CRAFTING
CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS (CCC)
With every new batch
of Crafting Creative Communications (CCC)
programme at Mudra Institute of Communications,
Ahmedabad (MICA), we hand-pick a bunch
of boat-rockers, mavericks, wranglers
and disrupters-of-the-status-quo and put
them through a creative commando boot
camp. Then we release them on an unsuspecting
world as Copywriters, Art Directors and
Television commercial makers.
Students of MICA's CCC
programme have bagged nominations and
awards at the IBDA'A Awards for Creative
Excellence, Dubai. They have also won
the Addy Awards, USA, including one Best-of-the-Show
award. They are working in global media
companies, advertising agencies and production
houses many aspirants would give an arm
and a leg to get into.
As you go through the
creative work presented here, be prepared
for discomfort: it may shake you up and
disrupt your daily routines. After all,
they are expressions by bright youngsters
who have realized that their backbone
can be used not just to stand upright
but to whip up courage to think and express
themselves differently, too.
MODULES
ELIGIBILITY
THE PROGRAMME
FACULTY
CURRICULUM
PEDAGOGY
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
ACHIEVEMENTS
HOW TO APPLY
LIFE AT MICA
MODULES
Elective modules
(to be chosen from A or B):
A: Crafting Creative
Copywriting
B: Crafting Creative Art Direction
Common and compulsory
modules to all:
C: Crafting Creative
Television and Radio Commercials
D: Crafting Creative Digital Design
ELIGIBILITY
This course does not
require participants to have passed CAT
(Common Admission Test). However, a Bachelor's
degree or an equivalent qualification
in any discipline recognized by the Association
of Indian Universities is requisite. For
participants in the Crafting Creative
Art Direction (Module B), an equivalent
diploma/degree in Fine Arts or Applied
Arts is mandatory.
Overall, we are looking
for participants who are intellectually
curious and imaginative, have diverse
interests and a sense of humour. A flair
for writing and the ability to visualize
will be seen as a major advantage. They
should be knowledgeable about advertising,
possess lateral thinking prowess, and
above all show strength of character.
THE
PROGRAMME
The programme leads
to a certificate in Crafting Creative
Communications with specialization in
Crafting Copywriting or Art Direction,
depending on the module chosen by the
student. The main objective of this programme
is to develop students into high caliber
professionals for creative careers in
Marketing Communications. The programme
specifically attempts the following:
• To equip participants
with conceptual, behavioral and technical
skills.
• To offer hands-on experience to
become effective communication professionals.
• To impart a sense of values that
encompasses not only professional work
ethics but also a commitment to and passion
for creative communications.
• To discipline creative instincts
and to encourage the use of imagination
in diverse fields.
• To work towards achieving the
stated objectives and deadline.
FACULTY
| MICA FACULTY |
VISITING FACULTY |
| Subhash Tendle,
Head - CCC. (Former Creative Director,
FCB-Ulka) |
Linda Correll,
Professor, Advertising, Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, USA |
| Rajneesh Krishna,
Marketing Research and Consumer Behaviour |
Rajan Nair, Creative
Director and Partner, Inspire Communications |
| A F Mathew, Culture
& Communications |
Amar Gargesh, Creativity
Trainer |
| Hemant Trivedi,
Retail management |
Subodh Poddar,
Creative Director and CEO, Nebula
Films FCB-Ulka |
| Shubhra Gaur, OB
& amp, HR |
Sumit Roy, Consultant,
Brand Communications |
| Anita Basalingappa,
Marketing |
G. S.Shridhar,
Creative Director, SSC&B Advertising
Agency |
| Gautam Jain, Entrepreneurship |
Amit Mehta, Creative
Director, Imagine Communication |
| |
Ashoke Agarrwal,
Managing Partner, SEER |
| |
Suraja Kishore,
Associate Vice President[Planning],
Lowe Lintas, Mumbai |
| |
Uday Parkar, Creative
Consultant, Mumbai |
| |
P M Dalwadi, Photography |
| |
Arnav Kumar, Film
Maker |
| |
Falguni Mathur,
Creative Director |
| |
Nikhil Raval, Management
Consultant |
And several other eminent practitioners
from the industry.
CURRICULUM
The course contents are divided into three areas:
The Knowledge, the Skills and the Attitudes.
THE KNOWLEDGE
An Overview of the Advertising Industry
These sessions will explain how an ad agency works, the key departments it has, and the functions of each of these departments.
Trans Creativity Workshop
A 5-day workshop that underlines the relevance and importance of performing arts. It also works as an eye-opener that triggers creative processes. It sensitizes people to appreciate various art forms and discover how they can be effectively used in communications.
The Basics of Brand Management
- Identify brand stakeholders.
- Understand how stakeholders currently perceive your brand.
- Study competition and market trends.
- Define brand positioning.
- Define brand promise.
Advertising Strategy
A balanced overview of advertising strategy and execution. To understand the foundations of successful advertising strategies and executions, the sessions will draw upon both classic and contemporary advertising. Different principles and laws of advertising will be explained.
Advertising research
Understanding the consumer, finding consumer insights. You will learn some basic methods to study human behavior and how it can be utilized to craft effective communications.
Account Planning
Almost every Advertising agency (and their clients) benefits from a disciplined system to create communications strategy and enhancing its ability to produce outstanding creative solutions that will be effective in the marketplace. It is, therefore, essential for a creative person to understand the planner's perspective of understanding of the consumer and the market reality.
Semiotics
Introduction to Semiotics, Sharpening the Semiotic Focus: These sessions will begin by taking examples from advertising, film and the media to demonstrate the semiotic constructs like 'denotation', 'connotation', 'advertising mythology', 'syntagmatic and paradigmatic structures'.
Evaluating an Ad Campaign
This exercise will not only explain you how to evaluate an ad campaign but will also help you sell your ad to the client. It will help you understand two basic sets of parameters. One that evaluates the ad in terms of it efficacy, that is, to what extend the campaign has achieved its set objectives. The other set of parameters will help you appreciate the aesthetic aspects of the ad, which is, how the ad looks, its layout, its colour scheme, its typography, the balance etc.
Creative Brief
These sessions will explain what a creative brief is, why it is necessary and how to write it. This will include exercises in writing a creative brief. It will also help you understand how advertising communications really works.
Anatomy of a Print Ad
This explains various elements (headline, visual, body copy, logo, base line) of a print ad and the relationship that exists between them.
Evaluating an Ad Campaign
This exercise will not only explain you how to evaluate an ad campaign but will also help you sell your ad to the client. It will help you understand two basic sets of parameters. One that evaluates the ad in terms of it efficacy, that is, to what extend the campaign has achieved its set objectives. The other set of parameters will help you appreciate the aesthetic aspects of the ad, which is, how the ad looks, its layout, its colour scheme, its typography, the balance etc.
Advertising Appeals
These sessions will explain the most frequently used advertising appeals. Some of these are the rational appeals like comfort, convenience, economy, health, quality, dependability, durability, performance and efficiency. However, the most used appeals are the emotional ones like joy, love or sex, fear, pleasure, pride, safety, security, self-esteem and sorrow or grief etc.
Hunger Strikes
These sessions will explain how to create mouthwatering food advertising by using 10 easy steps to create the appetite appeal.
Film Appreciation
- Basic concepts relating to arts and humanities
- Introducing concepts such as 'imaginative truth', their relevance and links with arts and social sciences
- Introduction to basics in terms of form in cinema
- Screenings of short films by István Szabó , Kobhakadze etc.
- Formalizing Nations 1: The United States
- Formalizing Nation 2: The case of Soviet Montage
- Concepts relating to Cinematic Theory (Andre Bazin)
- Formalizing Nation 3: The case of French New Wave, Surrealism and Dadaism
- Formalizing Nation 4: The Case of Italian Neo-Realism
- Formalizing Nation 5: The Case of German Expressionism
- Formalizing Nation 6: The Case of Japanese Cinema
- Introduction to Eastern European and Latin American Cinema
- How Cinema Economics works: The Case of Bollywood
- Basic Framework for Understanding cinema: How it has worked and how it probably will work.
THE SKILLS
Visual Communication
From 'So-So' to Picasso: A presentation on why we need to be creative and what stops us from being creative. This session will explain how to get rid of the mental blocks that prevent us from being creative.
Anatomy of a Print Ad
This explains various elements (headline, visual, body copy, logo, base line) of a print ad and the relationship that exists between them.
Face Reading
These sessions will explain the importance of typefaces or fonts. Every typeface projects a different kind of personality. A number of exercises will help you learn different typefaces and use them effectively.
Visual Literacy
This session will help you learn the most important aspect of visual communication, the language of visuals. It will enable you to communicate using visuals with same ease as you use words.
Checklist for an Art Director
These sessions will explain the various aspects of art direction in a print-ad like the movement, relative proportion, contrast, balance, unity and continuity, colour, white space, the layout etc.
Designing Corporate Identity
These sessions will enable you to understand various elements that determine the identity of a brand and learn the ways and means of generating a visual identity for a brand.
Copywriting
The Writer's Attitude: The art of writing is actually the art of re-writing. Discussion on why writers need to develop a passion for words.
Overcoming the Writer's Block: The craft of writing involves two stages - creating and editing. Workshop on 'How to Suppress the Editor in You and Let the Creator in You Do its Job.'
The Art of Description: Ninety per cent of all writing is about some kind of description. Workshop on techniques to improve descriptive writing and characterization.
Instant Vocabulary: Discussion and workshop on how to understand, use and improve your communication skills using the right word in the right place.
Getting to the Core Message: Understanding the creative brief and extracting the essence of the proposition. Exercises to help discover what the sales message should really be.
Using the Eight Senses for Persuasive Writing: Evocative writing involves using all the senses. An adventure through 'The Land of Show, Don't Tell!'
Tone of Voice: Understanding how tone of voice is crucial to advertisement effectiveness and brand image. Exercises to discover that there is more to the tone of voice than 'warm and friendly'!
Process Writing: Copywriting often involves explaining processes, such as in user manuals, manufacturing processes, or directions for use of complex machinery or equipment. Exercises to understand prioritization, sequencing and how to avoid ambiguities.
Direct Mail: Discussion and exercises to understand the various elements of a DM package, including the economics and logistics of DM, the envelope, the offer, the cover letter, the main leaflet, the response device, tracking and follow-up.
Basics of Scripting for Television and Radio
Workshop on Creating Television Commercials
Coverage:
- The language of visuals
- Generating ideas for TVC
- Idea to scriptwriting
- Script to storyboard
- Storyboard to shot break down
- Product window
Pre-Production: Evaluating the script. Location hunting. Casting - screen tests. Set designing. Costume designing. branding. Costing.
Production: Cinematographer / Director Coordination. Camera movements / Angles. Lighting. Make-up. Acting / Voice modulation. Jingle recording. Voice recording.
Post Production: Editing. Music
/ recording / editing. Sound effects.
Computer graphics - Up-gradation. Presentation
of the film.
The Principles and Elements of Design
Form. Function. Space.
These are the building blocks not only to create a work of art or communication design but also to help you to become a better manager, because you are going to be tomorrow's creative managers and creative directors. These sessions will help you learn a very important tool that creates a brand difference. It will also explain how design is an integral part of visual communication.
DIGITAL DESIGN
This course will let you master these three principal areas of Digital Design.
I: Digital Design for Print Media
Introduction to digital software
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Corel Draw
II: Digital Design for Audio-Visual Media
Sound Forge
Final-Cut-Pro
After Effects
III: Digital Design for Interactive Media
Macromedia Flash MX
Macromedia Director MX
Macromedia Dream weaver
Website Hosting
THE ATTITUDES
Generating Ideas 1- Random Associations: How do you generate ideas? Do you wait for those elusive happy accidents to occur or can you generate ideas on demand? These sessions will help you learn how to generate ideas at will through random associations. It will explain how two unrelated words, or a picture and words can be combined to generate innovative and original images or ideas.
Generating Ideas 2- Lateral Thinking: These sessions will explain how you can approach a problem in different ways to generate refreshing new ideas.
Generating Ideas 3 - Brainstorming: These sessions will explain how brainstorming works.
Generating Ideas 4 - 'SCAMPER': 'SCAMPER' is an acronym for 'Substitute. Combine. Adapt. Modify. Put to other use. Eliminate. Rearrange.' This exercise is based on the notion that everything new is the addition or modification of something that already exists. For example, a tree becomes a log becomes a plank becomes a chair. Think about any subject and ask a checklist of questions to see what new ideas and thoughts emerge. 'SCAMPER' is an acronym for Substitute. Combine. Adapt. Modify. Put to other use. Eliminate. Rearrange.
Generating Ideas 5 - Turn the World Around: This exercise will explain how redefining the problem can be a great way to generate interesting solutions. Boring problems generate boring solutions, and interesting problems generate interesting solutions.
SEARCH ENGINES FOR CREATIVITY
Memory: Tapping our own knowledge and experience (90 per cent of which lies in the mind, available but not accessed).
Observation: Looking at nature, scenarios and human activities.
Referencing: Using existing external sources present in different media through reading, viewing, listening, surfing.
Interaction: Brainstorming, interviews, debates, discussions, Q&A etc.
Imagination: Sending a 'mind probe' into a journey of imaginative exploration.
Dreams: Dreams are rich with visual imagery and symbolism, both extremely important for creative fields. We will look not only at our own dreams but also explore the dreams of others. The techniques that the mind uses to create dreamwork will be analyzed and applied to expand the creativity.
CREATIVE AEROBICS
Description: Creative Aerobics is an interactive writing session that approaches creativity from an innovative point of view. Instead of concentrating on the result, it concentrates on the process. Participants will learn four verbal exercises designed to increase flexibility between the left and right brain. Using them consecutively increases exponentially, the number of fresh, persuasive, out-of-the-box solutions arrived at for any assignment. Additionally, participants will exercise their micro-creativity with a series of Creative Ticklers.
Objectives:
FOUR THINKING CAPS
A 2-day workshop featuring 4 thinking strategies, the innovator, the craftsman, the judge and the soldier. Using rare archival material, practical tools to apply theoretical learning, interactive knowledge delivery techniques.
PORTFOLIO CREATION
This is a month-long activity where faculty interacts with students on a one-to-one basis. During this phase, the emphasis is on mentoring rather than teaching. Because a great career starts with a great portfolio.
PEDAGOGY
Most sessions will be
interactive using diverse examples and
exercises, case studies, classroom discussions,
group exercises and presentations to create
an atmosphere of learning by doing. Periodic
assignments will allow the participants
to develop skills required for the complete
process of idea-generation and elaboration
from doodles to full-blown multimedia
campaigns. Although there are two modules
to choose from (and two mandatory), there
are common classes for both, which means
every student is required to assimilate
information from all four modules. There
is no final examination; instead, every
student has to prepare a portfolio of
work done during the year and present
it and the end of the course to jury members.
The student will be graded based on his
or her chosen module.
Apart from learning
at the institute each student will be
offered an opportunity to work as an intern
with a leading ad agency, a design house
or a production house.
CAREER
OPPORTUNITIES
The programme has been
specifically designed to ensure that each
participant builds a unique portfolio.
The assignments and other exercises will
enable the participant to include a complete
campaign as the centerpiece of his or
her portfolio in addition to various smaller
projects. Participants of this programme
can look forward to careers in creative
departments of advertising agencies, corporate,
media and production houses.
MICA will provide information,
advice and counseling on career opportunities.
Students of previous programmes have acquired
positions with leading advertising agencies,
portals and organizations like O&M,
JWT, Bates, Lowe, Leo Burnett, Draft-FCB-Ulka,
Mudra Advertising, Ambience Publicis,
Wizcraft etc.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Students of the CCC programme
are high achievers and have won a variety
of international awards. They won the
Ibda'a Awards instituted by Dubai Media
City in the advertising category for three
years in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Their prizes included glittering trophies
and internships at renowned agencies like
Saatchi & Saatchi and Lowe Worldwide.
In 2003 a student of
the programme also won the Special Recognition
Award for creative excellence from His
Highness the Crown Prince of Dubai.
In year 2004 they also
won 16 awards at the ADDY Awards, USA
including Best of Show.
In 2004 students of the
eighth batch of CCC bagged three nominations
at the Ibda'a Awards. Students from this
batch have also set new milestones. They
were MICA's first international placements,
and are currently pursuing exciting and
challenging careers at major design studios
and advertisement agencies in places like
Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.
Participants in forthcoming
batches will have ample opportunities
to involve themselves in similar competitions
that attract entries from around the world.
HOW
TO APPLY
The application form
can be downloaded from here.
The completed form should
be sent along with a crossed demand draft
for Rs. 1750/- only in favour of Mudra
Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad,
payable at Ahmedabad. (We are in the process
of taking this procedure online.) The
same also can be obtained from the Programme
Office, MICA. After receiving the completed
Admission Form along with DD for Rs.1750/-
admission Office will mail you the CCC
Brochure with course contents.
SELECTION
PROCESS
Completed application
forms and demand draft for Rs. 1750/-
only should reach MICA before the final
date of receiving applications. The selection
process is simple yet institutionalized.
Every applicant is given the opportunity
to take the written test.
The written test is conducted
online and successful candidates will
be shortlisted for a campus interview
to be held at MICA. The final selection
of candidates will be based on overall
performance.
International students
can appear for the interview at select
universities in USA, UK, France, Singapore
etc. with whom we have a M.O.U. A list
of these colleges is available on our
website: www.mica-india.net
COURSE COST
| Tution Fees |
Rs.
115,000 |
| Boarding and Lodging |
Rs. 50,000 |
Other academic
and administrative costs (this includes
study material, internet connectivity,
medical and personal accident insurance,
library fees, etc.) |
Rs. 90,000 |
| Total cost of the programme excluding
personal expenses |
Rs. 255,000 |
IMPORTANT DATES
Availability of Forms on
website : February, 2010
Last date for Submission of Forms : June,
2010
Date for written test : July,
2010
Personal Interview : July, 2010
Final list of the candidates : July,
2010
Last date for Submission of Fee : July,
2010
Programme Commencement : August,
2010 (The date will be announced
later)
LIFE AT
MICA
MICA provides an atmosphere
conducive to energetic minds looking for
opportunities. This has spawned many on-campus
ventures, like MICARE the retail store
and the MICA Cricket League. For sports
enthusiasts there is a tennis court, volleyball
courts and a gym well-equipped with modern
machines. Other activities include Trinetra,
the MICA Film Club, Sankalp, theatre activities
and more. The culture of MICA alone has
endeared it to many an aspirant.
MICA prides itself on
being more than an educational institute
and provides ample opportunities for lateral
growth and extra-curricular activities.
These activities are entirely student-managed,
right from conceptualization to execution,
spanning functions like marketing, strategy
and promotion. These activities help MICAns
apply what they have studied in the classrooms,
in practical, real-life situations, and
they have a lot of fun in the bargain!
On the whole, this makes for an interesting
and wholesome learning experience.
MICA's walled campus
is outside of the city area, in the rural
village of Shela, a farming community.
The institute has its own security gate
and guards, and is completely safe and
protected.
For further details
please contact us:
Please send in your applications to:
Admissions Office
Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad
(MICA)
Shela, Ahmedabad 380 058
Phone: +91 2717 237946 - 51, 2717 308250
Fax: +91 2717 308349
Email: stendle@micamail.in
or harshan@micamail.in
Website: www.mica-india.net
