SCREENING OF VIDEO CLIPS PRODUCED BY 10 TO 15 YEAR OLD STUDENTS IN KID WITNESS NEWS (KWN) NATIONAL CONTEST
Kuala Lumpur, 3 November 2008 – Producing a 5-minute video by students age 10 to 15 on how they see ‘the world through the eyes of kids’ on Ecology, Communication and Culture is not as simple as it sounds but is surely exciting.
61 video clips were submitted by 56 schools nationwide and 27 videos were selected to enter the final. A total of 189 students and teachers from 27 teams from 24 finalist schools will congregate at the Golden Screen Cinema Mid Valley Kuala Lumpuarer from 2 till 4 November to see the screening of their video clips and to vie for the Grand winner award and other special awards at the KWN National Contest and Awards ceremony. These video clips will be presented either in the form of documentary, news, drama or public announcement.
Panel of judges comprised of prominent figures from the film and media industry which were Habshah Hassan, Othman Hafsham, Normah Nordin and Suraya Al-Attas, S Mohan and Md Rashid Ahmad and from Panasonic Malaysia, Azizah Wahid.
For the awards ceremony, nine awards will be presented comprising of three grand awards for Grand Winner, Runners Up, Second Runners Up and six special awards for Scriptwriting, Editing, Sound, Anchor, Videography and Creativity. Prizes for these awards include Panasonic camera, trophy and certificate of participation. Winner for this competition will represent Malaysia for the Regional contest in Kota Kinabalu this December. The grand winner video clip will enter the Global contest to be held in June 2009.
“This is the fourth year Panasonic organizes this event and the response from schools was overwhelming and the level of video production too has greatly improved. We are grateful with the support from Ministry of Education in encouraging more schools to take part and the dedication from our panel of trainers in ensuring the participants are well trained on the various aspects of video production”, said Azizah Wahid, Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communications & Branding, Panasonic Malaysia.
Azizah also added that, each team is represented by 6 students and a teacher as facilitator, each school is provided with Panasonic video camera and editing equipment to produce a short video either in the form of documentary, news, drama or public announcement. This is the first year KWN participants are using the High Definition semi-pro broadcast camera equipped with editing software and other accessories.
“At Panasonic, we are introducing students early to the new technology of high definition.
Combining the technology, production flow with high picture quality video cameras students will find it easy and interesting to make a video not only for KWN project but for future educational activities. This is part of our devotion to the progress and development of society through our corporate social responsibility and activities in education and also as an extra-curricular activity for the schools.” said Tony Endoh, Managing Director of Panasonic Malaysia.
These schools started working on the project since August this year and completed in October. Under this program, teachers and students were given a hands-on training on Panasonic products on the process of video production by a panel of Panasonic trainers from the film industry, educationist and media professionals.
“It was a tough and challenging decision to select the best video clip as most students had shown a high level of creativity in presenting their messages in their video clips. These students will be our new budding and talented future film producers that we hope will make the country proud”, said Othman Hafsham, renowned film producer.
As a result, the entire video production from storyboard, script writing, video shooting, directing and editing was fun and good learning experience for the students. Students are exposed to handling digital products and get to experience many exciting roles from film director, cameraman, scriptwriting, music coordinator to anchorperson and others. It teaches them teamwork and cooperation. Throughout the video production, students will see themselves as integral and contributing members of a team.
Tony Endoh also added that, “Producing videos encourage skill developments. Based on that platform Kid Witness News Program which was established and successful in America has further expanded to other parts of the world. It is to improve students learning by incorporating various educational and extracurricular objectives through producing videos. There are many ways videos can help students build their essential skills. It not only reinforces the speaking, writing and organizational skills to communicate effectively, but it develop creativity and journalistic viewpoint on variety of issues in the society which will draw attention of the mass media. It also encourages students to keep a high-level of interest in their projects.”
Mr Lee Cheow Lim from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Mewah Seremban and Ms Olivia Lazaroo from Sekolah Menengah St Joseph Papar, Sabah also commented that “No amount of textbooks can replace their students’ invaluable experience and firsthand look at the issues in preparing their video clips”.
The 24 finalist schools competing in the KWN National Contest are:
1. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Air Merah, Kedah
2. Sekolah Menengah Sains Pokok Sena Alor Star, Kedah
3. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Mergong Alor Star, Kedah
4. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (P) Sri Aman, Selangor
5. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan USJ13, Selangor
6. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan USJ 12, Selangor
7. Sekolah Menengah Damansara Utama, Selangor
8. Sekolah Kebangsaan (P) Methodist, Kuantan, Pahang
9. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Abu Bakar Kuantan Pahang
10. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sri Rompin Kuala Rompin, Pahang
11. Sekolah Kebangsaan Permatang Teluk Intan, Perak
12. Sekolah Kebangsaan Perempuan Raja Taayah Ipoh, Perak
13. Sekolah Menengah Sains Teluk Intan Perak
14. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Methodist Tanjung Malim Perak
15. Sekolah Menengah (J) Kebangsaan Chung Ling Butterworth, Pulau Pinang
16. Sekolah Menegah Kebangsaan Ketereh, Kelantan
17. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Puteri Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur
18. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Bukit Nanasa, Kuala Lumpur
19. Sekolah Menengah Convent Batu Pahat, Johor
20. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St Francis, Melaka
21. Sekolah Menengah St Joseph, Sabah
22. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Mewah, Negeri Sembilan
23. Sekolah Rendah (J) Kebangsaan Cina Chung Hua Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
24. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Taman Pasir Putih, Johor
For this program, Panasonic Malaysia provides 70 video cameras, including accessories such as microphones, headphones and tripods. Manuals, teachers and students guidebooks are also provided to assist students and teachers in using the equipment to produce their video clips.
About KWN Program
KWN is a global event organized yearly by Panasonic to award students for their best produced video clips. It was established 20 years ago in United States (US) since 1988 and not long after that it was expanded outside the US to South America, Europe, Canada and Japan with more than 100,000 students taking part.
In 2004 KWN was introduced to Asia-Oceania region where Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand participated. In 2005 KWN was introduced to Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand and Vietnam joined in 2006 making a total of 7 countries in this region. For this KWN program, all participating schools globally are provided with an array of Panasonic video and editing products.
About Panasonic Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Panasonic Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a sales, service and marketing company for the Panasonic brand of electrical and electronic products ranging from audio visuals, home appliances, air conditioners, digital and video cameras, professional broadcasting equipment, business systems, telecommunications, health and beauty care to batteries and lightings. All Panasonic products are available through our authorized dealers nationwide. For more information on Panasonic brand and products, visit our website at HYPERLINK http://www.panasonic.com.my www.panasonic.com.my or call our Customer Care Center at 03-5543 7600.
Media Contact:
Azizah Wahid
Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communications & Branding
Tel: 03 7809 7876 Mobile: 019 217 2730
Email: azizah.wahid@my.panasonic.com