Critical Evaluation: Video Journalism

For my final video journalism project, my aim was to create a video that shows what it is like to experience Holi and I think I managed to do so fairly well. I made a short documentary about my Holi festival in London this year. This colourful Hindu celebration was full of ‘documentary-worthy’ moments, since there was a field of people playing with powders for hours. However, this also proposed some practical and technical challenges.

During recording, both myself and my university equipment were at risk of getting covered in powders. For this reason, I could not film all the activities that happened. Nevertheless, I was able to gain a useful variety of interviews from people of different nationalities and ask them what brought them to Holi. I think that this makes the video seem applicable to a wider audience.

Unfortunately, not a lot of participants seemed very aware of the real meaning of Holi. Instead, I tried to let my online text introduce this religious story, and let my documentary focus on the actual celebration itself. Thankfully, there were a few accidents during the celebration that gave the documentary some comic relief.

The actual footage suffered from shaky hands, which makes the documentary seem unprofessional. In addition, there were many times in my video diary where I kept looking away from the camera, inserted one too many “um”s and called a religious festival “bizarre”. If I could do this project over, I would certainly correct all these mistakes.

My editing skills in Final Cut Pro were not fully utilised in this documentary either. I mostly just used cross-fade transitions and added text. To make improve the project, I could have added still images, to give this a more dramatic documentary look. Still images could have been accompanied by music from the clips I recorded at Holi to make a slideshow. Furthermore, using key frames, I could have zoomed into different angles of the images as well.

Moreover, video journalism was a very valuable experience. I have learned the fundamentals of creating, editing and uploading my own videos into a cohesive online package. I have also learned the importance of adding appropriate text; to cue videos and brief the audience.

Overall, from my Multimedia Journalism module, I have realised how simple it is to create your own media content. The basics of recording ,editing software and online media tools all work together to provide multiple routes for online journalists to distribute their own content. This entire module has helped me to realise that I really enjoy working online. All that I have learned from both audio and video journalism (including what I have learned from my mistakes) will certainly be used to improve my online journalism in the future.

Holi 2012: The Festival of Colours!

Holi is the Hindu festival of colours which marks the dawn of spring. This festival is mainly celebrated by Hindus in India with gulal (colourful powders). But with such exciting  festivites, Holi, also called Phagwa, is now played in countires across the world, including: United States, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago and South Africa

While everyone is welcome to join in the Holi experience, not all participants are aware of the sacred meanings of this celebration. The symbolism of Holi comes from the ancient Hindu scriptures. This story starts with the evil king, Hiranyakashipu who demanded people to solely worship him.

Hiranyakashipu’s own son, Prahlada, was no exception to this. But despite his father’s demands, Prahlada refused to stop worshiping Vishnu. As punishment, Hiranyakashipu challenged his son to be burned, accompanied by the king ’s demon sister, Holika.

Holika, a the time, was granted a boon, preventing her from being burned by fire. Prahlada accepted this challenge and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. To everyone’s surprise, Holika was burned to death and Prahlada was alive and untouched by the fire. Holika’s burning and Prahlada’s survival are celebrated as the festival of Holi each year.

The colourful powders are reflective of the blossoming flowers of spring, the season of love. Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Holi was always a joyful occasion. England also has a range of Holi celebrations to choose from as well. This year, I attended the University of Westminster Hindu Society‘s Holi festival.

Although my primary objective was only to record footage, I could not help but join in the colourful fun as well! Have a look at my Holi 2012 experience in this short documentary:

Photos courtesy: Parag Sankhe and Ron Layters.

Documenting: My Holi Documentary

Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, is an annual event that I grew up loving in my home of Trinidad and Tobago. This celebration welcomes people from all backgrounds to join in playing with colourful powders to mark the beginning of spring. England hosts a range of Holi celebrations each year. This year, the University of Westminster’s Hindu Society organised a Holi event with other UK universities. And I was more than thrilled to attend!

A day of friends splashing each other with a rainbow of colours seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some exciting footage for my final video project! Since Holi is a relatively unknown festival to many Londoners, I initially thought that my footage should be presented as a new package.

But standing in the eye of a powder explosion with my university recording equipment was proving difficult. In the middle of my interviews, during my video diary narration and just about every other minute, I was covered in more and more powder! It was inevitable, I had to join in the celebration! I may have ended up looking like a pink haired, green faced lunatic, but the fun of Holi is always worth it.

Ultimately, my footage became a record of my Holi experience. For this reason, I decided to produce a documentary, showing what it is like to play Holi.

Photo by: Varala Maraj.

Critical Evaluation: Audio Journalism

Both my audio interview and podcast were intended to be informative, engaging and newsworthy.

For my interview, I wanted to address the topic of illegal drug use, by speaking to a former addict himself.  Durgs are always a highly controversial topic that frequents headlines across the world. However, while the overall concept of my interview was achieved, the sound quality was noticeably imperfect.

My interviewee was very soft spoken and after editing volume levels to amplify his voice, the audio’s background noise became a disruptive element in the interview. After hours of editing, the audio was still not as smooth as I wished, but the content met my objectives of sharing a former addict’s thoughts.

The aim of my audio podcast  was to broadcast honest student opinions about recent government spending changes in the UK. A lot of students want to see an improvement in education if the price is being tripled. I wanted to highlight these opinions in my podcast, to raise awareness of the issue. My hope was to make this podcast a platform for students to voice their opinions and I think I was able to do so successfully.

I used my podcast as an opportunity to be creative, by adding music and sound effects; as encouraged in the assessment brief. Atmosphere noises, upbeat music and ‘coins in hand’ sound effects helped to make the audio a bit more engaging. The music, particularly seemed to act as an effective way of invitingly opening and subtly closing the podcast. I was pleased with this arrangement and I think that it makes the podcast sound more refined and organised.

By interviewing three university students, I got a wide range of recordings that made editing an even more challenging process. However, if the students were from different universities, this could have made the podcast more applicable to students regardless of which institution they belong to. Furthermore, students from more than one university could have made the podcast more interesting and appealing to a wider audience.

After creating both my audio journalism products, there are definitely things I need to improve on, such as volume editing and interviewee recruiting. Overall, I was satisfied with the content of my interview and podcast, since the content itself was as I planned. Thus far, I have realised that blogs are a very useful tool for Journalism students. It is important to present multimedia products as a well-organised package, including online text and cues for any audio embedded into posts. This practical approach has given me valuable experience; working with links for transparency and  creating, editing and uploading my own audio.

Rising tuition fees paired with graduate unemployment

With recent news of the rise in tuition fees, current students revealed that they want more for their money spent on education.

Just less than a week ago, the BBC reported new statistics that show recent university graduates are more likely to have lower-skilled jobs than they were 10 years ago.

In this video, I meet first year BA Journalism student, Steph Thomas. How does she think all this will affect her in today’s competitive media field?

Nicki Minaj: Best new female rapper or just plain silly?

Nicki Minaj

Whether it’s her Pink Friday single, Super Bass or the number one US Rap chart hit, Moment 4 Life, everyone has heard a Nicki Minaj tune.

Born as Onika Maraj, not only does the famous rapper share my last name, but we also have the same birthplace of Trinidad and Tobago. And I am usually always proud to be from a place known for creative, passionate and talented people, such as Minaj.

Then I heard her track, Stupid Hoe. When I first saw the video, my immediate reaction was, ‘This is not music!’ But like most Nicki Minaj songs, it grew on me and got stuck in my head. A frequent earworm-producer, she is.

So far, Stupid Hoe‘s fast paced music and repetitive chorus, paired with an eccentric video have earned her 213,595 likes and 460,188 dislikes on YouTube. The Brit award-nominated artist is getting two types of publicity right now, those that think she is one of the best new female rappers and those that think she is just plain silly. In my opinion, it seems like she is a brightly-coloured fusion of both!

Image courtesy: Zynga Japan K.K.

Documenting: My first audio interview.

People constantly checking to see if their friends are still breathing. Others growling and vomiting into bowls on the floor. And some passing out into bushes for the night. After witnessing all the effects that drug use had on university students, I began questioning the entire practice.

I thought people used illegal substances to get away from problems and difficulties. But then I saw so many new problems arising from drug use itself. So what is it that draws people to drugs?

A few years ago, Britain was declared to have the worst drug addiction rate in all of Europe. More recently, Brighton was dubbed the ‘drug death capital‘ of the UK, for having the highest number of drug-related deaths per capita. Last year, Brighton was reported to have more intravenous drug use than in some of the worst areas of London. It’s no wonder that Brighton’s top police officer, Graham Bartlett, thinks we have lost the ‘war on drugs’.

To find answers to my questions about drug use, I interviewed a university student, originally from Brighton.

Using my Zoom kit, I captured his voice, and edited the audio in Audacity. I was required to maintain my interviewee’s request of confidentiality, as his interview was reflective of his own illegal drug use.

I prepared myself with some online guidelines for drug-related interviews. These tips reinstated the need for anonymity and reminded me to uphold a certain level of professionalism and avoid a therapist or counselor approach.

After watching E How Health videos, I became more familiar with side-effects and symptoms of drug use. This additional background information helped me to further probe my interviewee and resulted in some unexpected comic relief in the interview.

After becoming  addicted to drugs, my interviewee says he made a conscious effort to get clean. But he admits it was not always easy. In my interview, he shares what brought him to drugs and what scares him about it to this day.

Images courtesy: Jan Kuča and Otis Blank.

Documenting: My first podcast.

Armed with my audio Zoom kit and newly developed skills on Audacity, I created my first piece of audio journalism, a podcast. Surrounded by students at my university halls of residence, I am always inspired by student-related issues. And this may come as a shock to some, but university students are actually capable of discussing more than parties, drinking and hook-ups!

Recent news of university tuition fees rising for 2012 undergraduates became a heated debate around campus, even for current students who have escaped the increase. I was impressed with the strong opinions that these young adults have about something that does not directly affect themselves. So when I was assigned to create a three-minute podcast about something ‘newsworthy’, I looked no further than to my university peers.

The rise in tuition fees was not the only buzz-worthy topic about education. In my research, I found that while the UK is about to become the most expensive place in the world to gain a public degree, the top three universities in the world are in the USA.

This was especially interesting, considering how much public protests there have been about government spending. With the countdown to the London Olympics and its heavy budget in tow, it seems like one of the most intense economic times for the UK.

I narrated these main research details into my podcast. The honest opinions from three university students brought the story to life while sounds effects and music polished off the final product.

Image courtesy Peter Marquardt.

What exactly is it that draws people to drugs?

Just less than a year ago, Brighton was declared to have more intravenous drug use than in some of the worst areas of London.

Today, we meet a 20 year old Art student from Brighton, now living in London. For the purpose of this broadcast, the interviewee has chosen to remain anonymous.  In this interview,Varala Maraj asks this student ‘What exactly is it that draws people to drugs?’

Image courtesy Johnny Angel.

Podcast: University students want more for their money.

Would you pay £9,000 annually for a University degree? That is the question many prospective university students will face this academic year. This will make the UK the most expensive place in the world to gain a public degree.

Join me, Varala Maraj, as I ask three current University of Westminster students about this issue. How do they think recent government spending will affect their future? Here’s what they had to say:

 Image courtesy Ian Britton. Sound effects courtesy http://www.soundjay.com .