Mon 22 Oct
2012
Arrow in the Face
This turn of events in the career of Lance Armstrong is stupefying and tragic. But this lead image at the top of one news article about his seven Tour de France titles being taken away from him is unnecessary, if you ask me.
I see this kind of thing a lot. As browser-delivered news integrates more and more multimedia, it’s been surprising how little editors, photographers and visual journalists pay attention to this particular detail. More often than not, the preview frame of the playable media is a headshot — just a person’s head and shoulders with a play arrow superimposed on top — and almost always unceremoniously planted right smack-dab in the middle of the person’s face. If you ask me it’s not just unflattering but it’s also frequently inappropriate, even if the subject is undergoing a colossal public shaming of the sort that Armstrong is experiencing.
No one at these news organizations sets out to deface these subjects of course, and certainly no harm is intended. It’s just carelessness in the production process. But it can’t be that hard to find an image where the subject is off-center, thereby avoiding this aesthetically unpleasant and completely unnecessary effect. Generally speaking, that would be more visually interesting than a dead-center shot anyhow, even without the superimposition of the play arrow on top.
Remarks 5 total remarks were added before the post was closed.
22 Oct 2012, 01:13 pm
For a different effect, see how Die Antwoord made use of the play button when their “Baby’s On Fire” video is embedded:
Stupefying, yes. But tragic?
Tragedy is when a young life is cut short by disease; when a patron is gunned down in a theater; when a war is prosecuted for immoral and political reasons.
Lance Armstrongs actions were the deliberate actions of a self absorbed individual who cared less about his body, his sport and his fellow athletes than he did his own fame and glory.
Victims of tragedy deserve sympathy. Armstrong, if he’s even worth taking time to consider, deserves nothing but contempt and derision.
Stretch: I meant “tragic” in the sense of dramatic tragedy, wherein the attributes that make a man a hero are also what leads to his downfall. Armstrong’s arc is very much in keeping with that concept.
That said, I agree with your sentiment. It’s not a true tragedy of the sorts you listed. And I also basically agree that he deserves very little sympathy, even if I wouldn’t go so far as to say “contempt and derision.”
But mostly I wanted to talk about putting arrows on people’s faces!
23 Oct 2012, 07:57 pm
Better yet, move the play button to a more suitable position.
Lots of news sites run headline links to stories across photos, but I can’t recall seeing one placed slap-bang—Australian for smack-dab, apparently—in the middle of a photo.
Vimeo respects its videos by placing the play button bottom left. That seems a much better default placement for a news site.