JOURNALISM DEMYSTIFIED @ LSR

A sunny Saturday morning, a bunch of enthusiastic and intrigued students, three powerhouse panellists – the perfect recipe for a great workshop! And that’s exactly what Journalism Demystified at Lady Shri Ram College turned out to be!

Armed with their years of experience and their love for their field, three eminent journalists – Avalok Langer from Tehelka, Parikshit Luthra from CNN-IBN and Appu E Suresh from Indian Express – delivered three layered and interactive talks on filtering fact from opinion, sensationalism, and the ethics of investigative journalism, respectively.

Mr. Langer gave the students an overview of one of his worst experiences as a journalist, as he faced some life-threatening and terrifying experiences in Manipur. He then went on to demonstrate, through an interesting experiment, how journalists must collate different versions of stories, gauge the reliability of their sources and come up with coherent and strongly backed arguments to present the version closest to the truth.

Mr. Luthra, by making use of some viral newscasts and high-coverage cases, showed the students the inherent flaw in sensationalism. A very important point he elucidated was that of giving one’s credibility as a journalist more weight than the speed with which one must deliver the “facts” of the case. Using his own experiences as a broadcast journalist and by showing a video example of the best way to tackle emergency situations, Mr. Luthra highlighted the level-headedness a journalist needs to have when dealing with pressing issues in the field.

Mr. Suresh, a notable columnist with Indian Express, shared his views on the ethical code one should develop when approaching investigative journalism. Using his experience with corporate cases, he illustrated the ways and means through which journalists must respect reputations, timings and situational concerns, while being equally committed to getting to the heart of the matter and bringing the truth of an investigation into the public eye.

A lot of pertinent questions were raised in the panel discussion that followed, where our speakers further highlighted their views on commitment to the field, the quest for truth and the importance of being clear, level headed, well researched and well informed, and their importance.

Overall, it was quite a thrilling session where a lot of essential ground rules of being a journalist were spelled out. We are only too glad that the session was a success and that each participant went home a little more enriched, thanks to our dedicated professionals who are all leaders in their area of expertise.

PENCIL SKETCHING IN 4 WEEKS for those who are just beginning!

Pencil drawing is a skill that needs a good foundation on theories because pencil drawing is a blend of theory and proper execution of these theories.

Practice makes drawing perfect but foundation on the theories and techniques in drawing paves the way for better drawings.

So here is a guide which will help you to master the art of pencil drawing!
Before we get started you need to be fully equiped , so here is all that you will need:

• Pencil- Pencil drawing requires the following types of pencil

            H- for hardness
            B- for blackness
            HB- for combined of hardness and blackness
            F- for fine points

• Eraser
• Drawing pad
• Pencil sharper
• Ruler

Lesson one:

How to draw lines:

There are so many kinds of lines and these lines vary in terms of length, width, value and in many other ways. In form, there can be straight, curved, wavy, jagged and many others. The range of values of lines from light to dark is a product of pressure placed while drawing these lines. Here are some of the basic lines used in pencil drawing.

Flat lines, also commonly known as the straight lines, are helpful in expressing emotional states and evoking emotional responses and providing illusion on the viewers’ eyes

Horizontal and Vertical lines come under flat lines

Horizontal lines- Generally, the horizontal approach gives your image a wider look while the vertical direction gives your image a leaner and thinner look.In terms of emotions, horizontal lines invoke serenity and stability and vertical lines invokes poise and stillness.

Vertical lines- vertical lines are used to show strength and dignity is  depicted with the use of height often reflected through vertical lines.

Diagonal lines, on the other hand, invoke movement, unrest, change, instability and variation.

Accent lines find significance in putting certain emphasis or accent in some portions of your drawing. It, specifically gives special emphasis on   your certain portion through changes and variations in your lines.

Contour lines One of the striking characteristics of contour lines is  the purity of the line, which even without the use of color,distinctively  display shape and beauty of the image.

Basic perspectives

An Introduction on Perspectives
One can see realism in a drawing with the application of perspectives in drawing. The idea or concept of perspectives came with the idea of having sets of images that appear coherent and consistent in one piece of art.

Linear Perspective

Linear perspective is a realistic
method of portraying objects with a visual depth. The rule of the thumb though is that the farther the object is, the smaller it becomes and conversely, the nearer the object is,the bigger it becomes. In linear perspective, there are parallel lines receding into a particular distance where the lines seem to converge until these parallel lines meet at a point in a horizon where they disappear, called the vanishing point.

One Point Perspective
One-point perspective drawings refer to those with
only one vanishing point that are often than not directly opposite to the eye of the
viewer. In one-point perspective, parallel lines,
parallel to the eye of the viewer, retreat towards a
certain point in the space called a vanishing point. This often illustrated by
illustrations of roads and railway tracks, and hallways that recede at a vanishing point as
illustrated.
 Sample drawing of a box with the use of one point perspective.

1. Draw a horizon line or that line in the plane where the sky meets the earth.
2. From your horizon line, choose a vanishing point that can be the center, near right or near left.
3. From your vanishing point, draw one top line and one bottom line with the top line much longer than your bottom line and this would create the illusion of depth later on. These lines will form the sides of the box.
4. Draw two vertical lines that would connect your top line and your bottom line.
5. Then draw the front of the box by drawing two horizontal lines of same length from the top to the bottom to the closest wall to it.
6. Then connect these two horizontal lines by dropping a vertical line on the other side.

Two-Point Perspective

1. Draw your horizon line on the plane.
2. Instead of one point, mark two points, which
will serve as your vanishing points on the horizon
line preferably on the right and the left side of
the horizon line.
3. Draw your construction grid by finding below
your horizon line the middle. The middle is the
point where all the lines coming from the
vanishing points meet.
4. Draw six lines coming from each of the
vanishing points passing the middle.
5. Draw your middle vertical line that is at 90-
degree angle with your horizon line, which will
serve as the corner of your box.
6. Draw the top and the bottom lines connecting
your middle vertical line to each of your vanishing
points.
7. From your middle vertical line, draw one vertical
line to the right and another to the left depending
on how you want your box to look, as these would
determine the length and width of your box.
8. From your vanishing points, draw the line connecting your right vanishing point to the left vertical line and your left vanishing point to the right vertical line.


By now, you figure out the two-point perspective box. You may now start shading your two-point perspective box and erase grid lines passing inside the box.



Three Point Perspective
Three-Point Perspective is often used in architectural drawing using lines parallel to the Cartesian axes x, y, and z. This perspective finds relevance in drawing buildings.



Isometric Perspective
This refers to a perspective where distant objects and figures become smaller but the parallel lines do not converge. What happens to be that lines that are perpendicular to the plane become sharp diagonals as drawn thus turning the squares or rectangles into parallelogram.

Atmospheric Perspective
Atmospheric perspective or aerial perspective expresses nature in their distance. It simply stated, objects perceived to often appear as blurred, misty looking, and in distinctive or
hazy looking to the eye.

As shown in landscape drawings, distant objects appear in purple or bluish color and the same is true with respect to the color of the sky. Color pencil drawings and watercolor
pencil drawings often use this kind of perspective.



For the rest of the guide follow the blog next Thursday!

Hire is on for a literary genius!

SkillHippo is looking to hire!

Who are we looking for:


A literary genius whose idea of fun is writing a crazy, quirky 400 word blog post for breakfast and who can toggle between one social media platform to the next while sipping her or his morning coffee. Along with being absolutely brilliant at driving content with an understanding of social media from a business perspective.






What do we expect from from you:

• Must thrive on passion, strive for perfection
• Should have an ability to take ownership of tasks
• Willingness to lead and delegate
• Communicate road blocks for quicker resolution

Sounds interesting? 

mail in your resumes at contact@skillhippo.com