Multimedia Critique: “The Fine Line: Simone Biles Gymnastics”
This piece covers Simone Biles’s gymnastic skills prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics. The article discusses her accomplishments as a 19-year old, such as her obtained gold medals and her three year title streak. Throughout the piece photos, videos, and coordinated colors are utilized in support of each text sliver. Photos of Simone, accompanied by direct quotes, compliment each subject discussed. Moreover, while discussing specific moves Simone is capable of, the piece constructs a play-by-play of her movement through animation and slow motion. In this sense the article is interactive, each segment waiting and prepared for the viewer to arrive. An arrow bounces at the bottom right corner of each phase to indicate that a sequence has concluded.
I really enjoyed this piece, specifically the sequences depicting “The Biles”, or Simone’s signature move. This move, described as “a double layout with a half twist and a blind landing”, is impossible for other gymnasts to complete. The piece peaks our fascination by verbally outlining how impressive Simone’s run and jump-height truly is at each moment where an element is emphasized. We are given time to absorb each wave of information that the piece provides due to the mechanic pausing at various points until the arrow is clicked. I personally thought that the editing and manipulation of “The Biles” was best executed through animated lines that followed Simone’s arms throughout the move. The lines remain on screen and are later replaced with a completely animated sequence, allowing for the media to seamlessly transition from real footage to CGI. This same mechanic is utilized with Simone’s tumbling pass on a beam, which indicates Simone’s breadth of precision and raw talent that extends beyond floor routines.
I found the length of this multimedia piece to be a bit-too spaced out, but I think this was due to my personal reading preferences. There were only about 1–3 sentences on each slide, and while this allowed for the emphasis of other mediums besides text I still felt slightly impatient. I feel as though many slides could have been combined to make the piece feel more efficient, but at the same time I understand that many other viewers would prefer the content to be presented this way.
There were also moments where the site would not correctly perform intended mechanics and I had to fill in gaps myself. For instance, the blend of animation and footage would not always conclude correctly. Frames would sometimes lag and jump straight to the final shot, completely skipping over Simone’s movement. Perhaps my wifi or browser is not able to adequately comprehend The New York Times’s multimedia packages, and I am sure that this is not at the creators’ faults. However, I feel as though the animated mechanics could have been compressed in a way that requires less energy to run (such as an in-screen video box rather than an automatic slide transition). I did truly enjoy these animation sequences, and found them to be some of the best elements of this piece, but faults like these inconsistencies can overshadow the overall effectiveness of the piece. It makes the viewing experience more laborious and less digestible.
Regardless of these few moments, the piece still represents how the implementation of different multimedia forms can make a story more dynamic and immersive. It was impressive how different multimedia formats were able to conduct different purposes, each coming together seamlessly. Furthermore, the function of this piece is simple, the viewer’s only responsibility being to commence the next segment. “The Fine Line: Simone Biles Gymnastics” truly opened my eyes to new ways that multimedia could be produced besides solely an article or video, and I am excited to experiment with mediums beyond what I am comfortable with.