Panos South Asia: Final Multimedia Presentations

Poubha in Progress

Whew! The past 5 days were really hectic, exciting and went by in a snap.

We began with some overnight research and planning for our multimedia production. I met my subject, Lok Chitrakar to get an idea of the basic flow of the presentation - issues, concerns, future etc. Lok is a traditional Poubha artist, a religious Nepali art form that is losing out to the commercial variety of Thanga. Tourists love the later, without knowing its roots in Poubha.

I shot Lok in his studio and worked with group member Rajesh to record an interview in the local Nepali language. Rajesh edited the interview. The piece needed to be no more than 3 minutes so I editied my video footage to create a coherent piece from the original 20 minute interview and additional studio footage.

Step 3 was to design a web presentation which we worked on overnight. I also thought of adding images of Poubha paintings in a slideshow, set to traditional devotional music for a multimedia production.

Here is the final product uploaded to the Panos website:

Click to view production

And here are presentations from the other groups from the workshop:

Main group page: panosmultimedia.org/

Individual groups:
Group 1: panosmultimedia.org/grp_a_2008/
Group 2: panosmultimedia.org/grp_b_2008/
Group 3: panosmultimedia.org/grp_c_2008/
Group 4: panosmultimedia.org/grp_d_2008/
Note: Although I personally prefer Firefox or non-ie browsers, these pages may need to be viewed through Internet Explorer since the videos are in windows media format. Sorry about that.

After Panos 2008: Challenges for the future

Groups fevourishly to complete the multimedia productions

Even before we knew it, the 9 days of the Panos South Asia multimedia training workshop came to a close and participants are back home in their own countries, each doing their own bit for society. We had media persons, non-governmental organisations from areas of work ranging from environment to human rights coming in from countries as diverse as Afghanistan to Bhutan.

The past 9 days have been exciting, not the least because of the fantastic location with views of the distant snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. But more importantly, for the people I met and the networks we built across South Asian nations.

On the last day, Kishor Pradha, Deputy Director, Panos South Asia asked participants to now go out and carry out multimedia productions in our own situations, for the development of society. This is something very close to my own heart - using the multiple tools of communication to give voice to those not within mainstream media scanners.

This is also excellent for community media which can add new dimensions to mainstream media resulting in multiple voices and not just those with the power to control. Using the power of the Internet, it has become relatively easy to have multiple voices without having to rely on traditional publishing methods - print, tv or radio.

In this respect, the role of Panos in facilitating such media pluralism in South Asia is crucial for the region. Now that the workshop has come to an end, it is important to use the technology in our areas for the purpose of local development and empowering those with little to no say in the process of society building.

That is the challenge the future holds.

Panos Day 5: Of Recce missions and changed plans

Day 5 and we have moved into analysing the visual language – what makes images tick, shooting the way the eye sees and using shots as the building blocks of sequences. Tomorrow, we move outdoors to shoot for our multimedia production.


Our group production may have run into some rough weather. We had initially thought of doing a piece on the “Kumari Devi” and the controversy over the new maoist govt's decision to withdraw financial assistance to this culture. While the whole culture of the kumari system in Nepal – a system wherein a young 6 to 7 year old girl child is chosen as a living goddess and spends her life in the confines of a temple until she attains puberty. During this time, she is worshiped by the local Newari community. Our production sought to focus on the possibility of human rights violation of the girl children as a result of this practice.


We did a reconnaissance mission to the Patan Darbar square where a fair is on to celebrate local culture. However, we soon realised getting any kind of visuals of the devi herself, let alone any interviews will be next to impossible. To add to that, making the situation very bleak, we will not even be able to shoot in the temple precincts.


As a result, we have no option but to change to Plan B and work on another topic. More on that tomorrow.

Panos Day 4: Power of Audio

Audio is the backbone of good multimedia and day 4 began with a presentation on digital audio, file formats, recording equipment and editing software. This was followed by a hands-on session on recording and editing into the computer.

We used Adobe Audition, a very powerful software.



This is the start of the exciting part of the workshop and it showed. All participants were eagerly pouring over their computers, headphones plugged in, recording and editing their test audio tracks.



Audio can make or break a multimedia presentation. It is important to carefully plan the audio such that it can carry the presentation on its own even without the visuals. Besides making for good productions, having strong audio has the added advantage of porting to radio platforms as well.



Besides the slowly building pressure of putting together a multimedia production, its also raining in Kathmandu. So not much time to go sightseeing today!

Panos Day 3: Getting into the meat of things

The Streets of Patan

With today's sessions, the Panos multimedia workshop now gets into the meat of the multimedia production cycle. We began with an understanding of the differences in writing for print and the web.


The key, we learnt, was concise and clear writing styles. Ideally, articles on the web are 50% shorter than those in print. Attention spans for text, we realise, is very limited on the web. And yet, most newspapers simple regurgitate material from print editions onto their websites, expecting to boost their online presence.


Journalists need to adapt to the writing styles for the web. Key among them are:

1. Present a summary of an article at the beginning of the page
2. Use shorter paragraphs, presenting one idea per paragraph
3. Incorporate bullet lists into the text to facilitate easy-to-digest material

When talking of writing for the web, I am also of the opinion we need to do away with the earlier “pyramid” style of writing and incorporate new paradigms. The pyramid model, where the most important – who, what, where, why and how – elements are presented at the beginning, was developed at a time when wire services were unreliable and prone to break down. As such, news agencies sent the most important part of the story at the very beginning so that, even if the wire broke down, the main story would reach the newsrooms.


Today, we do not face such issues. As a result, continuing to use the old pyramid style does not really make sense. Instead, new media gurus recommend a film-script style of delivery. Here, the story is gradually unfolded to the reader, much like good films hold the audience's attention through the film. David Gumiya of Viewmagazine is one such guru. However, old school journalists and editors may be very reluctant to accept such change.


Today we were also formed into groups for the hands-on production exercise. Over the remainder of this workshop we will be working together within our group to script, shoot, edit and put together a new media package for the web. There was a great degree of excitement because now the workshop gets into its hands on phase after the theory of the preceding two days.


We begin with audio recording and editing tomorrow before moving to video. Saturday morning we are scheduled to shoot video followed by editing and creating a web package. The groups are diverse in terms of the countries represented as well as the skill sets and backgrounds.

This should be interesting. Stay tuned!


The Streets of Patan
For your viewing pleasure, accompanying this post are some images from my walk through the narrow streets of Patan. This is a really ancient town that has retained its identity in the form of its architecture. The government, I am told, gives tax concessions to those keeping the old brick facades. From the looks of it, it seems many have chosen to take those concessions. For how long, time will tell.

Panos Day 2: Shape up or shut down

Patan Durbar, the former king's palace complex

Talk about multimedia and you usually tend to believe it is a combination of text, images, graphics, audio and video. In fact, it is more than likely you feel that is the order in which the media are supposed to have evolved. But think again. Humans first began to communicate using gestures ie visuals. This evolved to audio (sounds). Much later, symbols or images were used to communicate, once tools for etching were devised. The last communication mode to evolve was text. This should give us an inkling of what is the “preferred” communication media for humans.


And again, if we think about it, visuals (video and images) are an extension of the eyes, audio, an extension of the ears. But when it comes to text, there is no direct extension in the human body. This is a clear indicator that visuals and audio are the most natural means of human communication. And yet the over-emphasis on text as a primary media for communication is extraordinary.


Research has it that we retain 20% of what we see, 30% of what we hear, 50% of what we see and hear and a staggering 80% of what we see, hear and DO simultaneously. Thus the position of multimedia with its use of various senses along with interactivity becomes apparent as a powerful means of communication.

These were some of the issues discussed on day 2 of the Panos multimedia workshop that saw a continuation of the debate on the effectiveness of blogs as viable alternatives in new media.


We also talked about a Dutch Radio research carried out in Europe that reflected the changes taking place in media consumption patterns in the west. With declining percentage in print publication titles combining with the decrease in print reading patterns in Europe (and the US), it appears the writing is on the wall for publishers: “Shape up or shut down.”



Of course it would be some while before publishers begin to feel the heat here in South Asia, but it is undeniable that the era of convergence is upon us. Devices are converging (computers double up as televisions, radios and even telephones). Then there is the media convergence: news on mobile devices, television programmes on computers, music on mobile phones...the list is endless.


So how do media houses brace for the impending changes? Undoubtedly, it has to do with utilising technology to truly democratise the flow of news and information, making news delivery/consumption an interactive process. And it is the proper utilisation of the internet that will offer them (traditional media) a ray of hope.

PS: Enjoy images from our walk to Patan Durbar Square, the UNESCO World Heritage site, near where we live.

Local Content of another variety

Day 1 may have been all about what is local content and its importance. Now, no discussion on local content will be complete without actually getting a feel of local content. Would it?

With that in mind, a group of us took a ride out to a place known as Thamel, in Kathmandu. This is a must-see for any tourists visiting Nepal. And what we saw there was simply amazing - rows of outlets lined the labrynth streets. Bars, laundry for 50 bucks, "skype is working" - anywhich way you look.

We settled down to a quaint little bar called "Sam's Bar" run by a charming Austrian lady Verena, who, in her own words, "fell in love with Sam from Nepal and the rest as they say is history." She's been here in her adopted home for over 13 years she tells us adding, "life usually takes unexpected turns. It happens."

How True, I say. Life happens indeed. Cheers!