It is like being in your own little theatre with the entire batch viewing quality content.
Getting a chance to study at SCMC has been a cornerstone of my life. It had been on my wish list for more than three years now. I have meticulously followed everything that was out there in public about this college and it is more than a blessing to finally be here and be a part of it. This makes me believe that dreams do come true.
From comfortable campus facilities that make you feel like you’re at home to discipline that keeps you under control. Everything about this place is close to my heart. It is almost impossible to pick one favourite thing at SCMC, as I have an entire list for it. But our MCR (Media Content Review) classes have to be my absolute favourite.
We are expected to watch videos, movies, classic sitcoms, listen to evergreen radio broadcasts and even watch news in air-conditioned screening rooms. Life is so giving sometimes. It is like being in your own little theatre with the entire batch viewing quality content. Given the opportunity, I would love to watch a movie every day and the additional screenings two days of the week partially cater to that. To put it plainly, it is an amazing experience. I remember one particular Saturday when both the classes were together and we were shown ‘Gone With the Wind’, which lasted for more than 4 hours. Apart from being a part of our curriculum, we get attendance and sometimes even additional attendance for watching such movies. Could it get any better?
Documentaries like Planet Earth show us behind-the-scenes of how certain aspects of that particular episode were shot in such harsh environmental conditions. They teach us about the technicalities of the subjects we will come across later. Doordarshan (DD) Documentaries about topical themes, like the Ladies Special train or Lijjat papad empire show us a different side of society that we don’t otherwise get to witness.
MCR has introduced us to parallel cinema. Shyam Benegal movies teach us that there is always more to a movie than what meets the eye – in terms of the story, the underlying message or hidden agenda behind a particular portrayal of a certain character.
Media as an industry has the power to influence and address the masses, and MCR as a subject introduces us to the various methods and forms.
The shows we see range from English sitcoms such as ‘I love Lucy’ to Hindi ones like ‘Ye Jo Hai Zindagi’. From Award winning BBC documentaries such as ‘Planet Earth’ to the unique ones that DD makes. We would never watch movies like ‘Grapes of Wrath’ and ‘Ankur’ otherwise, but we have developed a reverence and understanding towards them. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that watching movies will never be the same for me. We are also exposed to radio shows varying between ‘The Goon Show’ to ‘Geetmala’, which are both unique in themselves.
MCR Classes are worth looking forward to, and its mention in the timetable puts a smile on all our faces. It is one of the things we all definitely looked forward to this semester and will in the ones to come.
This subject rightly contributes to making me love and appreciate the field of audio-visual even more.
Article By: Akansha Tiwari (Batch of 2019)
Photograph By: Nayanika Mukherjee (Batch of 2019)
