April 25, 2011
School of Arts and Sciences, Kochi
 

A two-day National Workshop on Visual Journalism and Video Production, Perspective was recently organized by the Department of Visual Media and Communication at the Amrita School of Arts and Sciences, Kochi.
 

Over 150 delegates, mostly media students and professionals, both from within Kerala and outside Kerala, attended.
 

Swami Purnamritananda Puri, General Secretary of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, the parent body of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, called upon the delegates to ensure that ethics are inculcated in their profession.
 

“The general tendency among most media professionals is to highlight that which is negative,” Swamiji pointed out. “Instead, positive developments that can boost one’s morale should be featured. This is what society requires; this social-oriented attitude towards the profession is what is needed.”
 

A key note address by Dr. K. Ampady, Deputy Director (News), Doordarshan, Thiruvananthapuram, elaborated on the many facets of News and Video Production.
 

“Journalism can be meaningful only it upholds spiritual and ethical values,” Dr. Ampady reiterated. “The media can make and mar the society and the individual.”
 

His key note address covered all aspects of news reporting, including news sources, new technology and the role of new media channels.
 

A panel discussion elaborated on aspects of production and presentation of broadcast and online news, citizen journalism and blogging. Participants included Hari S. Kartha, Chief Editor, Janmabhumi; Kumar Chellappan, Special Correspondent, Daily News and Analysis, Chennai and Adv. S. Jayaprakash, Senior Lecturer, Visual Media Department at Amrita.
 

A session anchored by Dr. T. K. Santhosh Kumar, Chief, News Desk, Amrita TV brought to light all facets of news reporting including story board, scripting, bureau work, graphics, art and news presentation. As the anchor of Natakame Ulagam, a weekly political satire telecast on Amrita TV, Dr. Santhosh emphasized the need for and use of visual language.
 

“On the first day, we learned about news reporting, editing and camera work,” enthusiastically shared first-year MFA students, Shakunthala K.R., Sree Vidya and Jayasree Menon.
 

“Later we got the opportunity to cover a free diabetic camp that was being conducted near our college,” they added.
 

These students and others gained much from practical tutorial sessions on pre-production and production conducted by Cinematographer Sri. Radha Ramanan (Videography), India Vision Video Editor Sri. Manoj Sebastian (Video Editing), Freelance Animation Professional Sri. Sarath Chandran (Multimedia) and Amrita TV Sound Engineer Sri. Ramesh Ramkrishnan (Audiography).
 

All delegates were given different assignments to shoot and produce news-based documentaries. They received certificates at the close of the concluding session.
 

The workshop was conceptualized by and conducted under the guidance of Dr. U. Krishnakumar, Director, Amrita School of Arts and Sciences, Kochi. The organizing committee of the workshop was headed by Dr. P. P. Vijayalakshmi, HOD, Visual Media Department.