Prof. Ramkrishna More College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Department of English: Business English through Animation Course (BETA-2013-14)

Business English through Animation Course 2013-14

Business English through Animation Course 2013-14 commenced on 28th November, 2013. Dr. Shilpagauri Ganpule gave the introductory speech. Dr. Christina DeCoursey set forth her ideas regarding the nature and significance of the course. Principal Dr. Nitin Ghorpade was the Chairperson of the Inaugural Function. Vice Principal Dr. Abhay Khandagale was the Chief Guest of the function. Dr. Sangita Ghodake gave the vote of thanks. Prof. Rupal Waghmare and Prof. Namrata Alhat took great efforts for the successful organisation of the programme.

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“Business English through Animation” Course conducted by Department of English of Prof. Ramkrishna More Arts, Commerce and Science College, Akurdi and Department of English, HongKong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, HongKong

Under the Aegis of

The Student’s Welfare Association of the University of Pune

Department of English of Pune District Education Association’s Prof. Ramkrishna More Arts, Commerce and Science College, Akurdi and Department of English, HongKong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, HongKong made collaboration in December, 2012. Under this collaboration Dr. Christina DeCoursey of Department of English, HongKong Polytechnic University conducted a course entitled “Business English through Animation” in Prof. Ramkrishna More Arts, Commerce and Science College, Akurdi. HongKong Polytechnic University is one of the leading universities of the world. This is indeed a moment of great pride for the University of Pune, Pune District Education Association and Prof. Ramkrishna More Arts, Commerce and Science College, Akurdi. The Student’s Welfare Association of the University of Pune provided the financial assistance for carrying out this innovative project.

The details of the course are given below:

Name of the Course: Business English through Animation

Course Designed by: Dr. Christina DeCoursey

Duration of the Course: 4 weeks

Beneficiaries: Students of the college and the students of the colleges in the vicinity

Contents of the Course:

There are 8 subject knowledge areas required for doing animation: designing characters, building sets, script writing, sound, directing, recording, editing and uploading. This course also included teaching students the basics of written and spoken business genres such as letter, memo, minutes, agenda and meetings. Students who complete the course will upload a short animation to Youtube. This URL can go onto their resumes, and become part of making them exceptional job applicants.

Need of the Course:

Animation software has become much more user-friendly over the past decade. Previously, everyone wanting to be an animator had to learn programming fundamentals like spatial indexing, meshes, 3D modeling, and rendering through patterns and polygons. This took years to learn. However, in this case we are using the software “Muvizu” (2009), an animation programme developed by Digimania. Based on the Unreal Engine 3 from Unreal Technology, its visual quality is exceptional – it is currently used by platforms including PlayStation™ and Linux™. Muvizu has a sophisticated user interface that is also very intuitive to use. For example, its approach to character movement is practical for non-specialists because they function as directors rather than as technical animators. Its operational resemblance to Windows means most students already have a feel for the software. That is, characters, objects and scenes are edited using windows, toolbars, drop-down menus, and colour and texture palates. This definitely saves a lot of time in producing an animation.

At the same time, doing animation is detailed work, because the 8 subject knowledge areas must be coordinated in every moment of every scene, so it definitely does take time. Script writing often takes the most time, as the creator must develop a concept and then put it into words. For these students, all of this happens in a second language, and must be embodied in software choices, so this also takes more time. These students had 16 x 2-hour sessions, or 32 hours, in which to make about a 2 minute animation. They found this amount of time sufficient, but still not easy.

Chances of Employability of the Students who opted for the Course:

Animation is now used for

§ business web pages

§ electronic business cards

§ short sequences on company websites

§ communications to maintain customer relations

§ product use tutorials

§ product demonstrations

§ large-scale walk-throughs

§ process and system

§ marketing and advertising

Many business, institutions, organisations and SMEs therefore need people to do this work. The students who completed this course are going to get job opportunities in the fields mentioned above.

The List of students who have uploaded the You tube are:

Satish Thakar

http://youtu.be/M3S8bJiTNP4

Kiran Naik

http://youtu.be/BrzmwgRHqg4

Rupali Jadhav

http://youtu.be/VhxKuiGm2_E

Sujata Gaikwad

http://youtu.be/IoSkAnS4X9M

Snehal Shinde

http://youtu.be/lw6W12WVKU8

priya kalbhor