On May 6, 2014, a fascinating awards party honouring the work of graduating seniors was held in the Department of Literature and Law at Ningbo Radio and TV University (Ningbo RTVU). The productions were created by graduating News Editing majors and by the Department itself. In all, more than 20 microfilms were independently edited and directed, each explaining an aspect of Ningbo culture from multiple perspectives.

The durations of these microfilms was about ten minutes each, with their vivid narrations of tours around ancient local towns and villages, on material cultural heritage projects, such as South China Book City, the celadon wares of Yue Kiln, Butterfly Loving culture, and other works.

“The Most Special Library - Fan Qin and Tianyi Pavilion” won the competition’s gold medal. Three works, including “Dreaming Back to Thousands of Years Ago, Only Because of Ci City,” won silver medals, with the other three works including “Eternal Masterpiece, the Butterfly Loving Culture of Ningbo,” won third prize. The top award, and inaugural “Best Cultural Inheritance Award,” went to “Wishing only Shanglin Forest Greener (Celadon Wares of Yue Kiln)”. The two faculty entries, from Guo Wei and Liang Ji, separately won the “Best Guide” Award and “Best Technical Guide” Award.  

The eight award-winning films were selected from among 20 works and reviewed carefully by the Graduating Project Review Committee of the Department of Literature and Art. Teachers thought that the overall standard of this year’s graduation projects made remarkable improvements, compared with those of past years.    

According to the relevant personages in charge of Ningbo RTVU, since the department implemented the visual reform of graduation projects, they have developed a set of practical operational schemes combining “team coaching, skills integration and visual presentation.” The aim of the change was to reinforce practical, professional skills training for students, help them adapt to the requirements of “expert in one field while possessing comprehensive knowledge and ability” for positions related to propaganda, and put their skills to work in the truest sense. The university will continue to expand practical education in various ways. Officials feel shooting microfilms helps students broaden their visions, and more deeply grasp the cultural essence of Ningbo, so as to forge “Ningbo Impressions” from multiple perspectives. 

At the party, the completion of the Department’s first newsreel, which was created using the virtual studio, “Ten Years of New Literary Men,” coincided with the formally release of the official departmental WeChat account -“Today’s Department of Literature and Law.”

The news editing and production major at Ningbo RTVU is an important programme with special characteristics that has been developed among all of Ningbo’s colleges and universities, with the objective of cultivating the talented media professionals needed in the All Media Times. Taking the “New Literary Men” studio as a crucial incubator of such potential, the Department will help students to master editing skills in various media through specific projects. Meanwhile, it will carry out bold reforms in assessment, appraisal, and graduation design. Taking the chance that “Ningbo’s History and Culture Textbook,” compiled by university faculty in 2013, was approved for inclusion in the OUC’s “12th Five-Year Plan” national planning curriculum for vocational education, the students selected their themes combining the historical and cultural curriculums. Over the past year, all of the editorial teams travelled over land and water, wandering the streets in search of cultural relics. Some teaching field bases, such as the Ningbo site at people.com.cn, 81890 Help Service Centre, Tianyi Pavilion and others, also assisted the students. 

Awards list 

Best Cultural Inheritance Award: “Wishing only Shanglin Forest Greener (Celadon Wares of Yue Kiln)”

Gold Medal: “The Most Special Library: Fan Qin and the Tianyi Pavilion”

Silver Medals: “Dreaming Back to Thousands of Years Ago, Only Because of Ci City,” “Ningbo Letters,” and “Weighing Heart.”

Bronze Medals: “The Eternal Masterpiece: Butterfly Loving Culture in Ningbo,” “The Depths of Alleys,” “The Coastal Town: Zhenghaikou”

By Zhao Shuping and Wu Jingjing, Ningbo RTVU