Acknowledging the Editor

Making a movie or a video is a tough job. It takes a lot of effort, time and money. We know people who give their all to bring out the best results like directors, actors, producers and also singers. However, we forget to acknowledge one person who makes the entire project presentable.

Almost all of us remember the name of the director and the producer of the movie but have we even given a thought to who the editor of the movie is? The person who cuts the unnecessary part, adds needed effects, compile the video in chronological order and makes the movie worth the watch, the editor, is usually left unacknowledged.

The raw footage brought in by the director is given into the capable hands of the editor. It is then his/her job to bring out the perfectly presentable movie as per the director and audiences' liking. From the very beginning till the end, a slightest of mistake by the editor could ruin the movie.

Although the director brings life to the movie, the editor hones its soul. It is them who make the movie presentable on the basis of effects, perfection in the flow, chemistry between the sound and video. Even the splits second delay could ruin the entire movie. The effects to be used at the perfect moment, the selection of the background score for the frame, every minute details that a normal viewer fails to detect should be perfectly attainted so that even the experienced observant cannot find flaw in the presentation.

From the moment the raw is handed over till the movie releases, it is the editor's job to do everything to make the movie best. Almost all of the post production phase revolves around them. They are to watch whether the frame will go smooth or there will be disturbance in the pixels while playing the movie in the big screen, designing the promo in a way that lures the audiences to the theatre. And sometimes, they even have to work out with the insufficient amount of footage for the video without repetition. This is where they get to show their magic. With what little footage they have, they bring out the best video without repeating the same scenes with the help of the special effects.

Despite their efforts and contribution, they usually are the ones who remain unknown to the audience like the cook in the kitchen of any restaurants/ hotels. Staying behind the scene and serving their best to the client. We remember the name of the place not the cook/chef similar to remembering the directors and actors. We only acknowledge them who we see not those behind the curtain. Hence, this article is dedication to all the video editors, who work hard so we, the audience, could enjoy the movie.

Next time we go for a movie, let's try to observe how much effort has been put in it by its editor and try to remember their names.

The Trend of SH

The trend of SH or short-hand writing means the way of shortening the words. Writing words in short forms, be it a universally accepted 'shortcuts' or individually created, the trend of using them is mushrooming day by day.

Initially, it was used by professionals, especially journalists while reporting for new, in order to save time. Writing in short hand helped then jot down more information in short period of time. It was also useful for saving the story from being copied as most of the people had their own short hand words which would be difficult for others to understand.

However, nowadays, it has become a common thing for everyone. Especially with the advent of internet, emails and cell phones, people tend to use short hand rather than complete words in order to save time and space. Moreover, the 'chatting' culture has played a vital role in promoting SH trend.

Most of the newspaper and magazines started using the universally or at least locally accepted shortcuts to save space. For eg., UNICEF, WHO, UNMIN, NRB, NEA, etc. Gradually, people started using shortcuts in their notes as well (govt. for Government, poplⁿ for population, etc.).

The internet and SMS system further promoted this culture and the trend of using only the initials of the words for two or more words (like TG for Thank God, TY for Thank You, TC for take care, WC for welcome, BTW for by the way and so on).

Be it professionals or non-professionals, we find all of them using short hands for communicating with others and most of the time, within their own circle. As most of the groups have their own SHs for some words, others might not understand it at first glance. Nevertheless, everyone using it at some point would gradually be able to understand that. No matter wherever you go, you could never get away with SH.

Stereotyping Women in Media

Women images, in media are always stereotyped. The roles they perform, the way they are presented are all traditional and had been the same way for decades now. Women are always prioritized for their physical beauty, sex appeal, submissive and suffering character. Be it advertorials or soap operas, women always are portrayed in their stereotype images.

Women in Advertorials

Despite women's pro-active movement and Code of Commercial Advertising on Doordarshan, the Code for Self Regulation and Code for Advertising Practice of the Advertising Standard Council of Pakistan and the Indecent Representative of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986, the fact remains that both Print and Electronic Media continue to portray stereotype images of women. They focus on sex appeal or physical beauty of women to sell a product. In spite of some good work being done by NGO's like Media Watch, Amnesty International and some select UN committees, the assessment of the content and portrayal of women by media have remained a neglected area of research and a matter meriting redress by the regulatory bodies.[1]

In most of the advertorials, Women are portrayed either as housewives obsessed with cleanliness, personal hygiene, fragrances and liking for products to keep home dirt and germ free or as a sex object focusing their physical beauty, well-set hair, perfect body shape and teeth, shining skin, etc. to sell products. Woman's beauty and bodily charm is used to sell cosmetics and physical fitness products.

Even the advertorials depict women as submissive characters and dependent on men for their rescue while most of the men in the advertisements are more masculine and strong and comparatively successful. Advertisements showcasing successful and competent women are lesser than the ones with housewives and beautiful bimbos. The ads that feature women in the lead and central role are the ones for kitchen and home appliances, sanitary, cosmetics, baby care, domestic help and detergents. Some ads also show women crying out for help unless a man comes to rescue. Such ads portraying man as strong and central character often promote products for man's use. The ads for cosmetic products show women obsessed with her physical beauty and trying to make her look beautiful in order to attract a man.

A study of women in advertisements shows that women's appearance in personal hygiene product adverts are seven times more than those of the adverts in other categories. Seventy five percent of all adverts portray women for products used in the bathroom or kitchen; fifty six percent of adverts portray women as domestic helps or housewives. While men are presented in forty three professions concerning their roles, women in comparison are presented in eighteens of them.[2]

Adverts, thus, stereotype women image portraying them as dedicated housewives or beauties in order to attract men.

Women in Soap Operas

Another stereotype entails depicting women as a wife or a mother or shy, submissive and suffering women or someone meant exclusively for home and in certain cases, another woman's enemy. This type of image is usually seen in the daily soaps. Women here are showcased as wife or mother or a daughter-in-law or a domestic help suffering through all the trouble for the sake of the family welfare, fighting with the evils, usually another woman portrayed as villain. Though she is attractive, she is home centered and contented. Although, the central character is given to the lady, the male characters are usually successful and often competent. No matter how competent the woman is shown in the soap at the beginning, as the series proceeds and she gets married, all women turn into the submissive and suffering housewives. All her, dreams and aims are shattered and she ends up having only one aim in life that is, to beget children and nurture her new family. Almost all of the prime time soap operas fall into this category. No matter how competent she was at the beginning, she ends up herself into middle of the domestic trouble.

The aim of each woman depicted there is to get married and beget children. These soaps are about companionship and relationship. In them relationship between women among themselves are important but not so important as between a woman and a man. The woman is left to serve the world inside her home while the outside world belongs to her husband or sons, similar to the traditional society. Most of the soap operas showcase traditional families with women busy in household chores and tensions and also are dressed in traditional attire, usually a sari covering their heads with a Pallu. Most of our prime television soaps fall in this category. Only few of the soap operas show women as competitive and working lady. However, a woman who pursues her career at the expense of her men-folk is shown to come to grief for her audacity and unnatural aspiration and also displayed as a failure. Any attempt on her part to challenge the accepted stereotype image of a woman whose success and achievement depend upon her working with men does not find favour with conventional audience. Hence, the soap operas, too, stereotype women's role.

Women in Film Industries

The film industry is not an exception. The actresses in the movies are usually the sufferers and waiting for their hero to come and rescue them. Old movies where the lady had a strong character were rare as woman stronger than a man was not acceptable in the society. However, few movies did break the stereotype. So far, the Western market has overcome the traditional pattern of portraying women however the Eastern film market still revolves around the same line with very few exceptions. Women still are weak and dependent over their father or their boyfriend/husbands. They usually are the easy target for the villains and it is the hero who rescues them. They are usually obsessed with their looks and make up. One of the best example is the Bollyhood movie Tees Mar Khan where Katrina Kaif's character is so much obsessed with being an actress and looking good that the only thing she does in the entire movie is make up and overacting. The actresses are either simple villager or a super glamorous city girl but always weak and dependent on a male.

Women as Media Professionals

Also, the media as a profession for women is more or less difficult. They are always left behind in terms of major decision making or control of the management. The important decision makers are usually men and also the major or the important role and responsibilities lies on their hands. Women are more often in front of the camera reading news or leading some programs. The presenters, as we see them, are beautiful ladies with perfect physical features. Women are judged not just by their talent but also their beauty and good looks in the media. Be it a mainstream media or other, women with good looks could be found dominating the cameras. Not just adverts and daily soap operas but also professional media outlets, broadcast stations prefer women with good looks and facial features than a plain one. In the media, women are judged more by their looks then their intellect. This, however, at present, is changing and we can see few women enjoying the important and decision making posts in the media houses.

Media, as a result, has not been doing justice to the role of women in society. However, for media to promote balanced and non-stereotype portrayal of women in their multiple roles, it is imperative that government, media, NGOs and private sector should come together and forge joint strategies to promote gender equality and gender justice. However this presupposes gender sensitivity among media owners and managers. In its new-found expansive role, media should foster a broad ethical content and moralizing impulse in the society so essential for the emergence of a civil society. Moreover for the society’s abiding benefit media must nurture and transmit humane values of civilization. They must take upon themselves the proactive role of a protector and a promoter of human rights, gender justice and democratic order. Thus, the stereotyping of the women in the media should be removed and they should be treated and characterized as equals and in their present status and role. However, in context of portraying women in a fair manner, Eastern media (especially Nepali) still has a long way to go.

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[1] http://www.paktribune.com/pforums/posts.php?t=3283&start=1

[2] http://www.paktribune.com/pforums/posts.php?t=3283&start=1

A Relationship beyond Existence

It was a cold Wednesday morning. She was returning back from Newroad. As always, she went to Shankata and it was then, she found him.

There he was, so beautiful, so pure and as white as snow. The moment she laid her eyes on him, she knew he belonged to her. She took him home, wrapped him in a blanket or left him by the window.

Her room was small but bright. The mixture of pink and light green gave a girly feel to the room. Soft toys and picture frames arranged neatly on the side of the bed. A bookshelf beside her bed was enough to prove she was a bookworm. Stars and cards decorated the room. On the corner of the bed was a place where he would stay, waiting for her or staring at her with those lovely brown eyes. He loved sitting on her bed, his only home.

Whole day long when she was around, he would stare at her, silently, fondly and when she wasn’t home, he would wait for her.

She was on vacation and rarely left home. Whenever, she was in her room, she would talk to him, hug him or plant a kiss on his nose. He would never leave her room. He would welcome her with his shining eyes and silent words only she could hear. He was so cute, delicate and soft; it was hard to keep one’s eyes away from him.

They became closer as the day went by. With every passing day, their relationship grew stronger. She had named him Junior, as he reminded her of someone special to her.

He was a friend she always wanted. One, who would listen to her with patience, understood her and never hurt her feelings. He would stay silent as if he understood her. However, he had a problem, he never spoke. Still, they seemed to understand each other very well. They had developed a very unique relationship which was beyond existence.

There were days when she did not like being alone at home so much. But now, being home meant being with Junior. She enjoyed every moment of it. She would talk to him for hours, share her feelings with him, hugged him when she was happy and cried on his arms. In a sense, he was her new best friend with no complaint and no demand. However, she wanted to have a real, interpersonal communication with him. She always wished Junior could speak, respond to her but he could not. It was a bitter truth, Junior could never speak.

She was a quite person who rarely spoke about her feelings with others. She loved travelling but communication was not her area of expertise. However, everything changed after Junior’s arrival. She started talking with people; she began to feel comfortable around them unlike before. She surprised everyone with her changed nature; they were curious but were happy for her. All these changes occurred only because of Junior, no one knew and no one should know.

They were two different creature having world of their own. She did not know where he belonged to. The only way to relate them was via dream. She would dream of him talking, responding to her in a real way. She sometimes wondered if she was falling in love with him, it was impossible but hard to tell, he was really very cute in his own unique way.

They had build a world of their own, no one could imagine, had their own language and a unique relationship that was hard to define. Everything seemed to be perfect when she was with him.

One day, she was having get-together with her best friends from school. They knew everything about her, except Junior, of course. They were curious about her changing nature, like everyone else she knew. Agrata, her cousin and also her best friend, her confidante, in fact, brought up the topic.

She asked “hey, you have changed a lot recently. ”

“ Who? Me?”

“ Of course! Who else? ”

“ Is it good or bad? The change in me? ”

“ Its damn good honey, just wanted to know how it happened all of a sudden. ”

“ Well, that’s a mystery. Maybe I found a fairy god mother or my Prince charming who changed me (wink). And as the change is good, let’s leave it to that sugar. ”

And thus, the topic was closed. She could not tell them about Junior. Not even her most trusted people. She was dying to share it with them, wanted to introduce him to the world but she knew it was the dumbest thing to do. She could not risk it. People would call her crazy. They would not believe her, no one could. It was way out of anyone’s imagination. She was not sure if anyone could understand it except her and Junior, hence, she never mentioned him to anyone.

Their relationship was a secret between them. For the world, junior did not exist but for her, he was an entirely different world, a world she always wanted to live in.

She cared for Junior like a mother, poked him like a sibling and played with him like a childhood friend and loved him unconditionally. She often wondered what she would do without him.

Her brother would often peck into her room and tease her, like younger brothers always do. Maybe he had guessed or maybe he guessed something else. She did not care. He was fond of making up story and everyone knew it very well. No one entered her room without her knowledge except that little brat. Whenever he came sneaking to her room, she would ask him to get lost. And even if he mentioned Junior to anyone, no one would believe him. So, she was on a safe side.

She would whisper to Junior, afraid that someone will overhear them and call her crazy. And she never mentioned Junior to anyone, though she was eager to. She was afraid what they will say. They would call her insane or even accuse her of brain disorder. After all, it was a crazy thing to do for the people living in so called “wise world”. A girl claiming to understand Junior’s feeling, sharing her feelings with him, loving him, caring for him must be crazy. He was just an emotionless bundle of fur and cotton, for the world, he was nothing more than a teddy bear.

A teddy bear for the world but the best friend that she yearned for.

Passing the day as it comes

All these years, I yearned for few days off the study so I could enjoy and do everything else but studying the bulky course book. And now, when the days are here, I am tired of it. Everyday comes and goes by with the same routine I have been following since I was enrolled in the school except for the books in front of me. Its not like I don't like reading books, I enjoy their silent company. However, the genre is different. I have always been attracted by the book that were neither prescribed by our teachers nor the syllables.

With more than eight months free in my hand, I cant think of the number of books I could finish reading. Downloading, borrowing from library and buying books have now become quite a habit I can't let go. Even with the numerous book urging me to read them, I don't see how am I going to pass all these months without my college or any job. Visiting relative is not the option as all of them with an exception of me are busy. Their tight schedule, busy days appeals to me. I wish I could have one and when I put my thoughts to words in front of them, they disagree with me and tell me that the time I have now is the best time of the life I would miss once I am employed. Do they know how boring it is to sit idly at the same place everyday without anything new or fun. Everything is constant except the book i hold or the movie I watch. Neither informational nor educational, what I stay busy with is just entertaining myself.

Few days have been fun with my friends around but soon they will be busy with their own stuffs and I would be left behind to be bored to death. Soon will come the day when I have to pass them as they come, without fun without company except for my lovely books and the collection of those CDs.

Joy of Writing

I had written before in newspaper and magazine but this time, it is different. I have been writing letters to the editor and some write-ups in light issues but always as just another reader. However, this was the first time I wrote officially as a reporter for a newspaper.

My first assignment as a reporter was on Fashion. I had to cover the recent trends in Kathmandu, what the Kathmanduities prefer to wear? Moving from one mall to another with a notebook and pen in hand and a camera hanging through my neck, showering the salesperson and costumers with bunch of questions did feel like being a reporter. Though it was a for feature, it was for a well established paper rather than our school magazines and wall journals.

While the report I presented went through the editing process, my heart beat so loud I was afraid everyone else were listening. It was approved and my heart beat even faster and this time with happiness. After all the formalities ended, it finally was ready for publishing.

The paper, however, took longer than I excepted to come in Nepal, as it was published from Europe. Nevertheless, the online edition was all set for update. The moment I saw my name in the report, I was spell bound. It was the most wonderful moment of my life. I was so happy that as soon as my report was updated on the official site of the paper, I shared the link on my Facebook status and tagged my family and friends. I believed it was the fastest way to share my joy with my loved ones.

Nepal Tourism Year

Nepal is celebrating Tourism Year 2011, it has organized many program to promote it, however, there are many things yet to be done.

Nepal Tourism Day was marked on 14th Jan. with lots of celebration, fireworks and many more. Ministers keep visiting to places to promote it. The government has even put a ban on deforestation but is it enough?

The environment is not clean and pollution haven't decreased yet. We see tons of wastes thrown on the roads, making it difficult for people to walk around, in major junctions like New Baneshwor, Newroad, etc.

The load shedding is increasing every month. The problems of traffic jams and strikes are never ending. How are we supposed to attract tourists if they don't even get basic facilities, if they don't feel safe and if thy can't enjoy their vacations properly?

Moreover, there is the problem of hospitality among the hotel and restaurant management. A paper mentioned that an Indian celebrity chef was scolded for entering in a restaurant's kitchen and the chef had to clam down the manager and give him a lecture on hospitality. Amidst these incidents, the responsibility of making Nepal Tourism Year a success seems far-fetched.

Also, there must be some changes in tourist destinations in Nepal. Nepal is naturally rich country and beside Pokhara, Lumbini and Chitwan, there are other beautiful places to focus on as well. No one would want to visit the same place again and again, no matter how beautiful it is. So the government should have developed infrastructures and made easy access to other places as well. A good change doesnt hurt. Nepal should focus on promoting other places as well, rather than the same every time.

And above all, political stab"actual" Prime Minister rather than the "caretaker".

When all of these are taken care of, than we could actually make Nepal Tourism Year 2011 a grand success.