This week we’re going to start exploring the tools available to you if you’re interested in making quality slideshows. When I say “tools”, I’m not talking about the myriad different software applications out there that claim to make “dazzling” slideshows. Certainly you’ll use some kind of software, but we’re really talking right now about the human side of the process. No matter how sophisticated software becomes, no one has yet been able to program “heart” or “taste” into a silicon and plastic machine.

A good slideshow, like a good movie or song or photo or painting or book (all of which require some level of technology to produce) reflects the heart and soul of the creator. A really great slideshow uses your computer’s technology to expand, augment and amplify your creativity and emotion. Also, and this is critical, technology shouldn’t distract the viewer or be employed just because it’s there. Remember this - just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

For the sake of this discussion, let’s say you’re assembling a slideshow to distribute via CD or other medium to the members of your family who attended a summer weekend family reunion. Your goal is to chronicle the weekend’s events, as well as capture the emotion of the family members as they reunite.

First, you must order, or sequence, or storyboard, your slides. Unlike the old days, you don’t have to rearrange an entire slide tray just to add a slide here, move a slide there, etc. Today it’s about dragging-and-dropping photos into and along a digital timeline, and you should take full advantage of that flexibility.

But, in what order should your photos appear? This may sound simplistic, but how about the order in which you took them? People are psychologically satisfied by chronological order. There’s a reason most books or movies start at the beginning, not somewhere in the middle. You can get away with a bit of “time bending” – just be careful not to confuse your audience.

Perhaps you have a sequence of photos of a boatful of family members approaching the dock, smiling and waving. You can convey a sense of motion in an otherwise static environment by placing this “boat docking” sequence in chronological order. Combined with the right transition and slide duration, the effect could be almost cinematic.

One quick note on pacing. In the film medium, quick cuts are generally used in action sequences, while more emotional sequences use longer scene lengths. You can do the same thing with your slides (assuming your software supports variable slide timing). Quick cuts for the touch football game, longer durations for the tearful goodbyes.

Film directors and editors use “establishing shots” when transitioning between scenes in different locations or settings. For example, perhaps you have a group of photos taken around the sprawling dinner table at the family reunion’s main dinner. A satisfying transition from the previous scene to the dinner table scene would be a simple wide-angle shot of everyone seated at the table, or perhaps milling around the room before everyone is seated. Then you move in to the small group and individual close-ups.

When you’re done with the close-ups, why not move out of the scene by going back to a wider angle shot, perhaps the uncleared table revealing the depth of the festivities. Dancing after dinner? Use an establishing shot of the ballroom before focusing on the individual dance partners. Big to small, then back out to big. It works. Try it.

Next time we’ll discuss an element that can make or break your slideshow: music.

© 2005 Peter F. Zimowski