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Showing posts with the label MET Institute of Mass Media

Choosing the right media career - for YOU

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There are literally hundreds of career options in Media. But which one is the right one for you? I get many students who have the wrong notion of what the Industry is about. Some come in with stars in their eyes, seeing only the glamour that is associated with the media. They either want to become actors, news anchors, or someone who is seen on screens. There are some who think they are great photographers, cinematographers, or DOPs (Director of Photography) as they are called now. But making those short films using a handycam, shooting a documentary with a DSLR does NOT mean that you become a DOP overnight. Or just because you have directed a couple of short films does NOT make you a Director in the Industry. Some also are very passionate about going into film production. I have seen many students who, after a few days find that job exhausting, and learn the hard way that they are not fit for the production side. There is also a notion that just because you do a course in Manageme

PG in Media - Degree or Diploma?

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This is a question I have been often asked during my 16 years in media education. There are benefits and limitations in both.  So what do you get in a degree course? Well, you get a degree, of course. Along with that you get very good theoretical and conceptual understanding of the subjects. After getting a PG degree, you can further do your NET/SLET and get into the teaching profession, or do your M.Phil., or Ph.D. Teaching is a great profession, and many have made careers in teaching. I too, am a teacher in media! Only, teaching is not just a profession, but a mission. And unless you treat it such, you are bound to fail. And I do make a sincere request. Do spend at least a couple of years in the industry, learn the ropes before you enter the teaching profession. This is for your own good, and more importantly you will do justice to the profession and your students who look up to you. Alternately, you can enter the industry. But unless you have practical knowledge / training

Selecting the Best Media Institute for your PG

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So are you done with your graduation? Just appeared for your final exams? And now looking forward to join a PG Course in Media, Advertising, Public Relations, Journalism, Film making, Television, Digital Marketing? There are several courses and institutes. But how do you choose? Here are some tips: Look at the syllabus:  Check out the syllabus of the institute. Is it updated? Ask the institute when it was last updated. Does it include the latest requirements by the industry? Check out the faculty:  Media training requires faculty that are trained in the latest techniques and technology. It requires working journalists, working PR professionals, film makers, ad professionals, because that is what gives you the edge over others. See how many faculty are in-house, and check their qualifications and experience in media. Check the list of faculty on the website of the institute. Contact students, get a feedback:  Either when you visit the institute, or search online, connect with s

Digital Immigrants? No More!

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Marc Prensky coined the terms Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives in 2001. He explains how Digital Immigrant teachers - those who were not born in the digital age have learnt to adopt the new technology, and learnt to teach Digital Natives - the younger generation who are born digital. I always call myself a successful digital immigrants someone who have not been just a witness, but an active participant in this digital media evolution. I have imbibed the digital DNA into my own, and sort of become an instant 'digital mutant' several times over, simply to survive, and not perish in the digital tsunami. I teach digital media production and marketing to students doing their postgraduate courses in advertising, entertainment, and digital marketing at the MET Institute of Mass Media , and have to be constantly on my toes, upgrading myself, to remain relevant. But that will change soon - sooner than we thought. India has one of the world's cheapest data connectivity

The Pandit and the Boatman - Theory and practical knowledge

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I suppose everyone knows about this story of the Pandit and the Boatman from Kashmiri folklore. No? Well, here it is... Once a Pandit hired a boat to cross a river. Bored, he asked the boatman whether he had read the Upanishads. When the boatman replied in negative, the Pandit said that he had wasted his life. With every such question, the Pandit kept saying how the boatman had wasted his life. Suddenly, the boatman asked the Pandit if he knew swimming. The Pandit replied that he had read all the books about swimming. The boatman replied, "Then you better put what you read into practice because the boat is sinking!" The river water had risen and it was raining heavily by now. Needless to say, the Pandit started drowning. The boatman said, "You have wasted all your life by just reading about swimming. You should have also practiced." (Image Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jc8XyK2bPgI/hqdefault.jpg) Though theoretical knowledge is immensely valuable, it i

Why India having only 25% of it's population on the Internet is not such a bad thing

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There was a well-written article recently about how only 25% of India's adult population use the Internet, and how it is among the lowest in the world. The article, quoting Pew Research, was not only critical about Digital India, but also had a little negative tone in reporting. Well, let's look at it from a different angle. When 25% of India's population uses the Internet: The numbers are more than the entire population of US of A  It is almost 3 times that of South Korea! (The article compares our Internet usage with that of Korea) Even with 25% of India's population on the Internet, we have the largest number of Facebook users in the world. From 13% in 2013 to 25% in 2017, the number of Internet users in India has almost doubled So is the 'only' 25% a limitation? Let's look at it from a perspective of opportunity. Think of the numbers that are not yet on the Internet. India's population is getting younger. The census figures show that 45%

BMM Graduate? But are you industry-ready? Employable?

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What does it take to be job-ready, to take on the media world? Most academic programmes in media in India, offer several courses in all forms of media. Most courses are good, following a standard syllabus, mostly as per the guidelines given by UNESCO. Many institutes, however, lack the basic infrastructure and equipment required to train students in the modern form of media content creation. I have many friends across the country who can vouch for that. It is always a struggle for institutes to keep adding the latest infrastructure and equipment, simply because whatever we buy is already redundant in this technology driven sector. However, the fact remains that equipment and curricula need to be revised as and when required, catering to industry needs, to make our students employable. It is sad that in many places, curricula are designed based on the capabilities of the faculty involved, rather than what is needed. Today, after taking a feedback from the industry, it is clear th

Google Baba Ki Jay Part 3

When a was a newbie web designer sooooo many years back, we used to be very excited when we counted so many 'hits' on our website. One of the first ever websites in India on trekking 'indiantreks.com' was made by me way back on 1998-99 when the Internet was so new. We used to do a lot of things to get in the top 10 in the search ranking, but at that time it used to be Yahoo and not Google. The spiders used by search engines used to primarily look at 3 things: 1. The keywords in the metatags 2. The text in your page 3. The number of backlinks We used many tricks to get into the top 10.... One was to have text and links in the same colour as that of the page. This kept the text hidden on the browser, but the spiders were fooled into thinking that the page had a lot of backlinks. Second was to spam the meta tags with lots and lots of keywords, again for the spiders to take notice I had paid Rs.3500/- to book the indiantreks domain, but as domains became chea

Google Baba Ki Jay - Part 2

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Big Brother Google is Watching You! All the time. How do you think Google gives you fairly accurate traffic information on Google Maps? Initially, Google Maps was used as just that - like a map. To find your way in an unknown place, or to know the distance between two places. But some time in March 2012, Google developed an algorithm that measured the density of devices logged in to Google along with tracking the location based on GPS. So if you are logged in to Google on your mobile phone, tablet, or your computer or laptop, Google knows exactly where you are located. This does raises privacy issues. What if you do not want to be tracked by Google? What if you don't want Google to know your location? Well, Google lets you opt out. Here's a link to know how to do just that: http://bgr.com/2014/08/28/google-maps-location-tracking-opt-out/ Very recently, Google Maps has introduced a feature to actually let your contacts track your location. You can share your locati

Google Baba Ki Jay - Part 1

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Let me tell you a story I read when I was in the 3rd or 4th standard, probably in Chandamama the children's monthly. A greedy man prays, does tapascharya , and pleases God. God appears before the man and asks him his wish. " Var maango, vatsa ", God says. The man says, "I want to ask you a few questions before I wish for anything". "Go ahead", God says. "We are so small, so all that is in heaven must be bigger than here on earth?" God replies in affirmative. So the man asks, "How much is your 1 kilo?" "It is like million tons." "And one acre?" "Like a continent" "And 1 litre"? "Like one of your oceans." Pleased, the man thinks for a while and says, "God, I am not greedy. I wish for just one acre of land, and only 100 rupees. Please grant me my wish." God says, "Sure Vatsa , I will certainly grant you your wish. I will make the arrangements, and wi

Just an MBA does not make a manager in Media and Communication sector

We say this again. To be successful in manager in the media and communication sector, a management training program should also have creative courses in the curriculum. Citing from the article below, Excel Sheets don't make successful media products, at the same time, artistic brooding also doesn't. There has to be a balance of both to make a successful film. "Industry insiders, admittedly those on the creative side, say the MBAs running studios do not understand story, script, or screenplay. So they play safe by signing on the biggest star they can. That done, they get the director the star wants. And then they look around for a script. If the movie fails, they can always say it is not their fault, after all, they did get the most saleable star." Do read up folks, you will understand why the Advanced Diplomas in Management in Advertising, Entertainment, Digital Marketing, and Diplomas in Journalism and PR at MET Institute of Mass Media will help you for getting

Communication Design - 1

Why is designing our communication so important? Let me give you some examples... Last week, I got an SMS saying that some money had been credited to my account. Well, if someone is kind enough to give me money without asking me, they are welcome. But I was curious to know who this kind soul was. So I called up customer care, input the data for the IVR menu and ultimately reached an executive. In a rasping voice he asked in Hindi, "Namaskar, mai xxx, aapki kya sahayata kar sakta hoon"? This, despite having requested for English as the language of choice. When I decided to speak in English, I was replied again in Hindi. When I persisted by asking my next  question in English, I got replies in broken not so fluent English.  I then started speaking in Hindi and my queries got solved within no time. The point is, I had to design my communication to suit the situation. Had I persisted to speak in English, it would have taken probably twice the time I had to spend. I h

Karlo Duniya Mutthi Mein - Part 1

I was working for a pharmaceutical company and posted as Manager in Ahmedabad for two years - 1989 to 1991. Those days were quite turbulent, one, on my professional front, because I was trying to make inroads into a very tough pharmaceutical market, and second on the political front. Those days were of unrest, and riots during the time of Lalkrishna Advani's Ram Rath Yatra. I saw the horrors of mindless killing, and mob fury first-hand. During Diwali, rarely now, but I still wake up from deep sleep in the middle of the night thinking there is police firing going on somewhere. This was also a period of turmoil in the music industry. In July 1990, the film Aashiqui was released and became a super duper hit. But the credit for its success goes to its music, which was released in 1989 by Gulshan Kumar. This is a story in itself. Coming from a humble background, Gulshan Kumar began his career in the music industry by producing cheap cassettes of music of older hit films. With no cl