Students of Holy Cross College have joined hands to become content creators amid the lockdown. The initiative, spearheaded by the students of the Department of Visual Communication is through a YouTube channel named ‘HC Flamingo.’
The idea, as thought out by Principal Sister Christina Bridget, is to educate, empower and inspire, said Shirley Deepak, staff coordinator of the initiative. “We recognise that at this time, all learning is online. So, for our students, and for the public, we wanted to provide education and entertainment through this channel,” she said. The channel was launched on July 1 and within a day, had a total of 3,000 subscribers and 6,000 views on promo videos.
A team of 10 students, including three video editors, was formed for this purpose. The team alternates between working from home and from the fully-equipped studio on the college campus, depending on the need. M. Aravind, a second-year postgraduate student in Visual Communication, who is part of the editing team said that the initiative has kept them occupied during the lockdown. “When the Principal introduced the idea, we were all excited and began planning and scheduling video shoots. Then came the lockdown which stalled all our plans,” he said.
The channel is going to be a platform for all our students, staff members, and even alumni to showcase their talents, Ms. Deepak said. “We already have a radio show, and now, through the YouTube channel, video content can be shared too,” she said.
A congratulatory message from notable personalities was released, as the channel’s first video, on July 1. In the video, Tiruchi MP Su.Thirunavukkarasar, Rajya Sabha MP N. Siva, former Tiruchi Deputy Inspector General V. Balakrishnan, music director James Vasanthan, journalists, doctors and professors can be seen appreciating the new initiative.
“COVID-19 cannot be ignored as it has changed all our lives, and so, our first set of videos will revolve around it, as an underlying theme”, Mr. Aravind said. “We have shot interviews with experts, those who recovered from the infection and even those who are severely affected by it,” he said. These videos will be released in a routine manner.
The team also plans on releasing short films shot by the students, “do-it-yourself” videos to spend time productively while staying at home and even some educational videos from teachers.
“Some students have been making good use of the time at home, cooking, learning arts and crafts and other skills. We will also be encouraging student-reporters, if they want to shoot and send us videos of events in their locality,” he added.