By: Amira AlNahdi
Dr. Razan Takash, an Assistant Professor at the college of Media and Mass Communication at the American University in the Emirates, produced and directed a promotional video about The College of Media and Mass Communication, highlighting the practical nature of the college, and its content.
The video was a request from Prof. Muthanna Abdul Razzaq, President of the American University in the Emirates, after a discussion he had with the Dean of the College of media and mass communication, to produce self-made content through the participation of the faculty members, the students and by using the equipment in the university. The video produced by Dr. Razan Takash was a test video that was shown to upper management which gave them an idea of what can be done if they hire some people from outside the university to get high-quality equipment.
Dr. Razan, who has more than 10 years of experience in the world of cinema and television in the United Arab Emirates and in the Middle East, wrote the script, and the storyboard, as she also hired a videographer from outside the university. However, she highlighted the effective participation of the faculty members of the college and the effective role of CMMC students from different specializations like Radio and TV, Public Relations, and Integrated Marketing Communication, Some participated as actors and others were just observing behind camera for the purpose of learning on the spot how to make a video professionally. beside the producing and directing, Dr. Razan wrote the voice over and recorded it.
In an interview we had with the director and producer of the video Dr. Razan where she assured us that working on this video took a total of 10 to 11 working hours: “ We had 10 to 11 working days, to write the script, get it approved, do the storyboard, co-ordinate the shoots, communicate with the faculty members , sign up the students who wanted to volunteer, book the schedule with the videographer for the shoot day, book different locations, and then we shot it in one day and it was edited in 5 days, so 3 days for first cut, then comments from me, then final draft, and was sent to the dean for approval, so total of 10 to 11 working days “.
The chosen locations for the video represents the college and the university, where it mostly focused on the production studio in the university and the equipments in it, whereas the other scenes were around the campus, in the corridors, and in some classrooms.
Regarding to the budget of the video, Dr. Razan commented that: “ the actual budget for a video like this, if you hire a production company to do it, it will be between 15,000 dhs to 20,000 dhs, but because we were doing it internally, it cost the university 5000 dhs only “.
Dr. Takash a Writer and director holds a Masters in Fine Arts in directing and cinematography from the Red Sea Institute for Cinematic Arts. She received many awards from Jordan. She was involved in many International and Hollywood productions. She received the 1st place award at the 48hour Film Project Dubai 2016 and awards for “Best Director” and “Best Special Effects / Postproduction”.
The promotional video is expected to be posted in the AUE social media outlines as she stated that: “the video is not posted yet, but we are aiming for “.
