a song with lyrics that describe the slides and theme. The choice should depend upon your subject and theme and what "fits."