Who is a Copy writer ?

And how to get into this profile?

 First things first. It takes a lot to become a writer.A writer is first a thinker, a thinker is first a seeker, and a seeker is always a student. In short, a writer is a perpetual student of life, its reasons, turns, curves, ups and downs. The process is an exacting one, and its duration long, but it offers great rewards. For one, it helps you see the world through eyes that are guided by knowledge. You begin to see things as they are, and when you apply such principles and insights into your writing, personal or professional, you will create work that will awaken the mind.

Like all work, writing too requires self-discipline, self-awareness, and consistency in keeping yourself inspired. Once you have turned your desire into determination, here are a few ‘tips’ that can come in handy on your path to becoming a professional copywriter.

Learn to judge objectively

When you enter the world of copy writing, you will be bombarded by names, young and old, who have carved a niche for themselves in the art of persuasion. Don’t get intimidated; instead, intimate yourself with their writing. Find a small notebook and take note of how each celebrated writer writes. Soon, you will realize that not all famous and celebrated copywriters are good. Many are either given over to shock-and-awe, or are simply clever at imitating the styles of earlier writers. Your estimation will give you an idea of your judgement, and your judgement is the most crucial thing you’ll have to create good copy.

Find a mentor

As long as you keep your judgement of good and bad to yourself, all is well. But the moment you let it out in the open to breathe in the toxic breath of conformity and compliance, you will be labeled a heretic, or a highly opinionated person – an outcast. That’s the modern day Inquisition, stomping on freedom of thought by holding culpable an individual showing any sign of possessing individuality.

The best way forward in this course is to keep an eye and ear out for a mentor in your agency, among friends, or anywhere out in the world. Once you find someone who is willing to be objective rather than just swimming with the tide, grab and hold onto them. Share your list, concerns, and thoughts with them. Let them guide you by telling you where you failed and where you were right. Such guidance is of extreme importance in today’s time, when everyone’s lost and all landmarks are discredited. 

Prepare to fail

According to Han-Gwon Lung, award-winning CEO and co-founder of Tailored Ink, “This is the make-or-break point for all professional dreams. How well do you respond to failure and your biggest fears? Can you live with scars? Or do you expect the world to hand you trophies?” There is a purpose to everything. There’s a reason for success and there’s a reason for failure. As a young professional, it’s alright for you to not be aware of many specifics of your profession as a copywriter – how an agency functions, what constitutes an internship, the internal workings of an office, and more. As your days progress at your first job, you will find yourself becoming more and more aware of people, positions, and other equally important details, and depending on the kind of work you have done on building your character and your writing, you’ll be able to maneuver yourself through this endless maze. You should also be prepared to make mistakes where writing itself is concerned. The key element is not to beat yourself up too much over it.

Who exactly is an EP?

Lets know more about the term, its scope & importance.

Every job description ends with the phrase “all other duties as assigned.” The joke with Executive Producers is that their job descriptions consist of only that line! An E.P. is responsible for … everything.

There is not one definition of Executive Producer that everyone agrees with. Wikipedia says, “Executive producer is a role in the entertainment industry that is sometimes difficult to clearly define. Executive producers vary in involvement, responsibility and power. Some executive producers have hands-on control over every aspect of production, some supervise the producers of a project, while others are involved in name only.” Another web site, webgeek.com, says it even more simply. In films, an executive producer makes sure the money is being spent well, as the investors intended.

An Executive Producer is primarily the keeper of a program’s concept and vision, and the one person most responsible for the ship’s destination and the crew’s fundamental behavior and values in reaching that destination. He/she must inspire the staff with the program’s worth and the societal value of achieving success.

An Executive Producer also has to envision the future … that is, his or her gaze has to encompass both the present and the future. One major reason why an E.P. should not and cannot become too involved in this week’s program is that such a focus will squeeze out the big picture and allow the E.P. to become immersed in the minutiae of daily and weekly production. While everyone on the staff is focused on this week, the E.P. has to be planning the future, to be a year or two out into the future.

The E.P.’s interactions with the staff need to be frequent and provide inspiration, motivation, goals, and ideas. He/she should manage by walking around, parachute in, and not be in the middle of day-to-day management. He/she needs to serve as a consultant on individual stories or production problems, and help staff brainstorm. He/she needs to lead the senior staff, especially the Senior Producer, Senior Editor and hosts. He/she needs to teach staff how to have productive and cordial disagreements and to funnel their energy into positive creative results.

The E.P. also has to be the principal articulator of the vision – to the many support and management levels at the station or production company, to the network or broadcast system, to current and prospective funders and to the public. He/she is the key communicator of the program’s goals, successes, needs and risks to senior management. He/she needs to create an atmosphere in which the company “buys in” to the support of the project. He/she needs to effectively lobby all constituencies to deliver the financing, tools and support the program needs. He/she manages relationships with other producing organizations including key stations.

The E.P. has to be among the “best ears in the house.” He or she has to hear the program with an acute understanding of the vision and the audience, and how well the program communicates to the target audience. He/she also has to have a broad range of production experience so that he/she knows what is possible, what alternative and more successful means of accomplishing production or communication might be.

In a news or public affairs program, the E.P. is the principal journalist and needs to have very wide experience in journalism, knowing the rules, ethics, and practices of journalism as well as the laws and policies affecting the practice. He/she needs to assure that the program meets the producing company’s and other influentials’ requirements of fairness, objectivity and balance. He/she needs to articulate production and journalistic standards and hold the staff accountable to them.

The E.P. is the overall manager of the project, the commitments it has made, the staff. He/she should not, in my opinion, be the day-to-day manager for the reasons cited above, but should delegate to a project manager and a staff manager, holding both accountable to their stated goals and plans. The E.P. should assess the progress of the project on a regular basis, integrating all available information including ratings, marketing and distribution reports, and outside consultants. He/she needs to set the priorities for major organizational thrusts within the project.

The E.P. is the primary talent recruiter, especially of key staff such as Senior Producer, Senior Editor, and hosts. He/she needs to review and approve all hires, setting the standards for the staff. He/she reviews performance of direct reports and oversees the annual and ongoing interim performance reviews.

In concert with the Senior Producer, the E.P. creates and adjusts the format of the program and designs or approves the design of high profile recurring segments.

The E.P regularly (weekly) critiques the program and creates an interactive process where the staff is fully engaged in regular criticism and improvement of content. He/she needs to pay particular attention to host performance and be able to provide support and outside help needed for coaching talent.

The E.P. oversees creation and management of the project’s overall business plan, as well as annual budget and regular reviews performance against budget with the Senior Producer and the Financial Analyst.

In summary, an E.P.’s job is:

• To provide the concept and vision.
• To provide overall programmatic and editorial guidance
• To set direction
• To set standards
• To relate to the outside world, marketing, finance, station relations, promotion.
• To find money and resources.
• To get the tools staff need to do their job and to cut through the bullshit for them
• To inspire.
• To nudge.
• To critique and evaluate.
• To perform all other duties as needed or assigned.

 If you can do this all then this is a never ending high paying career opportunity for sure.

Have you heard of the word Sound – Engineer ? Want to make it your profession?

Audio engineers are some of the most important team members working in the film production, television and music industries today. Audio engineers are responsible for the sound design and construction that enhances voices, sound effects, and music to create a rich experience that compliments the visuals on screen. An audio engineer (also referred to as a sound engineer) is responsible for setting up and operating equipment used to capture sound. They must be tech-savvy, and have a deep understanding of how to best capture the recorded experience. They must also take concepts (like emotion) that only exist in words and translate them into sound. Improperly recorded sound can completely change the audience experience when they watch a movie, television show or musical performance.

Pursuing a career as an audio engineer gives you two major avenues to explore: you can choose to work in music production or film and television. In the music field, an audio engineer is responsible for setting up and operating audio equipment used to capture and shape an album. Working very closely with a record producer, the audio engineer provides valuable input into how sound is captured, which directly affects what people hear when a final product is released.

Though film and television are inherently visual mediums, audio engineers are valuable members of these production teams as well. There's a reason why not one but two Oscars for sound each year- Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Design are given. How sound is recorded, mixed, and ultimately put together can drastically shape the overall film experience, affecting everything from how scary a moment is to how heartfelt it can possibly become.

An audio engineer is both an artist and a scientist. The requirements of the profession involve working with the technical aspects of sound for the purposes of reproduction, mixing and recording. These career professionals are knowledgeable about how every aspect of a recording studio operates, and how each piece of equipment contributes to and maximizes the potential of audio material. 

Thus it’s a very interesting professional option, you may have a start by any graduation degree in the field of Mass Communication like BAMC, BMEFT etc to start up with your journey for this wonderful profile. Institutes like ISMC, IAAN School of Mass Communication, MCU & PTU etc are best places to start with your passion in the field of Mass Communication.

Are you dreaming to became a DOP?

Cinematography, an integral element in the art of making motion pictures, literally refers to the combined art and science of using a moving image camera. It is the process of recording visual images for the cinema and subsequent development of recorded images in sophisticated photo laboratories. Cinematography comprises of all the processes beginning from the choice of lighting and camera until video and audio of a particular scene is recorded perfectly.

A person qualified in the art of cinematography is called Cinematographer or Director of Photography (DOP). The Cinematographer / DOP is regarded as one of the most senior and important technician in the film creation process. The DOP is the person who actually plans and coordinates the actual filming of the movie. A DOP is the person responsible for turning the director’s creative vision into a production-feasible reality on screen. Being a creative designer, DOP translate the written text to meaningful images. In other words, what you see on screen looks the way it does because of the DOP.

DOP’s work closely with the director and give a film its unique visual look and identity. They are responsible for composing each scene to be shot, decides lighting and camera angles as per director's requirement. To succeed as a cinematographer one need to be creative, have a strong interest in cinema and the arts, as well as knowledge in design, and principles of photography. A course in Cinematography is essential to enter the field. Cinematographers primarily monitor the use of photographic and lighting equipment. They often have to work odd hours and travel to remote shooting sites, and may have to work in outdoor locations in stormy weather.

DOP’s  film movies and television shows, using cameras in various mounts. This can be a perfect career option if you are up for it, & the institutes like IAAN School of Mass Communication, ISMC New Delhi & Makhanlal Chaturvedi University of Journalism & Communication etc are the best place to start your journey of dreams.