| | A UKZN video made on activities at the Open Day of the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science from the Marketing, Advancement and Communication in Education (MACE) organisation.
The College opened its doors to prospective students and their parents for its annual Open Day with academic staff and current students on hand to provide information on College degrees and career opportunities.
A video of the day’s activities was filmed and edited by Mr Sashlin Girraj and Mr Nerson Pillay who are part of the Public Relations Unit for the College.
An academic staff member was interviewed to promote each School, while the College office gave an overview of their services and visiting learners were asked about their career aspirations. Posted on UKZN’s YouTube page, the video has amassed close to 1 000 views.
UKZN submitted the video for consideration for the MACE awards. MACE adds value to practitioners in Marketing, Communication and Advancement in education through: high quality development programmes, facilitating networking partnerships and promoting best practices.
This video was a first time endeavour for both producers. ‘We had no budget, experience or equipment but we wanted to connect with high school learners,’ said Girraj. ‘The hardest part of the project was getting people to agree to participate and “perform” for the camera. It took a little coaxing, complimenting and a lot of direction.’
Reflecting on the experience Pillay said: ‘Telling a story through motion picture was exciting!’
To their surprise, the video scooped a merit award at the MACE awards evening at the University of Zululand. In their evaluation the judges had this to say: ‘Working without a budget, sophisticated equipment and much experience, you managed to produce a professional product. Well done!’
Said Girraj: ‘We are immensely proud of our work and are grateful that vision was translated,’
The producers thanked all who ‘starred’ in the video including Professor Thomas Konrad, Professor Neil Koorbanally, Dr Paran Pillay, Professor Randhir Rawatlal, Dr Yougas Naidoo, Ms Palesa Leuta, Ms Nonkululeko Dladla, Mrs Sandra Munesar, Ms Denise O’Reilly and Ms Thobeka Mbunjana.
The producers also gave special plaudits to Mr Ruben Murugan and Mr James Naicker for their mentorship and guidance; and to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deo Jaganyi, and PR Manager, Dr Sally Frost, for their support.
The video was made to raise the social media profile for the College but it ended up connecting with its audience and being recognised for its impact. The College plans further video projects.
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtdK62RrYL0
Read about Open Day here: http://caes.ukzn.ac.za/news/15-06-25/College_of_AES_opens_its_doors_for_Open_Day |