MSNBC Year in Pictures Readers' Choice

Posted by Sarah Damian


I really enjoyed the MSNBC's slideshow of the Year in Pictures Readers' Choice. The music had the strongest impact, correlating with each group of pictures and setting the mood in a potent way. All the pictures were aesthetically pleasing, but they were also telling a story through the photographic techniques within the frame as well as the underlying caption. The framing and lighting mattered. They force the viewer to focus on the important aspects and stir emotion. I noticed the music in particular, which flowed from sequence to sequence. It started out with flute music to mainly pictures of nature and and immense landscape...then moved to lower toned, slow ahs for photos in space. Adding a drum backbeat, the rhythm quickened with pictures of wild weather such as lightning and tornadoes, emphasizing action. Then the drum faded and it mixed nicely into the next sequences, with happy music for animals, and sad music for death and destruction. The transitions were appropriate though, not to make light of any one setting. I wonder how long it took them to make such a montage. It's inspiring.