Journalism Courses

Two Year PG Diploma in Journalism

It helps students to develop their skills in research,writing ,and delivering news in different media. Well-researched writing is well received. The degree provides a theoretical background. You can specialise in an area of journalism.

One Year P.G. Diploma in Journalism

It is a practical hands-on course. This crash course makes students ready for the industry.

The work that you do is valued more is this industry than a degree or a diploma.

Specialisations

Advertising

This is a challenging field, though not conducive to fast growth. There are separate diplomas in advertising. Some offer MBA in this subject. Students just focus on copy writing and content generation. There are areas such as account planning, brand management and client servicing. Rather than a diploma, a full-fledged MBA degree will help you master all these areas. Institutes should teach how to make creative briefs. A diploma in advertising packs close to three dozen subjects. There are other areas such as Public Relations and Media Management. A degree is necessary to enter these areas.

Public Relations

Degrees at P.G. level are offered. There is MBA in PR. The students should keep abreast of the latest developments, and not rely fully on the degree. Constant up dating of knowledge is necessary. Some prefer a degree abroad which exposes the student to the best in the field. Indian courses still lack the practical approach. Good institutes offer placement services. MBA in marketing broadens the knowledge of a student. Here PR is not studied as a stand-alone subject. PR students must have aptitude for the job, and must be articulate. They must have a fair understanding of how the industry works.

Communication Design

The design field is primarily divided into two areas — industrial design and communication design.

Industrial design covers product design, furniture design and interior design. Engineers (mechanical) are suited for product design or transportation design. Architects are suited for furniture and interior design.

Communication design covers graphics, animation, film and video design covering print/TV media. It generally caters to the field of advertising and promotion. Fine arts graduates are suited for this field. Communication design is further expanded to cover user interface design and new media design. Communication design applied to fashion industry is known as fashion communication.

Product design applied to fashion industry is known as life style accessory design.

Saeed Mirza — Filmmaker and Writer

Saeed ( 71 in 2014 ) wrote films such as Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyo Aata Hai?, Salim Langade Pe Mat Ro, Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!, Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Daastaan. Mirza has also written TV shows like Nukkad. He also writes books — The Monk, the Moor And Moses, Ben Jalloun. He made documentaries about India for, DD. His wife is Jennifer. His son Safdar is New York banker married to a Chinese girl. Another son Zahir is an advertising man in Dubai and married to a Christian girl. His father Akhtar Mirza wrote Naya Daur and Waqt. Saeed is now Goa based. He dislikes flying and is driven around by his Man Friday Ayub. Saeed is suspicious of state authority and of religion. Saeed is as interesting as a person as his work.

Celebratory Cinema Viewing in India

According to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, cinema is no longer art in India. People do not watch art anymore. Cinema viewing is celebratory here. It is just like celebrating a festival. You go to a  film that gives you all the joy, laughter, fun, action, romance, whistles and claps. It is a tradition here to see all this. This is where people belong. Even while making a serious film, the melodrama must be balanced. Though good experimental movies work, the dominant mood is entertainment.

Marathi Films

Previously the output of Marathi films was hardly 10-15 films per annum. These days 90-100 Marathi films are produced every year. The technical excellence is satisfactory. Even now the Marathi films are greatly influenced by Marathi plays. The cinema is verbose and talkative. Cinema has its own language — many Marathi  films lack this video language. Marathi movies still has to improve their background music and songs. Music is a neglected area. Marathi cinema lacks  the heroes and heroines having star appeal. Despite this, the younsters welcome new-age directors.

Vespa Scooter’s Design

Corradino D’Ascanio designed Vespa. He is responsible for the design of  Italy’s helicopter around World War II. He had dislike for motorcycles, which he believed were bulky, uncomfortable and unreliable. Enrico Piaggio, the Italian industrialist found the design resembles a wasp and hence the name Vespa. Vespa has featured in movies such as Roman Holiday, The Talented Mr Ripley and Larry Crowne. The first design of Vespa was done after drawing a person sitting comfortably on sofa in his drawing room, and the scooter was designed around him. The first Vespa model was called  Paperino, Italian for  Donald Duck. Vespa’s new version has Italian looks and a stylish retro design with glittering chrome finish.

Shyamchi Aai — A Marathi Movie by Atre Based On Sane Guruji Work

Sane Guruji wrote Shyamchi Aai which has impressed many generations. Acharya P K Atre made a movie based on this book.The screenplay selected playful incidents for the first half, and let the melodrama take over in the second half. On March 6, 2015 Shyamchi Aai will complete 62 years. It was made in 1953. The movie was awarded the President’s Gold Medal. Madhav Vaze enacted the role of Shyam. Acharya Atre selected judiciously the incidents out of 42 nights which the book had described. The selection took care that the movie does not become preachy. Atre took an independent view of Shyam’s childhood. Atre was loyal to the book while writing the screenplay and dialogue. The atmosphere reflected the family life style of the 1950s and 1960s. The movie had a moral anchoring.Vanmalabai is another actor in the movie. Shankar Rao Kulkarni, Saraswati Bodas, Prabodhankar Thackeray, Damu Anna Joshi contributed a great deal. Vasant Desai was the music director. Rele was the cinematographer. The director was Acharya P K Atre himself.

150th Birth Anniversary of Louis Jean ( Lumiere Brothers) , 2014

The Lumiere brothers —  Louis and Auguste — were pioneers of the motion film and also the cinematograph ( motion picture film camera ). As they used the celluloid film, the movie industry is still known as the film industry, despite digitisation of the the cinema halls. October 5, 2014 marked the birth anniversary of Louis Jean, one half of the Lumiere brothers. In 2014, we celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of the motion picture icon and co-inventor of cinematograph.

Hot and Cold Media

Understanding Media written by Marshall McLuhan puts media into two categories  — hot media and cold media. By hot he means media that engages the audience. Those media which keeps the audience passive is called cold. Radio has classified as hot in his book. TV has been put in the cold category. These definitions should be revisited in view of the emergence of the new media — the social media.

Steven Spielberg — Screenplay Is the Star

Steven Spielberg, the iconic Hollywood director makes movies where superstars do not dominate. To him, screenplay is the star.All of us are in the service of the story and telling it in a dynamic and colourful way. He has never written a story to fit an actor. The screenplay is more important than anybody, even the actor, however big he may be.

If the American movie industry can be separated into two stages, the period from 1920 to about 1960 would be called the era of actor superstars like Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant and the one from 1970 onward would be dubbed  the era of director superstars who elevated screenplay to a special status.